Visit to Duxford 2021

Hello there! I visited Duxford IWM recently and have a number of photos for you today. I am lucky that such a great museum is within easy driving distance and while I usually visit when there is a special display or event on I find that on those occasions I see the special event but very little of the rest of the museum.

With the day off work and leaving the rain behind at home we set off to Cambridgshire.

Just walking from the gift shop I was able to see a number of aircraft warming up to take off. This Harvard trainer was the first to go and had a very loud droning engine sound on lifting off.

This photographic reconnaissance Spitfire was parked up but behind were two twin seat Spitfire training aircraft which spent the day taking off, landing and flying circuits.

This Aeronca L-3B, 'grasshopper' spotter aircraft was close to the airfield barrier.

Moving to the inside of the Land warfare hangar. There are definite plans to move the exhibits in this buiding to AMERICA!. I heard a rumour of these plans on the internet so e mailled Duxford and they confirmed that the rumours were true. The latest curator of the museum appears to be more interested in aircraft exhibits, despite the rest of the museum being dominated by aircraft. I have complained about this planned move but the answer showed little care about my concerns. I have also heard that a number of the military vehicle exhibits maybe part of private collections so may not be leaving the country but will no longer be held at the museum.

I have made a number of these for the Free French desert forces and it was enlightening to see how small they really were!

This British light tank Mk VI was also very small. I cannot see anyone over 5'10" tall being able to crew this tank!

This British 3.7" heavy anti aircraft gun is in a sandbag emplacement and makes a good diorama.

This Valentine tank was also very small, especially in comparison to their larger German counterparts. The paint is flaking off the turret to expose what looks like plywood underneath! I hope this is an expedient carried out by the museum and not a real example of armour. 

The Lloyd carried and 6pdr anti tank gun was in an odd position and not easy to photograph from some angles. However you coud get close to the carrier. As you can see the muzzle flash is on the barrel of the 6 pdr so appears to be the later version?

A reminder of the old Airfix Matador and 5.5"gun model. Duxford have one here and is a very plain gun but with the people included for scale is large. 

In the foreground the German PAK 38 is part of a desert display. 

This 'Goliath' , as far as I can remember, has been moved from elsewhere in the building and includes its carrying trolley.

A nice example of a British heavy lorry. I have started to build a number of large lorries and I would like to source one of these as a model. 

Some of the Italian examples of  artillery are a welcome sight as Italian exhibits are very much a poor relation of other Axis and Allied items. Strange as so much of it was captured in the desert during Operation Compass?!

I cannot help but think of a milk float when I looked at this 'Tractor'. There must be a model of this somewhere on the market? 

A stable for German artillery this artillery piece was impressive. A sharp contrast to the Italian examples. I have made some models of this gun for my desert forces. Different versions of this gun would have different types of wheels during the war. 

This needs no introduction. However it did appear to be a T34 with added Tiger I mock up super structure. The tracks are the same as on the T34 85 pictured later. The tracks are a give away. Is it the one used in recent movies?

Poor lighting in this part of the building. I managed to off set the poor lighting in most of the photographs but this was a very dark corner. I try to avoid using flash as this 'flattens' all the detail of the subject.

A good detailed picture of German camo jacket. I do not know if it an original but it did appear faded.

The 88 here was in a good position and had a interesting diorama. Nice to see the transport wheels present as well.

This has been in the museum for years. I vaguely remember that they had Montys car which Airfix also did a 1/32nd scale model of. It may still be there but could have missed it.

Further examples of German camo uniform. Again rather faded and dusty.

This ambulance, (Austin K2 I believe, but I maybe wrong), has a white painted interior. I thought it was a more richer ochre.

I have a number of model Scammells for the desert recovery game I am planning. I have a couple of tank transporters done but this is the next planned vehicle.

The command vehicles Montgomery used are still in good condition. I have taken the Matchbox model of the Caravan and moved the office body and returned it to the Lancia lorry it originally came from so giving me a command lorry for my Italians. The remaining British truck got a canvas covered body from S & S Scenics. 

I decided to include some further pictures of infantrymen as the dioramas where impressive.

Although there are not as many display cabinets as Bovington tank museum this one was interesting but photographing through glass in problematical.

This is the display from the MAFVA which uses figures made by Tony Barton from AB Miniatures. These figures where released and I have a number of the sets still available. This is a great diorama and well worth looking at. There are many small features and shows the layers of the frontline and support.

Unfortunately I was unable to add the co ordinate of the mother in laws house into this........

The American Hall is packed with planes from throughout the years. Here is just a small example. You have the added bonus of being able to walk around and under the exhibits.

Looking around the maintenance hangar was a delight and was a real memory jogger from when I served in the RAF, although the planes were not as old as these are!

This Salamander has been in the museum for a while but now appears complete.

When I was in the Falkland Islands one hangar had a captured Argentinian pucara aircraft. That one was missing both engines so may not be this one. Its camouflage is very faded. 

This is the Battle of Britain exhibition hangar. This has not changed much over the years but is still impressive. The lighting here is much better.

The Italian CR42 has been here for a long while as well but again seems complete.

Here is what it looked like previously.

I was surprised to see so many ME109's! This desert camouflage version was new to me. The Lysander, below, was an old friend and I have seen it flying on a number of occasions.

There was another Lysander in the Air Hall.

This little piece of history was a surprise as well. It was in the newer hangar at the far end of the airfield, close to the entrance and gift shop. Looking old and worn now I wonder where the rest of the plane went?

Also in this hangar was the Lancaster from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. It provided the opportunity to see two Lancasters in the same building! A couple of years ago I saw two lancasters flying together as the air worthy version from Canada, (America?), flew to this country and did a number of flights around the country.

The Sunderland Flying Boat is impressive and reminds me that I have an Airfix model of one of these to be made. The problem is how and where am I going to store it?!

I have seen one of these flying at a previous air display at Duxford. It flew so slowly I am amazed that they were not all shot out of the sky at Taranto!

I remember the Airfix model of this. An Airspeed Anson. Looking on the internet there is only one airworthy version and that is in New Zealand.

I would watch the lightning aircraft fly over my house when I was a child. They would glint in the sun. Information concerning the lightning can be found here.

Here is an overview of the hangar.

This was NOT my favourite exhibit as I once saw a mechanical handler 'donkey', something I would use when I was in the RAF.Now finding something that I actually DID service and maintain when I was in the RAF, being used as an exhibition in a museum did NOT go down well.

The tank and vehicle manoeuvre area was accessable but not active. Here is what was parked there.

In the same hangar is the Parachute Regiment Museum. This is a great and fitting memorial to the regiment. The room extends the width of the hangar but is packed with exhibits.

These exhibits speak for themselves and I cannot really add to them. I do not know if these are genuine Victoria Crosses on display because tyhese are valuable and must be stored elsewhere?

The lighter in the top right saved the owners life as it stopped a bullet during the battle at Arnhem.

These are the original planning boards for D-Day, Arnhem, Bruneval and Pegasus Bridge. Very well detailed but too small a scale too small for wargaming.

The weapons display is massively comprehensive and covers Allied, Axis and Iraqui weapons.

This is a gold plated AK 47 'liberated' from one of Saddam Hussain's palaces.

Well there it is. Sorry it is such a large post but I did not even photograph everything that I could have done.