Tangmere Military Aviation Museum

CAR PARK WORK - THE MUSEUM IS OPEN AS NORMAL
The car park at the museum is being upgraded and relaid. This will inevitably cause some inconvenience. However, the alternative car park is fully functional and is entered by the airfield gate, not the Museum gate. Please follow the signs for parking. The entry route into the museum will change as the work progresses but will be well signposted. There will be limited access to the outside aircraft but we hope that this will not spoil your enjoyment.

TANGMERE AND THE SOE EXHIBITION FINAL REPORT The Museum’s summer exhibition, ‘Tangmere and the SOE’, was officially opened on the 21 July by James Vaughan-Fowler, the son of Peter, the famous Special Duties pick-up pilot. Some 60 relatives of other pick-up pilots also attended with special guests; Stanley David, an SOE dispatcher and Fred Bailey, an SOE wireless operator with the one of the 1944 Jedburgh teams, who later served in Burma and had to be evacuated by a Lysander f...
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EXHIBITION PROGRAME OF TALKS AND DEMONSTRATIONS During the exhibition there will be a number of talks and demonstrations on Tangmere and the SOE. The illustrated talks will be given in the Neville Duke Hall and the demonstrations will be given by the Museum’s recently acquired Lysander replica aircraft. The talks will be limited to 30 persons – for the evening talks on 9 and 16 August, to request a seat please contact David Coxon by e-mail on deputydirector@tangmere-museum.or... g.uk
Thursday 2 August 1400 Jean Moulin (Resistance leader) Martyn Bell
Saturday and Sunday 4 and 5 August Between 1100 and 1500 Demonstrations on the work of SOE agents Bryan Warnett
Thursday 9 August 1930 (Evening talk) Tangmere and the SOE Pete Pitman
Saturday and Sunday 11 and 12 August Between 1100 and 1500 Demonstrations on the work of SOE agents Bryan Warnett
Thursday 16 August 1830 (Evening talk) Jimmy ‘Mac’ McCairns (Spitfire and SOE pick-up pilot) Dudley Hooley
Sunday 19 August 1400 Operation Anthropoid (assassination of Reinhard Heydrich) Rosemary Coxon Jimmy ‘Mac’ McCairns (Spitfire and SOE pick-up pilot) Dudley Hooley
Thursday 23 August 1400 Noor Inayat Khan (SOE agent) John Gradwell
Tuesday 28 August 1400 Resistance and the Free French Dr Andrew Smith (Chichester University)
Sunday 2 September 1400 Tangmere and the SOE Pete Pitman
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MUSEUM SOE EXHIBITION TALKS AND DEMONSTRATIONS A six week exhibition on ‘Tangmere and the Special Operations Executive (SOE)’ opened at Tangmere Military Aviation Museum on Saturday 21 July. During the exhibition there will be a number of talks on the RAF pick-up pilots who flew secret agents to and from RAF Tangmere at night to fields in France and on the lives and work of the agents themselves. The programme of illustrated talks commence on the afternoon of the 2 August whe...n the Mayor of Chichester, Councillor Martyn Bell, will give a talk on Jean Moulin, a French Resistance leader. Dudley Hooley, Director of the Museum, will give a talk on the life of Jimmy ‘Mac’ McCairns, a Spitfire pilot who flew in Douglas Bader’s Tangmere Wing in 1941 and who later in the war became one of the most successful Lysander pick-up pilots. Other talks include Pete Pitman speaking on RAF Tangmere’s role in support of the SOE, Dr Andrew Smith of Chichester University on ‘Resistance and the Free French’ and Rosemary Coxon on Operation Anthropoid, the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich. Museum volunteer John Gradwell will give a talk on SOE wireless operator Noor Inayat Khan. On two weekends during the exhibition demonstrations by SOE agent re-enactors will take place alongside the Museum’s latest acquisition, a full size replica of a Westland Lysander aircraft, of the equipment used by the SOE operatives to carry out their clandestine operations. Entry to the exhibition talks and demonstrations is included in the Museum’s normal entry prices. More information on dates and times of the talks and demonstrations can be found on the Museum’s website www.tangmere-museum.org.uk
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Another Lysander being restored, hopefully to fly

