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11th September 2019

‘The People’ chose my visit this month! The Northamptonshire Heritage Forum ran a competition in collaboration with BBC Radio Northampton to choose the county’s favourite heritage organisation, and the winner was...Sywell Aviation Museum.

I have visited this volunteer run museum several times since it opened in July 2001, and each time there’s more to enjoy. Like all the best museums, the exhibition evolved from a genuine passion in the subject. Back in 1998, half a dozen aviation enthusiasts, decided to empty their lofts and garages, and display their collection of memorabilia in space made available at Sywell Aerodrome. The choice of building structure was easy, Nissen huts! Luckily the US Airforce, who had just handed back RAF Bentwaters to the Ministry of Defence was happy to let the chaps at Sywell have three huts, and later an old Derbyshire POW camp let them have another two.

These huts house the collection themed into five stories, with a Northamptonshire twist. There are tales of wartime heroism from both sides of the conflicts. One of the most interesting features include the crash recovered artifacts, bits of the aircraft itself, and often the personal possessions of the airmen. Many of these items were archaeologically recovered by the Museum volunteers. These exhibits are accompanied by the story of the aircraft and its crew, often heroic, and always touching.

If you’re interested in ordnance, there’s a great collection, models, uniforms and medals abound. I loved the ‘Home Front’ displays too, about the Home Guard, the Anderson shelter, and the wartime kitchen.

An astonishing little discovery made a footnote to the sad story of the loss of a USAF Airman, twenty year old Lt Henslee. He was forced to bail out of an aircraft over the sea near the Dutch coast, and his body eventually washed ashore two months later in 1944. Seventy one years later, a gentleman walking over the old RAF Kings Cliffe Airfield spotted a gleam of silver where his dog had been digging. It turned out to have been Lt Henslee’s identity bracelet, now on display. How and why it was there is a mystery we shall never know.

There is something in this museum for everyone, and nearly every week a new donation is made to the collection such as a desirable pair of fleecy lined flying boots from a Lancaster Bomber pilot, and an old camera used in a Spitfire for aerial reconnaissance. If you have items in your loft or garage and you want to give them a good home, why not take them to Sywell Aviation Museum where they will be safe for future generations to admire. And if you have a good story about Northamptonshire aviation, come and tell it to the team, so it can be recorded.

The team told me, with great excitement, that in August 2019 they will be uncovering the biggest project that they have ever undertaken. It is a big secret right now, but it will be revealed on their FaceBook page and on the John Griff Show on BBC Radio Northampton when they are ready to announce it. What a tease! I couldn’t get them to tell me more, but instead, they let me sit in the cockpit of a Chipmunk, and pretend I was flying it. Ace!

Eric Gayton, one of the original founders of the museum worked for Brooklands Aviation during the Second World War, starting in 1943 when he was only fourteen years old, cleaning, servicing and refuelling Tiger Moths. Aged eighteen in 1947 he joined the Royal Air Force. Eventually de-mobbed, he returned to Brooklands Aviation and Sywell, his passion for aircraft undimmed. He passed away earlier this year, and in June this year, to honour his memory, three old friends did him proud with a wonderful Tiger Moth flypast in the ‘Missing Man’ formation. The team who received their ‘People’s Choice” award in July 2019 dedicated this award to Eric Gayton’s memory.

Blue Skies Eric. And Blue Skies to all those airmen and women of all nationalities whose stories are captured and shared so well in this great little museum.

Do visit it and honour their memory.

For more information about Sywell Aviation Museum, please visit their website at www.sywellaviationmuseum.org.uk or their FaceBook page.

 

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