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FROM Cambridge, England, my friend Chris visited the Imperial War Museum (IWM) Duxford, just south of Cambridge, on the 5th, 6th, and 7th of September. He wrote up this post for me.
The IWM Duxford is on an airfield that served as a military base in World Wars One and Two, and in the Cold War as well. These days, it’s a museum and the site of regular airshows.
Each year, the IWM Duxford puts on several airshows, the biggest of which is the Battle of Britain Airshow in September. It features the biggest collection of World War II vintage aircraft that you will see anywhere!
The flying lineup this September, marking the 85th anniversary of the Battle of Britain, included several combat veterans, such as the actual Spitfire that crashed on the beach at Dunkirk, as shown in the 2017 film Dunkirk. It was later rescued from the sands and fully restored.
Zooming in toward the left of the photo above gives you an idea of just how many planes of fame were there.
Here’s another photo, of a group of Spitfires standing out against the smoke from some pyrotechnics, simulating an attack by an enemy aircraft.
Before the airshow, which is on a Saturday and a Sunday, you can check out the museum hangars, which are full of rare exhibits, such as this Avro Vulcan jet bomber, perhaps the most distinctive-looking of all Britain’s Cold War jets.
And one of two surviving complete examples of the TSR-2, a plane built in the 1960s that was far ahead of its time but scrapped before it went into production.
And many famous types from World Wars One and Two and the stories of their crews, along with exhibits about the people behind the planes and the aerodromes.
The next photo shows an airworthy replica of a Fokker DVII which is now permanently at Duxford. The Fokker DVII was a German type from World War One that was so effective the Treaty of Versailles specifically called for it to be scrapped.
The polygonal pattern on the Fokker is actually a type of camouflage, called Lozenge Camouflage, though the large areas of lilac and white, and large markings, undermine its effectiveness somewhat. The camouflage colours, created by modern methods, are perhaps a little more vivid than the original, but nobody really knows for sure.
The Fokker stands in front of a small but nonetheless four-engine jet called a BAe 146. This particular example was used by Queen Elizabeth II, who had the tables monogrammed.
And a favourite seat, which you can sit in if you want.
The red carpet was laid on as well!
Duxford may seem vaguely familiar, even if you’ve never been there. That’s because many scenes from the 1969 film The Battle of Britain were shot here.
Duxford was, indeed, a working military airfield for a long time, and has several buildings left over from that era (minus the one that was blown up when they made The Battle of Britain).
Inside the station buildings, there are more museum exhibits, including photos that you can flip over to answer a question or discover the real story behind some propaganda image.
Not all the aircraft were little fighter planes by any means. They included the Sally B, a Boeing B-17 which appeared in the 1990 film Memphis Belle and is still flying today.
The Sally B can be seen landing in one of the scenes of the following video:
And it flies in the background of the following clip as well, of a couple of singers from the vocal group the D-Day Darlings, singing morale-boosting songs of the time.
Some of the aircraft, when they are swooping and diving, make a sort of howl. This is caused by the air blowing over their gun ports, apparently.
One of the highlights of Duxford is the ‘Big Wing,’ which in 2025 was assembled from 15 Spitfires and 7 Hawker Hurricanes.
Chris got to see the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight’s Avro Lancaster as well!
Some of the museum hangar exhibits were huge. They included a B-29 bomber.
And even a B-52 jet bomber!
There was the red biplane from the latest Mission Impossible movie.
And you can always watch the people watching the planes as well.
The official flying list for Duxford's September 2025 airshow can be seen here.
Next week, Chris will take a look at Duxford's civilian airliners.
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