Dave Brocklehurst MBE, chairman of the Kent Battle of Britain Museum, gives an overview of the impressive collection based at one of Fighter Command’s most famous wartime airfields – Hawkinge.
The vast majority of visitors coming to the Kent Battle of Britain Museum at Hawkinge arrive expecting to see an aircraft museum. Very quickly they realise that this is not the case – in fact it is a centre dedicated to the men of the Battle of Britain. The stories of those who fought, and sadly often died, are told through the largest collection of Battle of Britain artefacts on show anywhere in the world. This includes excavated remains of more than 700 aircraft lost during the summer of 1940, uniforms, flying equipment, medals, fine art prints and original and replica aircraft depicting many of the machines that flew and fought during the battle.
The collection is constantly growing, with the acquisition of small and large exhibits practically daily.
In February 2015, the museum gained the Boulton Paul Association’s superb Defiant full-size replica and, in December 2017, a Bristol Blenheim IV project (based on remains of four Fairchild Bollingbrokes – Canadianbuilt Blenheims). Very soon another rare example o…
