Today, 16th May, is the 70th Anniversary of the legendary Dambuster raids, where the ingenous, Barnes Wallis designed ‘Bouncing Bomb’ was deployed to cause devastation to German manufacturing.

133 British, Canadian, Australian and New Zealand aircrew went into action and 56 of them never came back, equating to the loss of 8 Lancaster aircaft from the 19 sent out on the raids.

Whilst there are many events taking place around the country marking this signifcant anniversary of probably the most famous of raids, it is worth noting that YAM of course pays tribute to this daring mission every day, with the permanent display on the topic contained within our Pioneers of Aviation exhibition. A large part of this covers the work of Sir Barnes Wallis and the Dambuster display incorporates a dramatic interpretation of a full size Upkeep mine, as it would be suspended under a Lancaster’s fuselage.

So, YAM is a good place to come and learn more about the Dambusters Raids, and see our Facebook page for a taster of what is contained within the exhibition.

Battlegroup North – Historic Military Vehicle Rally, Wargaming and Living History Show.

Over 200 Historic Military Vehicles, many re-enactment groups and full precision model wargaming show, with fascinating demonstration and participation games for seasoned wargamers and novices to enjoy.

Wargaming traders include Wargames Foundry, Valiant Miniatures, GB&SD Hobbies, Offensive Miniatures, Models Toys & Fantasy Games, AW Miniatures (Sat), Colonel Bills (Sun), Crucible of Lead (Sun) plus others offering period clothing and accessories, novelties and collectibles.

For the first time, the event will feature live jet aircraft runway runs and propeller aircraft power ups! See the WWI SE5a bi-plane, De Havilland Devon twin prop and now the Douglas Dakota conduct engine starts!  This is also the first event the Museum’s superb looking Dakota has taken part in as a live, engine running aircraft!!

The jets on the runway will be the Yorkshire built Blackburn Buccaneer, on both days, and the mighty Nimrod MR2 XV250 on Saturday and Victor V-Bomber / Tanker on Sunday!  A great chance to see these historic aircraft in action.

BBMF Dakota flypast allocated for Sat. 11^th May.

£10 Adults, £8 Concessions and £5 Children.

www.yorkshireairmuseum.org

01904 608595

The Yorkshire Air Museum’s Hawker Huricane exhibit returned to the heart of York On Monday 29th April to mark the 71st Anniversary of the York Blitz, during which the City was saved from catastrophic destruction by the chance intervention of a lone French RAF fighter pilot, Yves Mahé.

On learning about this dramatic story, pupils from St. Wilfred’s School in the City commenced a project to study more about the raid. They decided that it would be a good idea for the City to honour Yves Mahé with a Memorial, and, by the class writing individual letters explaining how they felt, the pupils lobbied the Lord Mayor, and were rewarded with a visit to the Mansion House! Perhaps in the fullness of time, this project will come to fruition.

The Raid:

 On Wednesday 29^th April 1942, 40 German Luftwaffe bombers flew to Britain with their sights set firmly on the historic City of York. This was York’s turn to suffer its own Blitz, in what became known as the ‘Baedeker Raids’, as the historic targets were those shown in the famous German Tourist Guide of the same name.

 For over 90 minutes, the attacking German bombers rained down 84 tonnes of Incendiary and High explosive bombs, setting the historic city ablaze.

 Over 95 civilians died, 212 were injured and 579 homes destroyed and it is estimated that about a third of all the homes in the city were damaged. The total of casualties does not include service personnel who were killed at Clifton Moor Aerodrome when a direct hit destroyed the Guard House and other buildings.

 The medieval Guildhall was largely destroyed, along with St. Martin le Grande Church in Coney Street, which still lay’s in ruins. The legendary Rowntree chocolate company’s North Street Factory, was burnt to the ground. The railway station, an obvious target, was hit and badly damaged, as was the London to Edinburgh express train, carrying soldiers and other service personnel amongst its passengers. Clifton Aerodrome along with St. Peters, Queen Anne’s, Nunthorpe, Bar Convent and Bootham Schools were also badly damaged.

