Museum of RAF Firefighting on the Move Again…
After more than a year of free storage the Museum of RAF Firefighting has been given notice that the main storage area, where the vast majority of the vehicles and artifacts are located, is required for a multi-year business contract. Whilst we are eternally grateful...
Weekend Update: A Day of Easter Engineering
Last week a small group of the museum volunteers assembled in the glorious sunshine to continue plugging away at the tasks at both Scunthorpe and the storage area. Although Scunthorpe made significant progress in the inventory work by starting to catalogue the vast...
40th Anniversary of the Falklands War
Today marks 40 years since the Argentine invasion and occupation of the Falkland Islands and South Georgia. Three days later, on April 5th 1982, Margaret Thatcher gave the order to dispatch a Naval task force to engage the Argentine Navy and Air Force before mounting...
Weekend Update 2: Happy Mother’s Day
Now that the first part of the weekend has been covered we can now return to normal service and cover this weekend’s activities. With the sun shining, the team turned out in force for the day at Scunthorpe and we had a small catch up with the boss to bring him up to...
Weekend Update Part 1: Work Starts in Earnest with the Bedford OY Tanker!
You may have noticed that last weekend’s update to the ‘bubble wrap blog’ was missing as the last week’s activities were going to be combined with this weekend as not much had changed… Or so we thought! So, to rectify this, we are doing a double publication today. The...
Weekend Update: Re-equipping the RIV and More Logistical Head Scratching
This week the management and leadership of the museum suffered an outbreak of illness which naturally meant the coffee and tea breaks were much shorter and productivity levels went through the roof. Obviously, those reading this with a high level of scepticism...
Weekend Update: The Museum of RAF Firefighting Stands with Ukraine
It seems that last week’s good turn of weather was not here to stay. Yet again the heavens opened and poured down on the team as we opened the HQ to carry on working at Scunthorpe. This week, as we had a smaller than usual turnout, we decided to focus on preparing the...
Weekend Update: North Lindsey College Delivers the Scammell Wheelbarrow Pump Back to Museum After 2 Year Refurbishment
With all the storms in full force, 8 volunteers spent most of last week was trying to re-secure the cover that we had previously tied to the MK6 round the back of the HQ whilst trying not to take off with it! Thankfully - and dare we say luckily - there was no damage...
Weekend Update: Museum Receives a delivery from the Falklands
Twelve museum staff braved the elements this week to arrive bright and breezy at the headquarters at Scunthorpe. The makeshift plastic sheet channels which we had attached at the beginning of the year were clearly making the difference as one of the containers was...
Weekend Update: HM Queen Elizabeth’s 70th Year on the Throne and Doug the Tug Gets a New Friend…
The boss was absent this weekend as he was inducting the newest member of the crew – a brand new baby grand daughter who arrived earlier in the month, much to the family’s and the museum volunteer’s delight. That left the rest of the volunteers to fend for themselves...
Weekend Update: Fire Museum MK6 Gets the Tinker Treatment from Norfolk!
This weekend started with another freezing cold drive up to Scunthorpe to get the doors open to the Museum and get the heaters on for the volunteers to come and continue with the jobs at hand. One volunteer got the early award for enthusiasm as she made a mammoth...
Weekend Update: The Poseidon Maritime Patrol Fleet is Complete
Saturday started with our volunteers arriving to a thick white layer of frost at Scunthorpe and a bitterly cold day at the office. Once the kettle was boiled and some hot drinks were served to the volunteers, we set to our various areas of work around the museum. By a...
Weekend Update: 81 Years Since the First Flight of the Lancaster Prototype
The 9th of January 1941 was the first flight of the Lancaster prototype, BT308 at RAF Ringway, south of Manchester. The prototype, which was a conversion from the unsuccessful, twin-engined Avro Manchester, was unarmed and sported three small vertical fins. Its centre...
Weekend Update: Season Greetings from the Museum of RAF Firefighting
As the country plunges itself into festive merriment, fantastic food, meeting family or friends and work for some starts to wind up, it was time for the Fire Museum volunteers to have their last weekend together at Scunthorpe before locking up for the last time in...
Weekend Update: 80th Anniversary of Pearl Harbor
The 7th of December 2021 marked the 80th Anniversary of the Japanese Attacks against Pearl Harbor. Whilst the attacks marked one of the biggest failures in the history of US Intelligence, the Japanese commander, Admiral Yamamoto, undoubtedly executed one of the most...
Weekend Update: Chinook and Puma mark 90 years of Combined Service and Sqn Ldr (Ret’d) Jonny Johnson MBE DFM hits the Century!
