Hangar 4: Battle of Britain Exhibition
Hangar 4 is one of Duxford's historic hangars, and now houses an exhibition exploring Duxford's history as an operational RAF airfield from the First World War to the Cold War. The early period is represented by a Bristol Fighter, a type operated by Duxford's No.2 Flying Training School from 1920. The latter period is represented by a Hawker Hunter which flew at Duxford with No. 65 Squadron RAF, a Gloster Javelin, the type which made the last operational flight at Duxford in 1961, and by a Hungarian Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21, a common Warsaw Pact jet fighter. Britain's air defence during the Second World War is particularly emphasised, with exhibits representing the Battle of Britain, the Blitz and the V-1 flying bomb offensive from 1944. Notable aircraft include a Messerschmitt Bf-109E which was flown during the Battle of Britain until forced down in Sussex due to engine failure. It is displayed as part of a tableau showing the crashed aircraft under guard. One unusual aircraft on display is the Cierva C.30A autogyro, which was used by 74 (Signals) Wing, based at Duxford, to test the calibration of coastal radar units.
Read more about this topic: Imperial War Museum Duxford
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“Any coward can fight a battle when he’s sure of winning, but give me the man who has pluck to fight when he’s sure of losing. That’s my way, sir; and there are many victories worse than a defeat.”
—George Eliot [Mary Ann (or Marian)
“I’ th’ world’s volume
Our Britain seems as of it, but not in’ t;
In a great pool a swan’s nest.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“A man’s thinking goes on within his consciousness in a seclusion in comparison with which any physical seclusion is an exhibition to public view.”
—Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951)