 Meanwhile, more bombers were still approaching and the damage could have been much worse but for the intervention of a lone French fighter pilot, 23 year old Yves Mahé, serving with 253 Squadron RAF Fighter Command, who saw the city ablaze from a distance. He immediately dived in with his Hawker Hurricane, with all 8 machine guns blazing and quickly set his sights on a Heinkel He111 bomber, shooting it down in flames into the River Ouse in the City. One of the bombers, a Dornier Do17, later crashed near Castle Howard.

 Yves Mahé’s intervention was just in the nick of time, as the bombers were lining up to attack Rowntrees Main Factory which, unbeknown to anyone, had a secret ammunition filling area containing hundreds of tons of high explosive.  The outcome would have been catastrophic to the whole northern part of the City.

 The young French pilot was later given a Civic Reception at the Mansion House. Yves had escaped from occupied France to join the RAF and this was his first “kill”. Later, General de Gaulle presented him with the Croix de Guerre. He went on to fly with French Squadrons fighting with the Soviet Air Force and was shot down over Smolensk in August 1944. He was captured by the German’s, condemned to death but, miraculously escaped and eventually returned to France a year later. He served with the French Air Force until 29^th March, 1962, when he was killed flying a British Gloster Meteor jet nightfighter in Belgium. He was 42.

 Yves had joined the French Air Force in 1939, but following the Armistice in June 1940, he stole a plane and escaped, despite the threat of execution, with other French airmen to Gibraltar, to join the Royal Air Force. All in all, a heroic character.

The Hurricane will be in York until Sunday 5th May, when it will return to the Museum. However, its presence inthe City has given the people of York and our visitors a chance to reflect upon and learn more about this aspect of the City’s history.

The impromptu flypast of the Douglas DC3 Dakota from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight over the Yorkshire Air Museum today provided a great preview for the forthcoming Battlegroup North event taking place over the weekend of 11th and 12th May here at Elvington. The Dakota has been tasked to perform a full flypast on the Saturday (11th) and, weather permitting, should perform several circuits over the assembled crowd.

The event encompasses a Wargaming Show, with precision model battle scenarios provided by enthusiasts of this remarkable hobby from wargaming clubs and societies across the region and beyond. But, more than this, it also offers the largest historic military vehicle rally to be seen in the North of England, organised by the Yorkshire Military Vehicle Trust, and the final strand is the superb Living History diorama’s displaying their kit, equipment, uniforms and weapons for the public to admire and learn about.

In addition to the much anticipated Dakota flypast, for the first time this year the event will feature fast taxi runs of our ‘live’ big jets down Elvington Airfield’s long runway, courtesy of Elvington Events. It has been some while since the Handley Page Victor V Bomber / K2 Tanker XL231 “Lusty Lindy”, Nimrod MR2 XV250 and Blackburn Buccaneer XN974 have fully stretched their legs, so the excitement is mounting! It is planned for the Buccaneer to run on both days, whilst the Nimrod will run on the Saturday and the Victor on the Sunday. Our other live propeller aircraft, the WWI Royal Aircraft Company SE5a bi-plane and the 1947 De Havilland Devon twin prop RAF VIP transport will also be fired up on the Museum site on both days.

All this in addition to the Yorkshire Air Museum’s many fascinating, award winning exhibitions and large collection of historic aircraft and vehicles will make for a fantastic day out for the family to enjoy.

Today’s unexpected flypast was a great treat for visitors and the Dakota looked and sounded fabulous! Three cheers for BBMF!!

(see ourTwitter feed and Facebook page for images of the Dakota flypast)

Legendary star of stage and screen and one of Britain’s foremost comediennes and writers, Victoria Wood, visited the Museum on 12^th October last year for filming for a major BBC Documentary. Entitled “A Nice Cup of Tea”, the documentary charts the nations long-standing passion for drinking tea.

One of the ‘strands’ of the programme is focused on Winston Churchill’s comment that we could not have won the war without tea, or ‘char and a wad’ as it was referred to at the time. Hence the request from the production company, Keo Films, for the Museum’s help as a venue for filming and the gathering of some veterans to talk about what ‘a nice cup of tea’ meant to them during their service.

So, YAM volunteers Ray Ashby, with his Royal Navy service background and Ron Stewart, veteran Wellington bomber ground crew, joined our friend Harry “Bluey” Mottershead from 158 Squadron and other veterans for a chat with Victoria over a fresh, strong brew in the ‘NAAFI’, a very appropriate place indeed to share their memories. (See our Facebook page for an image of this.)

