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It’s being to look a lot like Christmas at the Royal Air Force Museum Cosford, as the Shropshire attraction has received a rather large delivery in the form of three Second World War aircraft!  The Boulton Paul Defiant Mk 1, the Gloster Gladiator 1 and the Westland Lysander III have all been safely transported by road from the museum’s London site and are currently being prepared for display at Cosford.

It is a homecoming for the Boulton Paul Defiant Mk 1, the last surviving example of its kind, built by Boulton Paul at its Pendeford, Wolverhampton factory in 1938.  This two-seat turret fighter, operated with mixed fortunes during the Battle of Britain period but found its niche as a night fighter during 1940-42.  They were used extensively later in the war for air-sea rescue and target tug roles in the UK and Middle and Far East. The museum’s example, serial number N1671 was operated by the newly formed No 307 (Polish) Squadron RAF, who became operational in December 1940.  It was painted in its all black night fighter colour scheme the following January and carried out 15 patrols before moving to No 285 (Anti-aircraft Co-Operation) Squadron in June 1942, its last operational user.  It was originally set aside for preservation in 1944 and spent several years moving between RAF bases for display.  N1671 was eventually acquired by the RAF Museum in 1971 and after almost four decades on display at the museum’s London site, the aircraft was completely restored by Medway Aircraft Preservation Society at Rochester Airport in 2009, going back on display at the museum in 2012. Now the sole surviving intact example of its type has made the 130 mile journey from London to Cosford where it will go on public display early in the New Year.

Another new aircraft to wing its way to Cosford is the Gloster Gladiator 1, the first enclosed cockpit and last biplane fighter introduced into RAF service.  Although Gladiators saw operational service at home it was most successfully employed overseas particularly in the defence of Malta.  At the outbreak of the Second World War, four home based RAF fighter squadrons equipped with Gladiators were sent to France and after just ten days of hard fighting, all the aircraft had been lost. In a desperate attempt to provide fighter cover for the ‘little ships’ involved in the Dunkirk evacuation, a detachment of home based aircraft known as ‘G’ Flight was formed at RAF Manston, Kent.  They were quickly deployed to assist with the rescue of more than 338,000 British and French soldiers trapped on the beaches. During the early war years, Gladiators were used by the RAF in several other overseas operations including; Norway, Greece, North Africa and the Middle East.

The museum’s example, serial number K8042 has been displayed at the RAF Museum London since opening in 1972 and this is the first time the aircraft will be displayed at the museum’s Cosford site.  It’s not however, the first time the aircraft has visited the Midlands, having been stationed with No 5 Squadron at RAF Ternhill and No 61 Squadron at RAF Rednal, Shropshire in the early 1940s.  K8042 was also used for gun trials and experiments, whereby an additional pair was fitted under the top wing, giving a total of six guns instead of the usual four. Also joining the aircraft collection at the RAF Museum Cosford is the Westland Lysander III, the only surviving Special Duties variant of this aircraft.  It was designed to operate closely with the Army and had a remarkable performance which enabled it to get into and out of extremely small fields.  A radical change in Army co-operation tactics meant that its lasting fame is not in this role but as a Special Duties aircraft ferrying Allied agents in and out of enemy occupied Europe.  Four Lysander squadrons went to France in 1939 and despite some notable successes the Army Co-operation units suffered extremely high casualties – over 170 Lysander’s were sent to France; only 50 came back.  After their withdrawal from France, they patrolled the coastal areas of south and east England as an anti-invasion reconnaissance measure. Late in 1940 they began air-sea rescue duties in the Channel and North Sea – not only could the Lysander spot airmen in the sea and bring surface vessels to them, it was able to drop a lifesaving dinghy and supplies.

The museum’s example, serial number R9125 first became operational with No 225 Squadron in 1940 as a coastal patrol and photo reconnaissance aircraft, based along the south coast of England.  It took on the Special Duties role with No 161 Squadron in 1944 and was operational for a further two years until they became obsolete from the RAF in 1946.  For a brief period in 1961 the aircraft was placed into storage at RAF Cosford and ten years later it was acquired by the museum and placed on display at its London site, where it has remained until its recent move to Cosford.

The Defiant and Gladiator will both go on public display in the museum’s ‘War in the Air’ hangar in January 2017, whilst the Lysander will be heading to the museum’s Conservation Centre for an in depth inspection and condition assessment, before work is carried out over the next few years to replace its fragile linen outer skin.

Head of Collections at the RAF Museum, Ian Thirsk said:

“It’s been a busy month at Cosford with five new aircraft arrivals.  We took delivery of the Bf109 and the Tiger Moth earlier this month and now we welcome the Defiant, Gladiator and Lysander to the collection at Cosford.  The Junkers Ju 88R-1, a sub-type of the most versatile German combat aircraft of the Second World War will complete the new line-up and is due to arrive before the New Year.  The museum’s centenary plans have provided an exciting opportunity to relocate significant aircraft in the collection closer to aviation fans in the Midlands. In total Cosford will have received six new aircraft in the final few months of this year.”

The new collection of aircraft will enable the RAF’s story to be more comprehensively represented to museum audiences in Shropshire and is in preparation for the centenary of the Royal Air Force in 2018. The centenary plans at Cosford will also include exploring the first 100 years of the RAF, the role it plays today and its future contributions by sharing this story online with a global audience.

