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The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF) is an aerial display team flying historic aircraft. They appear at shows throughout the country, on state occasions and at events commemorating the Second World War.  The aircraft normally flown are an Avro Lancaster, a Supermarine Spitfire and a Hawker Hurricane and they are all veterans of the Second World War. The Lancaster is one of only two in the world that are still flying - the other is in Canada. The Spitfire collection includes an original Mark 2 version that flew in the Battle of Britain as well as later models, such as the high-flying high-speed reconnaissance versions. The collection also includes a Douglas C-47 Dakota that ferried wounded soldiers from Normandy after D-Day.  The flight is administratively part of No. 1 Group RAF, flying out of RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire - which is an operational base on the front line of Britain's defences. The Battle of Britain Flight aircraft can be visited at Coningsby, where expert guides will give you details of their history and tales of the men that flew them.
Dogdyke Road
Coningsby
London's monument to the Battle of Britain is on Victoria Embankment, between Westminster Bridge and the RAF Memorial. It was unveiled by Prince Charles in 2005, cost £1.65 million and was funded entirely by public subscription. Among the donors was the Czech Republic. The monument is more than 80 feet (25 metres) long and was the brainchild of the late Bill Bond MBE, founder of the Battle of Britain Historical Society. It honours ‘the Few’, the RAF pilots who were outnumbered and who saved Britain from invasion in 1940. At its centre is a near life-size sculpture depicting airmen scrambling – running to their aircraft in order to intercept the enemy. Around the monument are the names of the Few – 2,936 airmen from fifteen nations who took part in the battle on the Allied side. Other panels show some of the other participants and contributors to the Battle of Britain and ultimate victory – including civilians.
Do not confuse this monument with the Battle of Britain Memorial in Kent. The post code is approximate.
Westminster
Opened in January 2019, the Biggin Hill Memorial Museum tells the story of the famous RAF airfield, the people who served there, the local community and its residents from 1916 to 1951. The collection has a particular focus on the Battle of Britain, in which RAF Biggin Hill played a pivotal role. Many of the objects in the museum's collection are personal and have been donated by people who served or lived at Biggin Hill, or their relatives.
Main Road
Biggin Hill
The Fleet Air Arm Museum is Europe's largest naval aviation Museum and tells the story of the Royal Navy in the air. There are over 90 aircraft, from biplanes to supersonic jets, plus thousands of other artefacts, on show in four exhibition halls. In addition, it houses the first British Concorde, which you can go on board, and the 'Aircraft Carrier Experience', a fascinating tour round a realistic mocked-up carrier. The museum is exceptionally well laid out - one of the best.
Yeovilton
Orford Ness is Europe's largest shingle spit, approximately 10 miles long running between the River Alde and the North Sea in Suffolk. It is an internationally important area of shingle habitat, home to a huge variety of wildlife, much of it fragile and precious. It was also used for secret military testing and experimentation, including for aircraft, radio, radar, ballistics and atomic weapons, since the First World War until after the Cold War. Limited access is available via National Trust Ferry from Orford.
Orford
One of two RAF museums in Britain (the other one is in Hendon, north London), RAF Cosford displays 70+ aircraft, including the world's oldest Spitfire, with exhibits shown in three historic hangers. On site is the National Cold War Exhibition, which tells the story of this uncertain period in our history and where you can see all three of Britain's V-Bombers - the Vulcan, Victor and Valiant.
The Royal Air Force Museum is on the site of the historic Hendon aerodrome, just over 30 minutes from central London. If you like aircraft, you will love it. Â There are entire hangers dedicated to WW1 aircraft, bombers of all sorts and the Battle of Britain, plus a lot more besides - including flight simulators. Be awed by the Avro Vulcan or Lancaster, or wonder how the flimsy aircraft of the early days managed to stay up.
There is a sister museum in Cosford, Shropshire.
Colindale
RAF Waddington is the RAF's ISTAR (Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition & Reconnaissance) centre, supporting British and NATO operations. It has been in almost continuous use since 1916. There is a viewing area with a car park and mobile café opposite the airfield on the south-bound side of the A15. Opposite is parked a Vulcan bomber. There are information boards explaining the history and some of the aircraft you might see flying, but it’s obviously a matter of pot luck whether you spot anything at all. A good camera is essential and a set of stepladders might be useful.
A15 Sleaford Road
A military museum located on a corner of the historic Tangmere RAF station, which was on the front line during the Battle of Britain. It also provided the forward take-off point for Lysander aircraft, based at RAF Tempsford in Bedfordshire, to refuel before landing agents in enemy-occupied Europe. The museum was opened by enthusiasts in 1982, owns a number of historic and replica aircraft and includes flight simulators and several permanent exhibitions.
Nr Chichester
A WW1 airfield was built in 1917 amidst a golf course that was laid out in 1902, with a luxury hotel being built in 1906. The airfield was initially an aerial gunnery school for the Royal Flying Corps, later the Royal Air Force. The RAF left after the war, but RAF Turnberry was reinstated for WW2, this time for coastal command and torpedo training. The hotel was used as a hospital during both wars. The memorial, standing lonely in the golf course, commemorates aircrew from the UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the USA. Park by the entrance to Turnberry Lighthouse and walk across the golf course toward the lighthouse - where you will also find the remains of Robert the Bruce's castle and fabulous views across to Ailsa Craig.
Turnberry
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