The Shoreham Aircraft Museum

On a lovely, hot and sunny Sunday 4th July 2010, the Museum was very pleased to welcome RAF veteran fighter pilot Ron Pottinger and his wife Joy as guests for the day. Ron kindly signed items for visitors along with selling signed copies of his terrific book ‘A View From The Office’, detailing his Army days and RAF flying experiences.

Ron was joined during the day by our young RAF re-enactor Callum and enjoyed some banter about “Wizard prangs!”

In partnership with the Dover War Memorial Project, the Museum has loaned some Battle of Britain related relics for display in the Dover Public Library.

Added to the display are accounts of some of Dover’s ‘Few’, including Pilot Officer Keith Gillman and Sergeant Pilot David Kirton.

To find out more about the Dover War Memorial Project, or if you have stories or personal experiences of wartime Dover and its war heroes, then please visit the website at www.doverwarmemorialproject.org.uk/

The latest all colour edition of ‘Friends of The Few’ has gone out to Museum Club members. Contents include:

• Tribute to the late ‘Stapme’ Stapleton
• Poignant account of a letter written by the widow of one of ‘The Few’
• Schnellbomber News – the cockpit ‘takes pride of place’
• ‘The Rocketeer’ - Sgt Pigden takes part in the first rocket strike on land
• Picture montage of the Museum pilot signing event
• Visit to the Museum by ex-Luftwaffe ‘ace’ Hans-Ekkehard Bob
• A small boys recollection of a Battle of Britain incident
• Museum news and activities

The Museum was very pleased to welcome Harry Verlander to Shoreham on Sunday 2nd May 2010. Despite the awful weather, it didn’t dampen Harry’s enthusiasm or that of visitors keen to meet him and to purchase signed copies of his brilliant book ‘My War in SOE’.

Signing up to the Army in 1942 even though he was underage, Harry volunteered for the Special Forces and went on to serve behind enemy lines in Occupied France alongside the French Resistance and also in the jungles of Burma in bloody and terrifying hand-to-hand combat.

Having previously not been allowed to talk of his wartime experiences, Harry’s remarkable and brave story as a member of the Special Operations Executive is one deserving to be known by a wide audience.

It is hoped that Harry will visit Shoreham again soon, so please check back for any news of another book signing date.

The Museum was pleased to welcome 9 wonderful veteran pilots for the signing event and the very dear gentlemen attending were, Peter Ayerst, Nigel Rose, Tony Iveson, Rodney Scrase, Jimmy Corbin, Richard Jones, Paul Farnes, Bill Green and Peter Brown.

Eager signature hunter-gatherers queued early, and nearing the start time the queue of visitors keen to meet the pilots grew ever longer and happily after a dull start on the weather front, the sun came out to play to help warm up proceedings.

Throughout the morning session the queue to see the pilots and have treasured prints, books, etc signed continued to grow. As an added treat for visitors, the terrific Biggin Hill based ‘Kent Spitfire’ performed an evocative and spirited display in a clear blue sky over the Museum to delight all on the ground.

After a break for lunch the afternoon session continued to see a steady stream of visitors wishing to say “Hello!” to the pilots. As the event drew to a close, everyone could reflect back on a glorious and successful day. A massive vote of thanks goes to the pilots for all their hard work and tireless enthusiasm in greeting visitors both young and old. For all who attended, it was a great privilege to be in the company of some of ‘The Few’ in this special 70th anniversary year of theBattle of Britain.

You can see more images of the day, taken by one of our volunteers, here:
http://thefew.info/Shoreham%20April%202010/  (external link)

The Easter weekend saw the Museum open for the 2010 season with a bigger layout courtesy of the new extension, along with new exhibits and attractions. The long hours of hard work over the closed winter period proved worthwhile with many favourable comments from both new and our regular visitors.

One main highlight is the relocation of the Schnellbomber cockpit section into the new extension along with a large scale model of a Junkers Ju88 to compliment the main exhibit.

The Teagarden has also seen new changes with more of the garden being made accessible for visitors to enjoy and relax in.

The latest all colour edition of ‘Friends of The Few’ has gone out to Museum Club members. Contents include:

• Tribute to the late Bob Doe
• Schnellbomber News – the cockpit ‘takes to the air’
• Article remembering others who did their bit in the Battle of Britain
• Story of the ‘Unknown Aviator’
• Schnellbomber Tale – ‘Two for Tea!’
• Museum news and activities

We are delighted to announce that to help ‘kick-off’ the new open season there will be a wonderful signing event at the Museum on Sunday 11th April 2010, starting at 10:30am.

There will be a break for lunch from 12:30pm to 1:30pm and the event is expected to finish at about 4pm. The cost for getting items signed (maximum 3 items at any one time) will be £20 per item for all signatures or £10 per item for single signatures. All proceeds from the event go towards Museum projects.

Confirmed attendees are:

• Tom Neil
• Bill Green
• Nigel Rose
• Rodney Scrase
• Peter Brown
• Jimmy Corbin
• Richard Jones
• Paul Farnes
• Tony Iveson
• Peter Ayerst
• Heinz Radlauer
• Erich Schmidt

More info on our Signing Days page.

The latest all colour edition of ‘Friends of The Few’ has gone out to Museum Club members. Contents include:

• The story of a tragic Battle of Britain mid-air collision
• Museum visitors - RAF veterans
• Report and pictures of the F/O Waterston memorial unveiling
• Walter Binder - Luftwaffe fighter pilot lost over SE London
• Jack Rose obituary - last of the Blackout Screen ‘Few’
• Museum news and activities