Aviation fans can keep up to date with the centenary aircraft moves and on-going developments by signing up to the museum’s free e-Newsletter http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/contact-us/newsletters.aspx

Visitors will be able to see five of the new arrivals fully reassembled and in their new display positions by early 2017.  Entrance to the museum is free of charge and the museum is open daily from 10am until 4pm.  For further information, please visit the museum’s website www.rafmuseum.org/cosford or call 01902 376200.

A Messerschmitt BF109G-2 and a de Havilland Tiger Moth II, are the first of six new aircraft to arrive at the Royal Air Force Museum Cosford, having been transported by road from the museum’s sister site in London.  Visitors can now view the brand new arrivals on display in the museum’s hangars with four more aircraft due to arrive before Christmas.

The Messerschmitt BF109G-2, designed by Willi Messerschmitt, is a legend alongside the British Spitfire, American P51 Mustang and the Japanese Zero.  First flown in 1935, the Bf109 was obsolescent by the second half of World War Two yet it remained the backbone of the German Air Force’s day fighter force and was flown by many of her allies. In production right up to the end of hostilities, more than 33,000 were built second only to the Russian ‘Sturmovik’ as the most prolific military design, and post-war versions served with the Czech, Israeli and Spanish Air Forces, the latter until the mid-1960s – with Rolls Royce Merlin engines.  Compact, rugged, fast and heavily armed the Bf109 has the distinction of being flown by the highest-scoring fighter aces in history. With the promised availability of the new Daimler-Benz DB 605A German built engine, design work began on the Bf109G series where higher speeds were obtained, but manoeuvrability and handling were adversely affected. The Bf109G series will be forever linked with the daylight bomber-killing missions in defence of the Reich. German fighter pilots found themselves facing heavily armed American B17 Fortress and B24 Liberator bombers and later long range P38 Lightning, P47 Thunderbolt and P51 Mustang fighters. Ground down by the overwhelming odds, few survived the war. 

The museum’s rare example was disassemble by the museum’s team of Aircraft Technicians and Apprentices in London and transported on a low loader lorry along the M1, M6 and M54 before being reassembled in its new display hangar at Cosford. Members of the public can now view the aircraft in the museum’s ‘War in the Air’ hangar alongside fellow German fighter the Focke Wulf Fw190, facing their British equivalents the Supermarine Spitfire 1 and Hawker Hurricane IIc.

The second of the two new arrivals is the 1930s bi-plane the de Havilliand Tiger Moth II, originally produced as a development of the well-known Gipsy Moth.  The Tiger Moth went on to become one of the world’s most famous training aircraft and provided the majority of RAF pilots with their elementary flying training during the Second World War.  In the aftermath of the Dunkirk evacuation in 1940, almost any anti-invasion idea was considered and three extraordinary Tiger Moth conversions were put forward.  Some were fitted with light bomb racks ready to undertake the bombing of enemy troops attempting a landing, whilst others were fitted with a tank in the front cockpit with powder dispensers located under the wings intended to dust the German troops with a poisonous insecticide as they waded ashore.  A more revolutionary idea was the ‘paraslasher’; a scythe-like blade fitted to the aircraft and intended to cut parachutist’s canopies as they descended to earth. Fortunately none of these ideas had to be used, leaving Elementary Flying Training Schools to their vital role of pilot training. 

The Tiger Moth was eventually succeeded and replaced by the de Havilland Chipmunk in the early 1950s and both aircraft can now be viewed alongside each other in Hangar 1 at Cosford, positioned next to the Scottish Aviation Bulldog T Mk 1, a further progression in training aircraft.  The Tiger Moth also travelled by road to Cosford, alongside the Bf109 .

Other aircraft still to wing their way to Cosford before Christmas include the Wolverhampton built Boulton Paul Defiant M1, Junkers Ju 88R-1, Gloster Gladiator 1 and the Westland Lysander III.  Work is already underway at the museum’s London site to prepare the aircraft for transportation by road to Cosford.  Visitors will be able to see all of the new aircraft fully reassembled and in their new display positions by early 2017, with the exception of the Lysander which will spend a short period in the museum’s Conservation Centre before eventually going on display.

RAF Museum Cosford Curator, Al McLean said:

“This will be the first time that we have been able to display a Bf 109 in the War in the Air hangar at Cosford and appropriately it will be seen confronting a Hurricane and a Spitfire.”

The new aircraft arrivals will enable the RAF’s story to be more comprehensively represented to museum audiences in Shropshire, as the museum prepares to celebrate and commemorate the centenary of the Royal Air Force in 2018.  Whilst there are major transformations planned for the museum’s London site, some exciting additions for Cosford will include exploring the first 100 years of the RAF, the role it plays today and its future contributions, as well as sharing the story online with a global audience.

Aviation fans can keep up to date with the centenary aircraft moves and on-going developments by signing up to the museums free e-Newsletter http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/contact-us/newsletters.aspx

Entrance to the museum is free of charge and the museum is open daily from 10am until 4pm.  For further information, please visit the museum’s website www.rafmuseum.org/cosford.