REVISED DATES …. plus 2 ADDITIONAL DAYS & NEW VISITS! “75th ANNIVERSARY OF THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN” TOUR Monday, 7th – Monday, 21st September, 2015 “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few” was spoken by the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, referring to the ongoing efforts of the Royal Air Force pilots who were at the time fighting the Battle of Britain (BoB), the pivotal air battle with the German Luftwaffe with Britain expecting a German invasion. Churchill first spoke his famous words upon his exit from 11 Fighter Group’s underground operations control centre at RAF Uxbridge which he visited on 16th August during the battle (which we visit on Day 3). Pictured left are Spitfire pilots of No 610 Squadron, at RAF Biggin Hill during September 1940. This 15‐day tour concentrates solely on the Battle, visiting various airfields, sites, monuments ‐ and 2 airshows ‐ commemorating what was a huge turning point not only of Great Britain’s and Europe’s history but that of the whole world. Had the battle been lost the world as we know it could have turned out very differently. Spitfire Pilots of No 610 Sqn, RAF Biggin Hill, Sep 1940 This fabulous tour will include: Solent Sky Museum (R.J. Mitchell Hall of Fame, designer of the Spitfire) RAF Tangmere ‐ Military Aviation Museum RAF Hawkinge ‐ Kent Battle of Britain Museum Capel‐le‐Ferne – National Memorial To The Few RAF Biggin Hill (optional visit to the Kent Spitfire Restoration Company) RAF Biggin Hill – St George’s RAF Chapel of Remembrance RAF Bentley Priory, Headquarters Fighter Command ‐ Battle Museum RAF Hendon – RAF Museum RAF Uxbridge – 11 Fighter Group Battle of Britain Bunker (underground Operations Centre) RAF North Weald – The Squadron (original NAAFI) RAF North Weald – North Weald Aviation Museum RAF Coningsby – Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF) BBMF ‐ oldest airworthy, and the only Spitfire still flying to have actually fought in the Battle of Britain RAF Woodhall Spa – No 617 (Dambusters) Squadron: Officer’s Mess (we stay overnight) RAF Duxford – Imperial War Museum, Airborne Museum, Land Warfare Museum & 8th US Air Force Museum RAF Duxford – 75th Anniversary of the Battle of Britain Airshow ‐“Arrivals Day” RAF Duxford – 75th Anniversary of the Battle of Britain Airshow: 1 or 2 full days: possibly including a BoB Me‐109E (See page 5) RAF Kenley – 75th Anniversary of the Battle of Britain Airshow Whitehall – Churchill War Rooms Lambeth – Imperial War Museum The Embankment – Battle of Britain London Monument The Embankment ‐ Royal Air Force Monument Old Warden airfield ‐ The Shuttleworth Collection Tour 227510 – 75th Anniversary of the Battle of Britain – Provisional Itinerary – Issue 2 Page 1 of 11 Ian Allan Aviation Tours Terminal House, Shepperton, Middlesex, TW17 8AS, United Kingdom Telephone: +44 (0)1932 255625 Fax: +44 (0)1932 231942 e‐mail: [email protected] All visits are confirmed, and in some cases we have been able to arrange special access to those that are normally closed. Normal admission is included to both air shows, however, upgraded admission including seating is available at a supplement. Please annotate your booking form if you are interested and details will be sent to you as they become available. As well as the organised visits, there is a free day in Cambridge and 2 full days in London to enjoy as you wish. Of the ‘BoB’ airfields we visit, RAF Kenley, Duxford, Biggin Hill and North Weald are very active, civilian, airfields; RAF Tangmere, Hawkinge, Uxbridge and Hendon have ended their flying days; RAF Coningsby was not a BoB airfield, but is a busy operational station and home to the BBMF; RAF Woodhall Spa was a Bomber Command station; and RAF Bentley Priory during the Second World War was a Command Headquarters and a non‐flying station. We also pass but do stop at, a number of other famous BoB airfields, e.g.. RAF Hornchurch and West Malling, as sadly these are now housing or industrial estates and nothing remains to be seen of the airfields themselves. We stay each night in a comfortable hotel, on either a Dinner, Bed and Breakfast basis (3 nights) or Bed and Breakfast basis (11 nights), see daily itinerary; details of all the hotels are given on pages 7 ‐ 9; our travels around England are by air‐conditioned coach; and the group is accompanied by one of Ian Allan Aviation’s well travelled and experienced tour managers, himself an aviation enthusiast. This is a truly comprehensive tour of historical sites associated with the Battle of Britain, and although open to one and all, we especially welcome those living overseas and who do not have many opportunities to visit ‘Old Blighty’! Why not extend your stay in the UK. Please contact us