Leaderboard

Hi all, I dont know how many of you have been to the above museum, but those who have will have seen the fantastic static aircraft displays along with the other wartime displays ranging from heavy guns to tanks, plus the USA building housing their particular wartime aircraft, but there is one display that is sadly lacking, and that is the newly formed Airbourne Museum which was at one time at Browning Barracks in Aldershot.When it was at the barracks you could wander around the exhibits and be very close to everything there, and was quite large in space, but the one at Duxford is,nt a patch on the original, My friend I went with was in 3 Para, he and I were very disappointed, nearly all the exhibits were under very poorly lit glass displays, one particular display were weapons either captured or used by paras and other armies, this was about 10 feet high, weapons were literally on top of each other, and the lighting was nearly non existent towards the top, in fact the whole area there was dimly lit, plus some displays did,nt match what had really taken place, We asked a member of staff what was happening, he explained that the curator had decided that to light the whole area properly was costing too much, which to me made no sense whatsoever, bearing in mind that the major aircraft displays were ablaze in large high situated lamps and was very well illuminated, It seems there have been many complaints about this yet nothing has been done , also the situated Airbourne museum seems to have been sited as an after thought, which is a great shame as their history should be well promoted

I certainly would love to read more!

I'd happily listen to as many as you can be bothered typing...

Thats because I,ve been around a long time, I have more stories to tell about the old man and what happened to him during the war, some very funny, some a bit sadder, but they are there anytime people wish to hear them

I just love the great stories Davejb comes up with....

Amazing story....

Oh Ha Ha, very droll. Ok here goes. During the war my dad was in the RAOC, but at some time he was stationed down at Lymn Regis. He was also a Sergeant in charge of weapons training, for Anti Aircraft Machine gunners, Bren guns were used on their tri-pods for incoming enemy planes, who would strafe the local gun defenses on the coast. He was teaching the gunners how to aim correctly, ie lead the planes. They were using our sea planes as targets with blank ammo, A couple of Air sea rescue walruses and also some rescue boats were also being targeted, ,Any way a Sunderland was preparing to take off, and the lads on the Bren guns were firing away with these blanks, As the plane gathered speed and came into full view , a gunner had to change magazines, and dad was about 7-8 feet away, when he saw the guy change mags, he noticed that the mag had a Red band on it, Live ammo which also contained tracer, as the gunner cocked the weapon Dad ran forward. Just as the guy fired , AT THE SUNDERLAND, dad knocked the barrel upwards and tracer flew high above the plane, it was only a few hundred feet away and would have stitched some very neat holes all along the fuselage. He shouted at the others to cease fire which they did. On checking the remaining ammo he found three more live mags, some berk had mixed them up at the ammo store. He checked every single ammo box after that and found one more over the next couple of months. I think thats why he appeared in front of his Co, not because of what happened, but because he decked the Quartermaster in the Ammo store, he was lucky he did,nt lose a stripe

I agree with what you say about IWM London but years ago it was worth going there, they certainly had loads more items when i was a kid and you could walk around them and touch them, as for you getting in the B17, all I can say is you jammy perisher, But you top that with one of the things thats on my bucket list before I shuffle off this mortal coil, a ride in a Lanc. And what a thrill for your youngster, thats something he will never forget, If I had the money I would pay for a flight in the dual cockpit Spitfire, thats on the list too. During my lifetime many things have happened to me, mostly pleasant,but some nasty, some scary, some extremely dangerous, but to ride in both those planes would let me die happy. I can tell you a funny story about a Sunderland and my Dad, and how he was involved in nearly shooting one down.

I didn't find the lighting too bad @Davejbat the Airborne Forces section, but I think it may have been a combination of both as regards photo's. I agree with what you said about the two museums, but being fair to IWM London they are restricted in the size of the building , trying to cater to everyone's tastes and it is free. No doubt about it, Duxford has the edge even if it were just for the fact it was a Wartime Base......Brille. My mate is a member of the Sally B Club so for a small donation, we were allowed on.....even got to hold the mid section Brownings! Bit more room than a Lanc.....did a Taxi ride on "Just Jane " last year, at East Kirkby in Lincolnshire...boy that was a tight squeeze.....even worse for tail end Charlie! I was doing a bit of Living History over the last 10 years so they even let me do it my RAF rig. My youngest son and my wife were there to watch. There were two rides, one in the morning, one in the afternoon. I was the later time but in the morning I had purchased one raffle ticket...it was drawn just before my taxi ride. I couldn't believe it when my son joined me...he had won first prize! Was quite poignant for me as my son never got to meet his Grandfather, my father, who joined up in 1945 and was a ground crew Engineer working on Lancs and Sunderlands. My Dad's involvement in the RAF kick started my interest and this hobby.

Posted some pics on the Museums Gallery if anyone is interested.......