Wings Museum: Recent Episodes
Wings Museum
Behind the scenes at the Wings Museum near Balcombe in West Sussex.
Through the use of informative displays we aim to educate future generations of the sacrifices made by so many during World War Two in order to preserve the peace we all benefit from today. It is our goal to ensure that the memory of those who made such sacrifices are not lost through the passage of time, and that the courage and spirit of those individuals lives on to inspire us all.
Discover real history set among the sounds of the 1940s. Every artefact has its own unique story to tell. Whatever your interest or background you are bound to find something of interest at the Wings Aviation Museum!
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80 years ago today, on Saturday 17th April 1943, the residents of Guildford witnessed an unfortunate collision between two RAF Mustangs, an incident that caused the deaths of the two pilots, Dirk De Kretser and Philip Price.
We also talk to author Chris Goss about his interest in the Luftwaffe and its people.
For more:
https://www.wingsmuseum.co.uk/2023/04/podcast-raf-mustangs-collide-over-guildford-80th-anniversary/
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In this episode:
- Monty Felton tells about his time as a Halifax Navigator in the RAF during WWII
- Steve Quinton guides us through the Shorts Brothers underground factory and air raid shelter in Rochester
- IMPS visit the museum for another visit with their military vehicles
For more:
https://www.wingsmuseum.co.uk/2023/04/podcast-monty-felton-halifax-navigator-shorts-brothers-underground-factory-and-military-vehicles-visit-wings/
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In this episode:
- We talk to Jeffrey Deere of the Morgan Sports Car Club
- Follow the team to a rural location near Peterborough to collect the rear fuselage for the B-25 Bedsheet Bomber Project
- Enjoy a visit from the Invicta Military-Vehicle Preservation Society and speak to Pete Marshall about his Jeep, re-enacting, and explaining RADAR and the Dowding System to the public
For more:
https://www.wingsmuseum.co.uk/2022/05/podcast-morgans-mitchells-and-military-vehicles/
In this episode of the podcast, we catch up with Alex Collinson, a volunteer from Bentley Priory Museum in Stanmore who we last spoke to at one of our Merlin Engine Run events last October.
You can find out more about RAF Bentley Priory the Headquarters of Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain, the Memoirs of the Blitz exhibition and Bentley Priory Museum's opening times on their website, bentleypriorymuseum.org.uk
Of course you can also discover many items and stories about the Blitz and the Home Front back at the Wings Museum. Whilst it would be impossible to say that you would really know how it felt to be there, when you step inside a genuine Anderson shelter, or see how claustrophobic an under table Morrison Shelter would be, your imagination can certainly fill in many of the gaps.
Take a look at our website, wingsmuseum.co.uk
https://www.wingsmuseum.co.uk/2022/04/podcast-memoirs-of-the-blitz-at-bentley-priory/
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In this, the first Wings Museum podcast of 2022:
We talk to museum Co-Curator Daniel Hunt about the museum's role of remembering people's sacrifice in war, and keeping their stories alive, and visit the workshop for an update on a restoration project that we've spoken about before, the North American B-25 Mitchell "Bedsheet Bomber"...
https://www.wingsmuseum.co.uk/2022/01/podcast-b-25-mitchell-wing-restoration-jan-2022/
A Merlin Engine Run event gives us the opportunity to talk to:
- Alex Collinson about the Bentley Priory Museum "Memoirs of the Blitz" project
- Adrian Harrison about the 253 Squadron Kenley Living History Group
- Aaron Simmons about maintaining the museum's Merlin XX engine in fully running condition
For more information visit: https://www.wingsmuseum.co.uk/2021/10/podcast-merlin-engine-run-oct-2021/
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In this episode, we discover the story of how a crash on 7th January 1944 brought a volunteer to the Wings Museum in 2020.
Flight Sergeant George Ormandy, an air gunner, died onboard FR396, a B-25 Mitchell Mark II that had flown from Dunsfold in Surrey.
More than 70 years later, his great-nephew, Adam Tudor-Lane, started looking into the events of that day, and where they had occurred.
For more information:
www.WingsMuseum.co.uk
www.facebook.com/b25mitchellbedsheetbomber/
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It is Sunday 1st August 2021 and the Invicta Military Vehicle Preservation Society have chosen to visit the Wings Museum as the (very appropriate) destination of a Sunday drive.
We catch up with one of their members, a man who introduces himself as George, and is dressed in the uniform of an American General...
For more information visit:
IMPS - https://www.imps.org.uk/
Wings Museum - https://www.wingsmuseum.co.uk/
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With the Museum reopening in just a couple of weeks time, we catch up with Museum Co-Curator, Daniel Hunt, to fnd out what has been going on, what's new, and whether we will hear the sound of the Halifax Merlin XX again in 2021.....
For more information, visit www.WingsMuseum.co.uk
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In this edition, we talk to Museum Co-Curator Daniel Hunt and Project Leader Aaron Simmons about the Hawker Siddeley Kestrel, how it got to Wings, and why it is so important in aviation history.
For more about the Kestrel project:
www.WingsMuseum.co.uk and https://www.facebook.com/wingskestrel/
With thanks to Brooklands Museum for their assistance. www.BrooklandsMuseum.com
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As we look towards the Winter closed season, we ask Museum Curator, Daniel Hunt how things have been going since the Museum was able to re-open its doors to the public.
