Duxford Airfield, late 1945

During their stay the Americans had laid a perforated steel plate runway over the grass strip and it was deemed adequate by the RAF for jet aircraft in the short term. The first RAF aircraft to return to Duxford were Spitfires but by 1947 they were gone, replaced by jet-powered Gloster Meteors. By 1951 a new concrete runway had been laid and a type T2 hangar erected alongside the four First World War hangars. Although the original T2 hangar has gone, the Museum has since put up another two Second World War T2 hangars on the same site. No.64 Squadron took on the last type of fighter to serve with the RAF at Duxford - the Gloster Javelin FAW7.

Hawker Hunters and Gloster Javelin over Duxford, 1959

The station was entering its last operational phase, for the defence needs which had called Duxford into being as a fighter station no longer applied. Duxford was too far south and too far inland and the costly improvements required for supersonic fighters could not be justified. In July 1961 the last operational RAF flight was made from Duxford and for some 15 years the future of the airfield remained in the balance.

The Ministry of Defence declared its intention to dispose of the airfield in 1969. Plans for a sports centre and a prison

Air Day at Duxford

were proposed but came to nothing.

The Imperial War Museum had been looking for a suitable site for the storage, restoration and eventual display of exhibits too large for its headquarters in London and obtained permission to use the airfield for this purpose. Cambridgeshire County Council joined with the Imperial War Museum and the Duxford Aviation Society and in 1977 bought the runway to give the abandoned aerodrome a new lease of life.

Today Duxford is established as the European centre of aviation history. The historic site, outstanding collections of exhibits and regular world-renowned air shows combine to create a unique museum where history really is in the air.