Grandma flew Spitfires opens at Maidenhead Heritage Centre

2nd August 2011

..Celebrating the heritage of the Air Transport Auxiliary.

Backed by a £50,000 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), on Friday 12 August 2011 Maidenhead Heritage Centre is opening its new £100,000 Grandma Flew Spitfires exhibition and archive, celebrating the heritage of the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) and remembering the courage, skill and sacrifice of people like Amy Johnson.

The Grandma Flew Spitfires project keeps history alive and shines a light on one of the least known but most inspiring stories of bravery and courage during World War II, when the civilian men and women of ATA kept the supply of aircraft flowing to front line airfields for Royal Air Force and Royal Navy pilots to fly into battle.

The new permanent exhibition and archive will chart the achievements of 1200 brave and determined ATA pilots, including 168 women.  Unarmed, without radios or navigation aids and at the mercy of the weather, they ferried 309,000 warplanes between factories and front line airfields.

Richard Poad, aviation historian and Chairman of Maidenhead Heritage Centre, says:  “Grandma Flew Spitfires will record, preserve and celebrate the fascinating heritage of ATA.  Based at 13 airfields around Britain, including ATA’s headquarters at White Waltham just outside Maidenhead, ATA’s pilots from 25 different nations flew scores of different types of aircraft, ranging from Tiger Moth trainers to Spitfires and Lancaster bombers.  Often they had to fly a type they had never even seen before.  They are some of the unsung heroes of the war, especially as most of them had only flown light aircraft before they joined ATA.”

TheGrandma Flew Spitfiresproject has required a major fund-raising effort and involved hundreds of hours of volunteer time.  The displays have been designed by a local firm Kersey & Balme, who have previously worked with Museum of Reading, Eton College and Marlow Museum.

Grandma Flew Spitfires features ATA uniforms, flying equipment, wartime maps, logbooks, aircraft models and scores of photographs and includes recorded interviews with ATA veterans.  Displays explain how an aeroplane works and amateur civilian pilots were trained to fly planes they might never have seen before.  Interactive displays range from a map tracing a day’s work for an ATA pilot to a Spitfire simulator (sponsored by the Spitfire Society and the Leonard Stillwell Bequest), permitting the 2011 visitor to step back 70 years and have a go at flying the iconic World War II fighter aircraft.

ATA veteran Peter Garrod, who served with ATA for four years, including 18 months at White Waltham, adds:  “The tremendous achievements of ATA men and women during the Second World War have largely been forgotten.  With no weapons, no radios and at the mercy of the great British weather, we flew Spitfires, Hurricanes, Tempests, Mosquitos, Wellingtons, Lancasters and many other warplanes from factories to front line squadrons.  We veterans are delighted to support Maidenhead Heritage Centre’s project.  It will bring our contribution to victory back to life so that our grandchildren, great grand children and future generations can learn all about our particular war effort.”

For more information contact Maidenhead Heritage Centre at ata@maidenheadheritage.org.uk Tel 01628 780555 or write to 18 Park Street, Maidenhead SL6 1SL.

ENDS

For more press information and photos, contact: Richard Poad Tel 07973 849836 or Debbie Walker T 01628 635831.

Notes for editors

The Maidenhead Heritage Centre explores the history of Maidenhead and its surrounding area - from Romans villas and Saxon Kings, Brunel’s ‘Sounding Arch’ and its wartime role as headquarters of the Air Transport Auxiliary to racing cars, the Profumo Affair, Hammer films and the construction of the Jubilee River.  The Museum is based at 18 Park Street, Maidenhead SL6 1SL, is fully accredited and has over 4,000 objects in its collection.

The Museum is open from 10am to 4pm, Tuesdays to Saturdays and also on the second Sunday of each month from 10am to 12.30pm on Farmers’ Market Day.  As well as housing a permanent collection, the Museum organises special exhibitions and hosts 30-minute lunchtime lectures on the second Thursday of each month.

www.maidenheadheritage.org.uk