A flight consisting of a Puma and a Chinook took off from RAF Odiham and Benson last week to fly a special route to take in the sights and sounds of the Southern stretches of the UK and the Isle of Wight. The two airframes were specially selected to bear commemorative...
Weekend Update: 103rd Armistice Weekend
This weekend will see many nations pause and remember the men, woman and various animals who have paid a price to ensure we can enjoy the freedoms we have today. Although many of our thoughts will rightly honour the dead from thet various conflicts before and after...
Weekend Update: 60th Anniversary of Operation Sky Help
60 years ago on the 2nd of November 1961, the RAF launched in support of Operation Sky Help following the destruction caused to British Honduras by Hurricane Hattie at the end of October that year. Hurricane Hattie subjected the islands to 140mph winds with gusts...
Weekend Update: 50th Anniversary Since the Disbandment of the Far East Airforce
Dignitaries and Veterans gathered at Staffordshire Arboretum to mark the 50th Anniversary of the Closure of all units in the Far East Airforce on the 31st of October 1971. The Far East Airforce was established in 1948 but originated from the remnants of Air Command,...
Weekend Update: HMS Queen Elizabeth and 617 Sqn Take Part in MPX2021
The UK’s Carrier Force continued their first operational deployment this week by participating in MPX2021, a multi-national maritime partnership exercise involving the Royal Navy, Royal Australian Navy, Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Force (JMSDF) and the US Navy. The...
Weekend Update: The RAF Continues Globetrotting!
RAF personnel have been deployed to the four corners of the world - as usual - this month judging by the social media and press updates which are being released. The RAF were drafted in earlier in the month to bring COVID vaccines to the British Antartic Survey...
Weekend Update: Disbandment of 27 Sqn RAF Regiment
The RAF waved off another Sqn into the history books this week as 27 Sqn RAF Regiment was disbanded this week at RAF Honington. 27 Sqn was the RAF’s Chemical, Biological, Radioactive and Nuclear unit which would respond to any incident which required their specialist...
Weekend Update: Disbandment of 5131 Bomb Disposal Squadron and the E3 Sentry Retires at RAF Waddington
The E3 Sentry flew into the history books after its retirement parade was held this week. The “Queen of the Skies,” has served the RAF and NATO for over 30 years and was marked with an emotional and fitting parade at RAF Waddington. Number 8 Sqn will now relocate from...
Weekend Update: 80th Anniversary of the Comet Line and the 81st Anniversary of the Battle of Britain
Although this week marks the 81st Anniversary of the Battle of Britain, a small ceremony this week in Anglet, located in the South-West of France marked the 80th year since the formation of the Comet Line during World War Two. The Comet Line was an evasion network...
Weekend Update: – Protector Prototype (SkyGuardian) Lands at RAF Waddington and 20 Years Since the 9/11 Terrorist Attacks
RAF Waddington welcomed a new breed of visitor this week in the form of a pre-production Protector RPAS (Remotely Piloted Aircraft System) which flew in as part of a capability demonstration. Made by General Atomics, the Protector aircraft, which comes into service in...
Weekend Update: – OP PITTING Concludes – Digby Day and IBCC Wings and Wheels Event
The 31st of August marked the end of OP PITTING; the largest NEO (Non-combatant Evacuation Operation) the RAF has undertaken since the Berlin Airlift in 1948. With the help of 600 troops, air mobility assets and staff from other government departments in Kabul,...
Weekend Update: Appointment of AVM Suraya Marshall to AOC 2 Group
This week marks the first time a female officer has ever been appointed to become the Air Officer Commanding (AOC) of an Operational Group during the RAF's 103 history. The RAF announced that Air Commodore Suraya Marshall will be promoted to Air Vice Marshall and...
Fordson 45 Monitor Appeal – What Next?
As you may have read in other posts, the Museum of RAF Firefighting was able to make its fundraising targets, secure the Fordson 45 Monitor from the 493rd Bomb Group Museum Debach Airfield and reveal it to the public at LincsFest last weekend. However, now we have the...
Weekend Update Part 2: LincsFest, Fordson 45 Monitor Reveal and New Partnership Announcement with Scampton Holdings Ltd!
Straight off the back of a very successful day at the Sandtoft Blues and Twos Event, the Museum volunteers assembled once again at the crack of dawn in their finest regalia at the Lincolnshire Showground for LincsFest! One volunteer was so excited about the prospect...
Access Lincs
The Museum are very grateful to James Selby of Access Lincs who did a brilliant job for us yet again last week. Firstly collecting the Museum's latest acquisition from Debach airfield in Suffolk transporting it up to Linclonshire for the big unveiling at lincs...