RAF news winter 08 - RAF Museum

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COSFORD MUSEUM CROWNED'BEST OF THE WEST':The National Cold War Exhibition continues its successful run of awardswith the following since Summer 08:• ‘Best Exhibition’ and ‘Best of the West’ at the prestigious RenaissanceWest Midlands Awards which celebrates achievement and innovationamongst the region’s museums and galleries.The NCWE beat off heavy competition from over 40 organisationsacross the West Midlands to win “Best of the West” at RenaissanceWest Midlands’ inaugural awards ceremony held at BirminghamMuseum and Art Gallery.• A Silver award from Servicemark, the National Standard for CustomerService Quality at Heart.• Education Business Partnership Award, won by the Access andLearning Team. for their joint workshop with the Birmingham basedKing Edward VI Camp Hill School for Girls.Alex Medhurst, General Manager for Cosford: “Once again I am very proudthat the hard work, ingenuity and commitment to excellence shown by allmembers of the Cosford Team have been recognised by these bodies. Sucha commitment is central to all our dealings with the public and the servicethat they receive.”Above - Karen Crick (far right) & Michelle Worthington(centre accept) best of westBelow - (L-R) Sairah Naveed (presenting the award),Phil Clayton (Museum), Amy Collie (Camp Hill HighSchool), Chris Brockhurst (Education Business Link)Top of the ShopsThe newly expanded shop in the National Cold WarExhibition has been met with positive responsesfrom visitors and staff alike.With the removal of the front wall and extendedcarpet area, the available display space has nearlydoubled in size. This means that it is easier forvisitors to locate the exit and that customers cancomfortably browse products without congestion.Says Frances Galvan, Head of Retail: “I’m reallyhappy with the results and more importantly soare the visitors. The entire process took just threeweeks and did not disturb our normal work. Theextra space means our customers can shop ina more relaxed environment. During the firstthree weeks of opening, shop sales income wasup by £5,000.”92 year old Spitfire pilot flies into MuseumIn October, friends of veteran Spitfire pilot William Saunders (pictured left)arranged for him to visit the London Museum, by helicopter. The visitwas a fulfilment of his birthday wish to see a Spitfire again.William was a Flight Lieutenant in No 609 Squadron stationed at RAFBiggin Hill, Kent and No 19 Squadron at RAF Duxford in the 1940’s.He flew with many Polish, Czech and Commonwealth pilots and escortedthe first American bombers on the daylight raids over Europe.His visit received a great deal of attention by staff, visitors and media andwas featured in a number of London papers as well as the BBC TV news.He was treated to a tour of the Museum’s Spitfires and thoroughlyenjoyed his visit and his journey to and from the Museum. It was his firstflight in a helicopter and when asked how it was, he replied “Slow!”6
Battle of BritainWeekend 2008Now a mainstay of the Museum’s events calendar,both sites celebrated Battle of Britain Weekend witha range of activities.London highlights this year included brass bandperformances, living history areas, special tours,a quiz trail, and a special screening of “Battleof Britain” (1969) and “Reach For The Sky” (1956).The activities were kicked off with the roar of a fullyfunctioning Merlin engine!Meanwhile at Cosford, visitors were treatedto a performance by The Central Band of theRoyal Air Force, a speech by a Winston Churchillimpersonator and a recreation the famous wartimeBBC Radio programme ‘Workers Playtime’ in theform of a short concert.As ever all the activities were free.Photo courtesy of Ken ClayMUSEUM PUBLICATIONSAfter the success of ‘Forty-Year Winter’ (which has sold over 12,000copies to date), Newsdesk Media teamed up with the Museum onceagain to produce two new publications exclusively on sale at theMuseum shops and website.‘Breaching The German Dams’ by Richard Morris and Robert Owen(official 617 Sqn Association historian) looks at the raid with theadvantage of information which has only recently been brought tolight. It was produced to coincide with the 65th Anniversary of‘Operation Chastise’ and was launched at Derwent Reservoir at anevent which included a flypast by the Battle of Britain Memorial FlightLancaster with Tornadoes from 617 Squadron.‘V Force: Ready for the unthinkable’ by Simon Michell tells theextraordinary story of the most iconic group of post-war Britishaircraft; the Valiant, Victor and Vulcan nuclear group. The bookfeatures some newly uncovered information on the V Force and tracesits history from the early design stages to the end of their service life,including operations in the Falkland Islands. The book was launchedat the National Cold War Exhibition in Cosford, with a number of VForce Veterans in attendance, including members of 138 Sqn, 49 Sqnand 132 Sqn (pictured below).Both books are part of the Museum’s fundraising initiative and areproduced and printed for us at no charge. So not only are they afantastic read, but proceeds from every copy sold go to the Museum.A special evening reception was also held at the Museum byNewsdesk Media, in order to promote the books. Special guestsincluded members of the Barnes Wallis and Gibson families.Both publications can be purchased at: www.rafmuseumshop.comPODCASTSThe Podcasting Series continues to be a greatsuccess, with some favourable comments fromlisteners and placings in the top 20 iTunesEducation Charts. Recent subjects include theRAF’s humanitarian work, the amazing story of theMuseum’s Lancaster S-Sugar, and the RAF’s role inpreparation for D-Day.The Museum also presented a special podcast forRemembrance Day on November 11th.This Christmas the Museum will present a specialpodcast on Operation Chastise, popularly known asThe Dambusters Raid. It is narrated by the actorRichard Todd, who played Wing Commander GuyGibson in the classic film The Dambusters (1955).This podcast tells the story of the design of the‘bouncing bomb’ and the raid itself. Mr Toddgenerously donated his time for the podcast.Above - Richard Todd in the 1955 film Dambusters and left in 2008(pictures courtesy of Francois Prins)Top - The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight Lancaster flies over the Derwent DamInset, left to right: Barnes Wallis jnr; Alan Spence (Newsdesk Media), Mary Stopes-Roe,Richard Morris and Michael GibsonBottom - V Force Veterans by the Museum Valiant: members of 138 Sqn, 49 Sqn and 132Sqn with Robert Owen (far left)7
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RAF news winter 08 - RAF Museum

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