Historic RAF Duxford Trail

During the Second World War, RAF Duxford played a prominent role in Britain’s air defence including the Battle of Britain in 1940, when its squadrons took to the air to repulse Luftwaffe attacks aimed at London; it was twinned with nearby RAF Fowlmere.

The original main entrance to the site was through the gate next to the RAF Duxford Station Offices (now the staff entrance).  Behind this was the Operations Block; the Operations Room here was the nerve centre of Duxford's Battle of Britain contributions and there is an excellent exhibition and film here describing a critical day in this campaign.

From here, behind a hangar now used as the Battle of Britain Hall, you pass the original buildings used for training pilots. A little further is an original and complete Uni-Seco prefabricated bungalow that was relocated to the museum from south east London (SE15).

Back to the airstrip and doubling back to another original hangar, now used to house the Air and Sea Exhibition, is the original Watch Office; this was, built in 1918 and is now used as a small exhibition hall that tells Duxford's story through the eyes of the men and women who worked there.

A new Control Tower, built in 1941, now fulfils the functions of both Watch and Control.Read more