if you require additional arrangements. PROVISIONAL ITINERARY (all times local) DAY 1: MONDAY, 7th SEPTEMBER Arrive in England. Those flying into London’s Heathrow Airport will be met on arrival by a representative and transferred by the Hotel Hoppa bus service to the 4* Arora Hotel located on the airport’s northern perimeter; your Hoppa ticket will be handed to you by our representative and is included in the tour price. Full English breakfast and/or Continental Breakfast is included, as you prefer. We stay 2 nights at this hotel. This evening there will be a short informal ‘meet and greet’ with your fellow enthusiasts and your Tour Manager, in the hotel bar. DAY 2: TUESDAY, 8th SEPTEMBER Leaving our hotel at 09:00 hrs. we go to Stanmore in the north of London, to what was the wartime headquarters of Fighter Command: RAF Bentley Priory. Originally built in 1766, Bentley Priory was once home of the Dowager Queen Adelaide, queen consort of William IV, and subsequently became a hotel then a girls' school, before being acquired by the Royal Air Force in 1926. This beautiful Grade 2* listed country house, now the recently opened Bentley Priory Museum explains how technology, leadership and courage forged victory, allowing Britain’s darkest hour to also be her Finest Hour. It also tells the story of ‘The One’– Air Chief Marshal Hugh Dowding (pictured left), ‘the Few’ who took to the air to defend our skies, and ‘the Many’ without whose tireless work on the ground victory would not have been possible. Website: www.bentleypriory.org/ Our next visit is to one of the world’s finest, and largest, collections of aircraft in the world: the Royal Air Force Museum. Located on the historic, and now hardly recognisable aerodrome – Hendon. An important centre for aviation between 1908 and 1968. After the First World War it was famous as a place of pioneering experiments which included the first airmail, the first parachute descent from a powered aircraft, the first night flights, and the first aerial defence of a city. Website: www.rafmuseum.org.uk/london/ DAY 3: WEDNESDAY, 9th SEPTEMBER At 09:00 hrs. we depart for west London, to the former RAF Uxbridge station. During the Second World War it was Fighter Command’s No 11 Group underground ops centre. From here fighter operations were controlled throughout the War but most notably during the BofB and on D‐Day. Winston Churchill made more than one visit during the summer of 1940. The Plotting Table and all the Squadron Alert State Boards, (pictured right), show the situation as it was at the height of the Battle on the 15th September. Tour 227510 – 75th Anniversary of the Battle of Britain – Provisional Itinerary – Issue 2 Page 2 of 11 Ian Allan Aviation Tours Terminal House, Shepperton, Middlesex, TW17 8AS, United Kingdom Telephone: +44 (0)1932 255625 Fax: +44 (0)1932 231942 e‐mail: [email protected] Moving from the west of London to the north, we arrive at another RAF station that played such a vital role during the Battle: North Weald. The resident Hurricane squadrons quickly became heavily involved in fierce encounters with the Luftwaffe, with 39 pilots losing their life between the 10th July and 31st October. Like all the airfields defending London, North Weald was heavily bombed on several occasions with many service men and civilians being killed. Website: www.northwealdairfieldmuseum.com/ We then go around to the other side of the airfield to The Squadron: here you can take lunch (at your own expense) in the NAAFI restaurant which is housed in one of the two original 1940s RAF buildings. Website: www.northwealdflyingservices.com/?page_id=1005 Mid‐afternoon we depart for Lincolnshire, to the small market town of Woodhall Spa where we stay overnight at the Petwood hotel (pictured right), on a dinner, bed and breakfast basis. This hotel is also a famous and historic aviation site: it is the original Officers’ Mess of No 617 “Dambusters” Squadron! Things have changed since World War II: the squadron was dis‐banded last April and will be re‐formed later this decade with the new F‐35 Joint Strike Fighter. However, the original 617 Squadron bar is untouched, and the hotel has many interesting items of memorabilia on display. DAY 4: THURSDAY, 10th SEPTEMBER After breakfast there is the opportunity to look around No 617 (Dambusters) Squadron Bar which will be opened especially for us. At 10:00 hrs. we set off for the very busy RAF station of Coningsby, a 30‐minutes drive to the south. Arriving at the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight’s Visitors Centre where at 11:00 hrs. we will be given a fascinating guided tour of their hangar where most, if not all, of their collection of 6 Spitfires, 2 Hurricanes, 1 Lancaster, 1 Chipmunk and a DC‐3 will be present.