Visiting a Battle of Britain Airfield

DUXFORD, England —  While walking on a quiet road of this preserved Battle of Britain fighter station, past long-abandoned red-brick maintenance and supply buildings, past rows of famous planes, and opposite wooden hangars from World War II, I dwelled in the past, enjoying my solitary thoughts of the war, the machines and the skies in which men fought and died.

It was from Duxford Airfield and other bases in southeast England, from July to November, 1940, that Royal Air Force pilots flew sortie after sortie against the Germans in the Battle of Britain.

Duxford Airfield, eight miles from Cambridge in the gently rolling hills of East Anglia, is part of Imperial War Museum at Duxford.

Aside from its preserved buildings and remembrances past, the museum is several things simultaneously. It is home to the largest and most diverse collection of aircraft in the British Isles, about 100 military and civilian aircraft.

Also, it houses a collection of tanks, artillery pieces, army trucks, small boats, a German V-1 rocket launching ramp, a huge 9.2-inch coastal defense gun from Gibraltar, and many other exhibits associated with 20th-Century warfare.

In addition, the museum maintains the largest airplane restoration facility in Europe and hosts air shows featuring antique and modern planes that perform over a still-active runway.

“Duck Pond,” as Americans from the 78th Fighter Group headquartered here during World War II called the field, has had ties with the United States military since 1918, when 200 U.S. flyers were trained at the station for World War I duty.

During their World War II stint at the base from June, 1943, until November, 1945, the 82nd, 83rd, and 84th Squadrons of the 78th Fighter Group shot down 578 German planes and destroyed 799 planes on the ground, losing 128 pilots in action.

The airfield has the largest display of American aircraft outside the United States.

Among the American aircraft displayed is a B-17G Flying Fortress, a P-51D Mustang, a Boeing B-29A Superfortress, a Chance Vought F4U-7 Corsair and a Boeing B-52D Stratofortress.

The American aircraft are included in the displays of planes that line the runway and some which are housed in a huge hangar that was built in 1985. The hangar also serves as the museum’s main exhibition center and entrance, and includes military vehicles and artillery pieces. Related exhibits are in three hangars, several outbuildings and throughout the grounds.

Military aircraft include a 1915 BE2C reconnaissance biplane, a Lancaster bomber, a German Junkers JU-52, a mlitary transport plane and a Meteor, the RAF’s first jet fighter, introduced at the close of World War II.

Civil aircraft include a DeHavilland Comet-4, a British Aircraft Corp. Super VC-10, a Vickers Viscount 701 and a Concorde supersonic passenger plane.

Duxford was an active RAF base from 1918 until 1961, and last saw action when movie producer Harry Saltzman blew up one of its World War II hangars in the 1969 film, the “Battle of Britain.”

A set depicting the base also figured prominently in an earlier film, “Reach for the Sky,” starring Kenneth More, who portrayed the exploits of legless squadron leader Douglas Bader.

The officers’ mess building is now a cafeteria, the station’s former cinema shows World War II movies and the Spitfires and Hurricanes are still here, under the watchful eyes of museum guards.

Duxford is a day trip from London. The airfield is on the Royston-Newmarket Road (Highway A505), about 48 miles northeast of London and eight miles south of Cambridge.

The facility is open all year, but hours and services vary according to season: From early March until late October the museum is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The remainder of the year it is open daily from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., closed on Dec. 24, 25 and 26 and Jan. 1. Adult admission is about $5.75 U.S.; children about $3 U.S.

From London by car, drive the M25 expressway to the MI1 motorway to exit 10 (Junction 10). The museum is about a mile from the expressway exit.

During early March to late October Green Line runs a bus daily to Duxford Airfield from its depot on Eccleston Bridge Road, behind Victoria (railroad) Station in London. Year round, take the Green Line bus to Cambridge and Premier bus from Cambridge to Duxford.

British Rail serves Cambridge from London’s Liverpool Street Station and Kings Cross Station. Get off the train at Whittlesford and walk 1 1/2 miles to the airfield, or continue on the train to Cambridge and take the local bus (Premier) from the railroad station to Duxford.

Inquire in advance because not all trains stop at Whittlesford, and the bus service between Cambridge and Duxford is infrequent.

Private planes may land at Duxford Field with advance permission.