‘TYPHOONS FROM TANGMERE’
In 1944, Bob Allen flew typhoons from Tangmere across the channel to attack German defences in Normandy in preparation for D Day.
In her book 'No Ordinary Pilot' Suzanne Campbell-Jones tells the story of how her father was shot down behind enemy lines and became a prisoner of war in the notorious Stalag Luft 3.
... Her talk about her father in the Museums Neville Duke Hall is at 12.30 on Wednesday the 21th November. Entry to the talk is included in the normal admission charge to the Museum but seating is limited. To book a place please e-mail Charles Hutcheon at chutcheon@btinternet.com
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What a wonderful museum. Full of exhibits, interactive exhibits, simulators and the most friendly, helpful and knowledgeable staff. Definitely worth a visit. I will be going back xxxx

We visited the Museum today and cannot recommend a visit enough. Staff are very knowledgable, genuinely lovely people. As far as the aircraft and displays go, there’s an amazing array of information for a relatively small area. I could have spent all day here, easily. There’s a cafe area but also picnic type benches outside. We took our 2&3 year old children and stayed for almost 3 hours, they loved it!

We travelled from Devon to visit the museum, and very glad we did! Very well laid out displays and informative information boards. Good selection of artifacts and memorabilia. The small, but well presented collection of airframes looked to be well maintained. The staff are great. Easily approached and a credit to the museum. We spent around three hours there and certainly didn’t see everything! Another visit is definitely on the cards!! Also, as a bonus, the small cafe there is top notch too!

We found our visit to the Military Aviation Museum very interesting, learning so much about the world wars and the RAF, and so much more. Interesting to get up close to the planes. We didn’t realise what an important part the airfield played in the Second World War, and Douglas Barker was stationed there for a time.

Visited the museum with my 7 year old daughter yesterday and we had a wonderful time. The museum staff and volunteers were very welcoming and friendly and the displays well laid out. My daughter loved doing the Biggles Bear Teddy Bear Hunt. A great day out and well worth a visit.

This is an excellent museum. The staff are very friendly and helpful. It is not too pricey and has a really good collection of aircraft. There are a few flight simulators for you to try and I recommend the lightning simulator in particular. It is free, although you do need to sign up for it. Lots of interesting war stories in the halls. You would need a good 2-3 hours to do this museum justice. I will go again!

This is a gem of a museum full of incredibly helpful volunteers who took the time out to explain displays and spend time with my 12 year old son. We were lucky enough to meet Peter Potter who was a rear gunner in Lancaster bombers and flew 33 missions there too. We will definitely be back as 3 hours went by so quickly we could have spent another 3 there. Lovely cake and tea in the cafe too. Loved it. Thank you!

Right on our door step but never been wasn’t sure what to expect thinking it would be a “boys” place but how wrong could I be totally fascinating with lots of interactive displays and moving personal stories . Great staff really interesting and helpful and a lovely tea room thank you to all

Perfect exhibition, And Lotus cars had meet on a day of our visit this day on this place . Very nice.

It's always enjoy a visit to the Museum. It has excellent exhibits and very friendly and helpful staff.

I can highly recommend this fantastic museum, I visited it on Sunday afternoon and was surprised at the number of exhibits. With friendly and knowledgeable staff it has to be on any aviation enthusiasts list of places to visit.

Great museum, the staff really made an effort to make you feel welcome. Some great exhibits!

Great museum, fascinating exhibits and amazing staff. Privilege to be shown around by guys who had been right at the sharp end in the Cold War. Flight sims for kid and adults are a brilliant idea and are free.

Great day out with the kids lovely man called Mike gave us a personal tour. Kids loved it as much as we did. �����

First time visitor and very impressed with all the expeditions and displays! Staff very friendly and helpful!! Would definitely go again!!!!!

Fascinating visit with lots to see and read. Graeat displays and some really nice aircraft. Plenty of activities like the simulators. Looked like lot’s of activities for children. Lovely well run cafe (NAAFI). Plenty of parking. You are close to the aircraft so photography can be tricky so try to take a wide angle lens. Used a 10-20mm which was perfect. So much to read and take in so will certainly be back again soon.

Excellent day spent here with the family. Many thanks to all the staff and volunteers for their time they spent with us on the simulator and explaining the exhibits. Much appreciated!

A very special place run by wonderful people.

What made it for me were the interesting and engaging staff, I guess many of who are volunteers... Yes it is small, however, you get to see most thing close up and it has a much more personal link to the character and aces of WW1, WW2 and the world speed records of the late 40s and early 50s.

If you’ve ever read Reach for the Sky or Enemy Coast Ahead, this is the museum for you...

They have Lighting jet simulator you can fly and sometime in 2018 hopefully the Spitfire simulator, currently under construction, will be open... Yes I intend to go back and see what I missed the first time.