Brought to Life
Saturday 22 to Sunday 30 October
AirSpace
Tales of wartime endeavour are Brought to Life during October Half Term.
Every day between 10.30am and 2.30pm, visitors have the opportunity to handle items from the First World War and Second World War, looking at the changing role of the soldier and comparing and contrasting uniforms and equipment from both periods.
By getting hands-on with military equipment, visitors can learn more about warfare as it was fought on the front line.
Visitors can learn more about how bravery in the field of conflict is recognised through the awarding of medals and decorations, making their own individual medals and then finding out the history and meaning behind such honours.
On Wednesday 26, Thursday 27, Saturday 29 and Sunday 30 October between 11.00am and 1.00pm, veterans from a wide range of military conflicts will be chatting to visitors about their experiences and sharing their own personal memories of their time at war.
Veterans from the Royal Air Force, Royal Navy, Army and the Home Front from the Second World War will be present, together with ex-servicemen from the Royal Anglian Regiment and the Parachute Regiment who served in the Malayan Conflict, the Falklands War and Northern Ireland, in addition to veterans of the Korean War.
Men and women of varying ages, backgrounds and experiences, they have fascinating and individual stories to tell about their own personal war. Veterans will have artefacts and photographs with them, which they are happy to discuss with visitors.
Veterans attending include (different veterans will be attending on each day):
· A member of the Royal Anglian Regiment (1986 to 1994) who served in Germany, the Falkland Islands, Northern Ireland, the UK and Canada.
· A member of the Parachute Regiment (1971 to 1974) who completed four tours of Northern Ireland and who also carried out Jungle Warfare Training in Malaya.
· A telegraphist in the Royal Navy during the Second World War, who served on HMS Uganda, took part in the Battle of the Atlantic and was part of an escort that took Winston Churchill to the USA in 1943.
· A member of the British Resistance Organisation (Churchill’s Secret Army) (1940 to 1943) who then joined the Royal Air Force and was a Flight Sergeant until 1947.
· A Petty Officer in the Royal Navy during the Second World War who served in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean and with Russian Convoys on Motor Gun Boats and on submarines .
· A Flight Lieutenant in RAF Bomber Command during the Second World War who worked as a bomb aimer and as a navigator in Halifaxes and Mosquitoes, and spent 5 months evading capture in Holland and Belgium.
· A National Service conscripted serviceman who served in Trieste and then in the Korean War from 1951 to 1952.
· A member of the Royal Anglian Regiment and the 2nd Northamptonshire Yeomanry.
· A Sergeant in the Army during the Second World War who served in Sicily, North Africa, Italy, Austria and the British Isles.
· A member of the Home Guard from 1940 to 1942, who then became a platoon commander in a rifle company of an infantry battalion. He served in France, Belgium and Holland, and was wounded in Germany. He was awarded the Military Cross.
· A member of the Royal Navy, from 1952 until 1964, who served on a variety of ships as a Leading Radio Operator and who witnessed H bomb testing near Christmas Island in the South Pacific.
· A member of the 1st Battalion of the 3rd East Anglian Regiment (1959 to 1961) who served in the Malayan conflict.
· A Sergeant in the Royal Marines during the Second World War who provided bombardment support to the Land Forces at major landings.
· A Royal Marine (1978 to 1982) who was in 41 Commando and did a tour of duty with the United Nations in Cyprus in 1979.
· A Royal Marine during the Second World War whose ship was one of the first to land at Sword Beach during the Normandy Landings in June 1944.
· A Gunner with the Royal Artillery during the Second World War, who served in India, Changi, Taiwan and Japan and was held in a Japanese Prisoner of War camp.
· A member of the Royal Air Force (1944 to 1953) who flew with Bomber Command just after the end of the Second World War, then with Fighter Command from 1949 and who flew some of the earliest jets, including the Vampire and Meteor.
· A Second World War schoolchild who enjoyed playing on the bomb sites and later joined the Royal Air Force.
· A Second World War evacuee.
· A member of the Royal Anglian Regiment (1973 to 1979) who was stationed in Peterborough, driving Land Rovers and 4 tonners to transport personnel and equipment for use on deployment.
· An Able Seaman in the Royal Navy during the Second World War.
· A Second World War evacuee who later served in the Royal Navy.
· A member of the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve during the Second World War who served in Bomb Disposal and on escort duties for submarines and shipping.
Different veterans will be attending on Wednesday 26, Thursday 27, Saturday 29 and Sunday 30 October. Attendance by veterans is subject to availability.
Spitfire Stories Tour
Monday 24 to Friday 28 October
A new FREE tour, Spitfire Stories looks at RAF Duxford’s synonymous relationship with the Spitfire, through the eyes of the pilots and ground crew who worked and lived with this iconic aircraft.
Learn more about the mental strength and aptitude needed to be a successful Battle of Britain fighter pilot.
Find out more about the personal stories behind the operational role of the Spitfire at Duxford, taken from the memories of the men who flew and maintained this legendary aircraft, from its first days in service and throughout the Battle of Britain.
This tour is included in standard admission to the Museum and runs on a first-come, first-served basis. The tour will last for approximately 30 minutes and booking is not required.
War Memorial by Richard Walker
In addition, local artist Richard Walker will be showing his latest work, War Memorial, in AirSpace.
This large-scale painting took two years to paint and a year and a half to research. It is made up of 35 separate canvases, brought together in five panels.
The painting is a war memorial, dedicated to the people who served in the GreatWar.
The images in the paintings are of objects and ephemera from the different branches of the military services, including uniforms, medals, medical kits, signal flags and some weapons. In addition, there are private and personal objects included, which were found in many family archives, such as personal letters, postcards, photographs, memorial plaques, newspapers and commemorative items.
They are arranged in such a way that they imply a sense of cause and effect with personal objects from the Front balanced against objects that reference warfare.
Richard Walker lives and works in St Neots, Cambridgeshire, where he teaches art and art history at Kimbolton School. He studied Fine Art at the Central St Martin’s School of Art, London, graduating in 1989, after which he worked in the medium of sculpture, until about ten years ago, when he started exploring military objects and aircraft through the medium of complex ink drawings.
War Memorial will be on display in AirSpace throughout the October Half Term.
To see examples of Richard Walker’s work go to http://picasaweb.google.com/113993138387162629653
Brought to Life presents the experiences of war through the first-person stories of those who fought so valiantly for their country throughout 20th century conflicts. It gives visitors the opportunity to learn more about the ordinary people who experienced extraordinary circumstances, through a range of inspiring activities.