 The documentary screens on BBC1 on Wednesday 10^th and Thursday 11^th April at 9pm and should provide an interesting watch.

The first “Thunder Day” of the 2013 Season will take place this coming Sunday 7th April, so put the date in your Diary!

The Fire Team will once again kick start the activities with the chance for ‘kids of all ages’ to have some fun with the fire hoses and try and knock a few bollards over. See if you can do it without getting wet!

But “Thunder Day” is all about making some noise and for the event, the following aircraft will take part. During the late morning, the SE5a WWI bi-plane fighter followed by the De Havilland Devon twin prop, which will perform a short taxi after roaring spectacularly into life, usually accompanied by a plume of blue exhaust smoke! Quite normal, but great for photographers!

After a break to enjoy a hearty Sunday Roast in our popular ‘NAAFI’, it will be time for the big jets to be powered up. At 13:45pm, the ‘mighty hunter’ Nimrod MR2 XV250 will have her four Rolls Royce Speys fired up and at 14:30pm, the Victor V-Force XL231 “Lusty Lindy” will let her four Rolls Royce Conways bellow their tune! It could be that the teams try to out do each other with the noise, so the ground will shake!

These occasions have become very popular with our visitors, as it gives a great chance to see and hear these historic aircraft at close quarters.

Admission: Adults £9, Concessions £7 and Children £4. Under 5′s free. Family £24. (2A + up to 3 C).

The Yorkshire Air Museum has been named as a finalist in the prestigious Visit England Awards for Excellence 2013 in the category of Tourism Experience of the Year for the ‘French in York’ Festival, organised in October 2011, with the support of the City of York Council and businesses across the city. The Festival of 10 special events in 5 days culminated in the inauguration of the first French memorial in an English cathedral at York Minster. The memorial to the two unique French Squadrons which operated out of RAF Elvington, was attended by thousands of people including diplomatic and military chiefs, French and British service personnel and senior politicians, as well as veterans their families and the general public. The Inauguration at York Minster culminated in a flypast of 17 French and British military aircraft including the latest Rafale and Typhoon fighters and the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight’s Lancaster bomber 

As a finalist, the Yorkshire Air Museum now goes forward to the glittering Awards Ceremony which is being held on 20 May 2013.

 We will have to wait until then to find out which award we will receive!  All finalists are guaranteed to win either a Gold, Silver, Bronze or Highly Commended Award.

Commenting on the finalists James Berresford, VisitEngland’s Chief Executive said: “I would like to congratulate all those nominated as VisitEngland Awards for Excellence finalists this year.  We received 320 applications and the quality of submissions was higher than ever.  It is therefore no small achievement for Yorkshire Air Museum to become a finalist and justifiably take credit and pride in earning a coveted place in the top five in their category in England.  I wish everyone all the best for the final in May”.

Museum Director, Ian Reed, said: “The responses to this event from the general public and businesses both in France and UK has been tremendous. Diplomatic and political chiefs also confirmed the international importance of this event in building Anglo French collaboration, and has already opened up the way for future developments at many levels, it was also reflected in the agreement for York’s involvement with next year’s Tour de France”.

The Yorkshire Air Museum’s internationally renowned Halifax bomber restoration is named after the legendary Halifax “Friday the 13^th”, which flew with 158 Squadron from RAF Lissett, East Yorkshire, completing 128 missions, the highest tally of any Halifax and as such, one of the Bomber Command’s most successful aircraft.

 On Saturday 16^th March, Flt. Sgt. Eric King, the sole surviving member of the crew that gave this illustrious aircraft its distinctive name, visited the Yorkshire Air Museum with members of his family, to once again climb aboard ‘his’ aircraft. The tour had been arranged as a treat to mark his imminent 90^th birthday (Wednesday 20^th March) and it proved to be a poignant occasion for him and his family. So today, we wish Eric  a very hapy 90th birthday and our warmest congratulations!