For more information, or to make a donation to Wings Museum, visit www.WingsMuseum.co.uk
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Following a few "quiet" months in lockdown, it has been great news that the museum has been able to re-open its doors to visitors.
We catch up with museum Co-Curator Daniel Hunt to talk about the challenges of the last few weeks and months....
Visit www.WingsMuseum.co.uk for more information.
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In a short edition of the podcast to mark VE Day, we hear some stories from members of the Royal Observer Corps about how they celebrated Victory in Europe, and listen to the glorious sound of the museum's Merlin XX engine running last summer.
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In this episode we catch up with Daniel Hunt and George Chatwin to hear what has been happening at Wings over the Winter, and what is new and on display for 2020.
These include:
- An update on the Merlin engine
- A new Dunsfold exhibit including the story of the crashed B-25 Mitchell FW188
- The front end of a Bristol Beaufort
- The ongoing B-25 Mitchell restorations
- 2020's Falklands and Bomber Boys signing sessions
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As work continues behind the scenes at Wings Museum, we catch up with George Chatwin for an update on the museum's various ongoing aircraft restoration projects.
Aircraft discussed include:
- BAC Jet Provost
- Bell P63 King Cobra
- Douglas Invader
- Hawker Hurricane
- Hawker Kestrel
- North American B-25N Mitchell "Bedsheet Bomber"
For more information, visit: www.WingsMuseum.co.uk
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To mark the 75th Anniversary of "Lilly Bell II", a USAAF C47, crashing at Jacobs Well near Guildford in Surrey, we meet at the memorial plaque near the crash site to talk to Guildford historian David Rose.
The museum's Dakota/C47 fuselage carries the markings of "Lilly Bell II" in tribute to its crew:
- 1st Lieutenant Mercer Wilson Avent, Pilot, 28 years old
- Flight Officer John Edmund Wright, acting Co-Pilot, 32 years old
- Technical Sergeant John R. Hillmer, Crew Chief / Flight Engineer, 21 years old
- Staff Sergeant Dale E. Dellinger, Radio Operator, 21 years old
For more information:
Guildford Dragon News - The WWII Crash of C47 ‘Lilly Bell II’
Wings Museum - www.WingsMuseum.co.uk
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Concluding our "Voices from the Past" tour of RAF Kenley with Kenley Revival's Legacy Officer, Linda Duffield.
Many thanks to Linda and the team for their assistance and enthusiasm. Visit the Kenley Revival website www.KenleyRevival.org and join them for a walking tour to hear even more stories.
www.WingsMuseum.co.uk
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In this edition we take a short trip from the museum up the M23 to join the Kenley Revival team for the first part of a guided walk around RAF Kenley entitled "Voices from the Past"....
Thank you to Linda and the Kenley Revival team, as well as the other people on the tour who generously shared their own stories.
Part Two of the RAF Kenley "Voices from the Past" walk will follow in the NEXT edition of the Wings Museum podcast. Remember to subscribe to the feed to make sure you don't miss it!
For more information visit www.WingsMuseum.co.uk
For more Kenley Revival information visit www.KenleyRevival.org
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An unexpected but always most welcome visitor to the museum, in this edition we chat with Basil Goldstraw who served as a fitter with No 75 New Zealand Squadron during World War Two.
He is joined by Glen Turner, Secretary of the 75 Squadron Association NZ.
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In this episode of the Wings Museum podcast we speak to visitor Mike O'Neill about why he has brought his walking group, the 'Old Dogs', to see the museum's Dakota, and then catch up with Co-Curator Daniel Hunt to see what is going on in the museum over the summer.
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In this episode we catch up with museum co-curator Daniel Hunt and talk about the museum's new six day a week opening times, what's new in the museum, and what events are coming later this year.
We also remember the crew of Handley Page Hampden AE244 which crashed in Belgium in 1942.
Wings Museum has been instrumental in the erection of a memorial to the three crew members who died, and the pilot who became a Prisoner of War.
They were:
Sgt. Orval .M. Nelson, RCanadianAF, PoW
Sgt. Herbert Cheval Archer Warr, RAustralianAF, aged 24
Sgt. Clarence Franklin Lloyd, RCanadianAF, aged 22
Air Gunner Sgt. Harold Price, RAF, aged 29
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In this episode we talk about the museum's collection of wartime radio equipment and the challenges of restoring them to working order, and then keeping them there!
For more information, or to get intouch visit https://www.wingsmuseum.co.uk
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In this edition we talk to Len Wellington about his time volunteering at the Wings Museum, why he does it, and what he gets out of it.
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In this edition we talk to Daniel Hunt, one of the museum's curators, about how important remembrance is in the curation of the museum.
He also tells us where the museum's Bell P63 King Cobra and Nakajima B5N2 came from, and how they got to be in the collection in Balcombe.
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In this edition we find out about preparations for the re-opening of the museum on 2nd March, and talk about a rare item that has recently been added to the museum's collection.
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In this first edition of the Wings Museum podcast, we take a look round the museum's ongoing aircraft restoration projects with volunteer George Chatwin.
Aircraft include the Douglas Invader, BAC Jet Provost, Hawker Hurricane, and Bell P63 King Cobra.
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