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01 Feb 2019

World War 2 museum opens at London airfield

Spitfire aircraft and previously unpublished photos of World War 2 pilots and Winston Churchill have gone on public display at the newly-opened Biggin Hill War Memorial Museum in London.

The museum opened its doors yesterday with the aim of creating an environment where people can learn about the Battle of Britain and those who lost their lives in the conflict.

Other artefacts on display include objects that reflect the lives of those who worked at RAF Biggin Hill and those that reflect the personal stories of service men and women that operated at the airfield.

RAF Biggin Hill is an airfield in South London that Winston Churchill called his "strongest link" during the Battle of Britain. Pilots from the airfield took down 1,400 Luftwaffe aircraft during World War 2.



Construction work on the £5.3m (US$6.9m, €6m) museum started in Q4 2017 and the project received funding from the UK Government, the National Lottery, the local Bromley Council and private donors.

"The museum offers a new way of telling for what some people would be a familiar story," said director of the Biggin Hill War Memorial Museum, Jemma Davey.

"The history of Biggin Hill goes so much further back than the Battle of Britain. It is one of Britain's oldest aerodromes and was instrumental to the development of wireless communication technologies."

The historic airfield site is also home to St George’s RAF Chapel of Remembrance, where those who died working from Biggin Hill sector are commemorated.