Right from its very first operation on 30^th March 1944, Halifax LV907 was to prove to be a ‘lucky’ aircraft. That night, still un-christened, and known as just another F for Freddie, it was Joe Hitchman at the controls, with an assembled crew. It should have been Joe’s night off, but he was called in for this raid on Nuremberg. His Squadron leader had taken his regular aircraft, G for George, out that night but was shot down and lost – it could have been Joe, but fate had had other ideas.

 Why “Friday the 13^th”, surely an unusual name to give an aircraft? The story goes that 158 Squadron had lost seven Halifax aircraft with the registration letter F in succession, within a year. When Halifax LV907 was delivered to the Squadron, it also bore this ‘unlucky’ letter, which had caused many crews to become nervous of flying aircraft with this code letter, and was given to the charge of Pilot Officer Cliff R R Smith and his crew. “Smithy”, in his characteristic ‘stuff and nonsense’ attitude to this fear, decided to break this jinx, by giving the aircraft its ‘unlucky’ title, along with the decals of the Grim Reaper and an upside down horseshoe, which he painted on. It is even noted that an open ladder had been painted above the crew entry hatch, which they would have to pass under to board the aircraft, but it was deemed this would be taking things too far and its removal was ordered.

Over the years, several accounts of the naming of the aircraft have given the name of one Clifford MacDonald as the person who named “Friday the 13^th”. With Eric King’s visit, this little mystery was solved. It transpires, quite incredibly, that they were one and the same person! “Smithy” had married, and unusually, taken his wife’s surname. So Cliff Smith became known as Clifford MacDonald.

The symbolism of the aircraft did prove to be lucky and the aircraft carried a number of crews during its operational life, and indeed Eric completed 29 missions aboard ”Friday the 13^th”, gaining the DFM on his 28^th outing. In all, Eric completed 39 ops.

 During his look around the Halifax, Eric recalled his often painful memories of flying into battle. He said that initially, the young crews, all volunteers, were enthusiastic and eager to get to work, but after 5 missions or so, the seriousness of the situation and the peril they faced began to sink in. He regards himself as incredibly lucky to still be alive to make this trip and sit in his old ‘office’, the Wireless Operator position.

 The full crew that named “Friday the 13^th” were:

Pilot Officer Cliff Smith (Clifford MacDonald) – Pilot. From London.

Harold King – Navigator. From New Zealand.

Keith Smith – Bomb Aimer. Also from New Zealand.

Flt. Sgt. Eric King – WOP / Air Gunner. From Ipswich.

Rod Neary – Flt. Engineer. From Enfield, London.

Ron Clarkson – Mid Upper Gunner. From Australia.

Stan Hardacre – Rear Gunner. From Bradford, Yorkshire. Completed 4 ops with the crew, before being overcome with fear and exhaustion.

Replaced by Jack Goff, from Romford, Essex.

There follows some links to regional press coverage of this story.

http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/10295654.Second_World_War_flying_ace_has_that_Friday__feeling_again/

http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/at-a-glance/general-news/a-poignant-journey-for-friday-the-13th-s-lucky-one-1-5503753

It is the first Sunday of the month coming up, so once again YAM will reverberate to the sound of aircraft engines as the monthly “anti-det” runs take place on Sunday 3rd March.

The aircraft being run up are the de Havilland Devon VP967 twin prop and the Blackburn Buccaneer X974. It is likely to be in the order of the Devon before lunch and the “Bucc” after the team have enjoyed a hearty lunch!

Why not join them? There will be a Sunday Roast on the menu to tempt you and all the additional activity for a great escape for the weekend!

The Yorkshire Air Museum will feature in a special edition of BBC1′s “Inside Out” programme on Monday 25th February at 7:30pm. The programme features the remarkable personal search by former BBC TV News presenter Jan Leeming in her quest to find out about an anonymous French air ace, Rene Mouchotte, whose name she sponsored on the Battle of Britain Memorial in Kent. The journey takes her to Belgium, France and York where a significant role was played by the Yorkshire Air Museum in obtaining previously unseen film footage and records of Rene celebrating his shooting down the 1000th enemy plane at Biggin Hill. The Museum then set about obtaining his British medals including the Battle of Britain clasp, which had never been issued, and organising the presentation in Paris by the British Ambassador and the Chiefs of the RAF and French Air Force to the surviving family.  A very moving story, which has already been shown in the south and east of Britain and received excellent reviews.