Gloster Gauntlets over Duxford 1935

By the beginning of 1925 Duxford's three fighter squadrons were up to strength with Gloster Grebes and Armstrong Whitworth Siskins. No.19 Squadron re-equipped with Bristol Bulldogs in 1931, and, at the beginning of 1935, was picked as the first squadron to fly the RAF's fastest new fighter, the 230 mph (375 kmh) Gloster Gauntlet. The squadron gained a reputation second to none for formation flying and gunnery and was chosen, in 1935, to give a special demonstration of air drill over Duxford on the occasion of King George V's Jubilee Review of the Royal Air Force.

Air Commodore Sir Frank Whittle (IWM Neg TR 003737)

In 1936 Flight Lieutenant (later Air Commodore Sir) Frank Whittle was studying at Cambridge University and regularly flew from Duxford as a member of the Cambridge University Air Squadron. Whittle was the first person to develop the jet turbine as a means of powering an aircraft and his engineering genius enabled Britain to produce the jet-powered Gloster Meteor in 1943 - the Allies' first operational jet fighter.