We were saddened to hear that John Milne, one of 19 Squadron’s ground crew fitters, died recently.
John arrived at RAF Duxford on 11 March 1940 and served here during the build-up to the Battle of Britain. He was allocated to ‘A’ Flight, which was commanded by Flight Lieutenant Brian Lane, who was later promoted to Squadron Leader and Officer Commanding 19 Squadron. John was serving with ‘A’ Flight when Douglas Bader joined its ranks.
Read MoreOn the Saturday of The Duxford Air Show, IWM Duxford was treated to a visit from a very special guest. Nancy Stannard, nee Bateman was a WAAF who served at RAF Duxford between 1939 and 1941. She worked in the Operations Room as a teleprinter operator.
I had been in touch with Nancy and her family for a while and we had arranged for her to come back to IWM Duxford, selecting September in the hope that the weather would not be too bad. As it was we were treated to glorious sunshine.
It was a great to be able to host Nancy on a return visit to Duxford. The place looked very different, particularly due to all the air show hustle and bustle, but there were some areas, such as the Operations Room that were still very familiar to Nancy.
Over a well-deserved cup of tea, Nancy told me some of her memories of RAF Duxford, the place she says she remembers best out of all the places she served as a WAAF. Nancy was one of the very first WAAFs to arrive at RAF Duxford and she remembers the station not being quite ready for them. So much so that she and the other women, who had arrived with her, were given airmen’s greatcoats to wear as they didn’t have any made for women!
Nancy also said she vividly remembers going to dances in the hangar, dancing to tunes like In the Mood.
Having had a lovely chat with Nancy and really getting to know what RAF Duxford was like for her during the early years of the Second World War, I asked her if she was happy to be interviewed in the commentary box at the air show. Although slightly nervous, Nancy rose to the challenge and gave a wonderful interview. It was so good in fact, it was replayed on Sunday making Nancy’s audience over 33,000 people.
Having worked her very hard, I finally let her and her family relax and watch the air show. It was a great pleasure to meet Nancy and to hear her tales of RAF Duxford. Every time I interview a veteran, the historic site where I work every day takes on a new little detail. I doubt I shall walk through the Operations Room now without thinking about Nancy and the number of times she would have walked down that very same corridor.
A great day spent with one of Duxford’s people.
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John and Hilda met at RAF Duxford during the 1950s. They had their first ‘date’ at the cinema here on the domestic site. They have now been married for 54 years.
Over the last month or so Carl, Steve and I have been travelling the East of England and interviewing some of Duxford’s Cold War veterans.
We have been really lucky to have had the help of the Old Dux Association. They spread the word and helped us find our interviewees.
I have particularly enjoyed interviewing our Duxford couples. Everyone loves a good “so…how did you meet?” story but the fact that people got together at Duxford, the place I work every day, is even better!
One of the interesting things that really came out in the interviews concerned the fact that when a member of the Women’s Royal Air Force got married, she had to leave the services. Some of our interviewees evidently found this hard to take as they loved their jobs and the life that went with it. Life as a military wife took some getting used to.
Another thing that became clear during this interview process was that lasting friendships were made at Duxford. Indeed many of our Cold War veterans are still in touch with the friends they made here. This is particularly evident at meetings of the Old Dux Association when the veterans get together. The friendly rivalry between two of Duxford’s Cold War squadrons – No. 64 and 65 – is as strong as ever!
We still have a lot of people we want to interview and if you, or anyone you know, served at Duxford between 1945 and 1961 then please get in touch with us – and the Old Dux Association too. It is so important for us to capture the memories and stories of the people who lived and worked at Duxford. Their interviews will help bring our Historic Duxford exhibition to life.
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IWM Duxford has been visited by a wide range of people from a diverse set of countries over its 90-year history. It has recently come to our attention, however, that the first foreign visit to our little piece of South Cambridgeshire countryside may have been much earlier than we previously suspected.
Archaeological work undertaken on site in the last few weeks has revealed a remarkable man-made carving, only 64 feet from the entrance to Hangar 2: Flying Aircraft. As shown in the photograph, the carving depicts a scarab beetle, or scarabee. It is etched into what appears to be some form of conglomerate rock or breccia.
We know how important the scarab beetle was in ancient Egypt. It represented rebirth, and as a symbol is found in many places throughout the ancient world. The striking resemblance to similar carvings in North Africa allows us to date this piece to circa 1300 BCE.
Whoever completed this carving must have been extraordinarily firm of purpose, and very skilful. It has survived for what could be as much as 3,000 years – many of these surely in its present location.
If you have any information that could help us find out how this incredible artefact came to be here, we’d love to hear from you. We’ve already had some rather outlandish explanations as to how it arrived – including via a meteor!
Read MoreTune: My Bonnie lies over the ocean
A poor aviator lay dying
At the end of a bright summer’s day
His comrades had gathered about him
To carry his fragments away
The airplane was piled on his wishbone
His Hotchkiss was wrapped round his head
He wore a spark-plug on each elbow
‘Twas plain he would shortly be dead
He spit out a valve and a gasket
And stirred in the sump where he lay
And then to his wondering comrades
These brave parting words he did say
“Take the magneto out of my stomach,
And the butterfly valve off my neck
Extract from my liver the crankshaft,
There are lots of good parts in this wreck”
“Take the manifold out of my larynx,
And the cylinders out of my brain,
Take the piston rods out of my kidneys,
And assemble the engine again.”
Pull the longeron out of my backbone,
The turnbuckle out of my ear (my ear).
From the small of my back take the rudder-
There’s all of your aeroplane here.
I’ll be riding a cloud in the morning,
With no rotary before me to cuss (to cuss).
Take the lead from your feet and get busy,
Here’s another lad needing the bus!
There are various versions of this folk song, some with additional verses to the ones here. As in many communities, singing songs was a way people came together, particularly at a time before television and even radio. It was also a way of commenting on the experiences they shared, as is the case with this song.
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Following on from our last post, this is another, but very different, photograph of Brian Lane. Lane was No. 19 Squadron’s fourth Commanding Officer in less than 12 months. Of his predecessors, one was posted away, one was shot down and made a prisoner of war, and one was killed. Lane was extremely well-liked by his men, and was a very gifted fighter pilot. He wrote a book about his experiences in the Battle, Spitfire!, which was published in 1942. Tragically, Lane was killed in December that year. He was 25 years old.
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This was taken during the Battle of Britain at Fowlmere, Duxford’s satellite station. Walter ‘Farmer’ Lawson (left), Brian ‘Sandy’ Lane (centre) and George ‘Grumpy’ Unwin (right) had all been in heavy combat that day. Lawson and Lane were both killed in combat later in the war, but ‘Grumpy’ Unwin survived.
What do you think was going through Lane’s mind when this photograph was taken? How do you think he feels?
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