Duxford Air Show: September,2025- Duxford is a 12th C village about 16 kms south of Cambridge, UK. It is a sleepy pretty village that has two ancient churches and two old pubs. It has a few modern industries on its bustling outskirts. More than a hundred years ago an airstrip was stretched outside this village across Royston road to the south. Later, it opened as a military airfield in 1917 during WW I. It was one of 301 military airfields then. During the Battle of Britan (10 July – 31 October 1940) in WW II it was a crucial airbase for preventing attacks by German aircraft. In WW II there were about 1250 aerodromes. Geographically tiny “Britain was just one big airfield.” From the infancy of flight, through to the dramatic days of tension and bloody strife during the Second World War, Duxford has played a central role in the development of aviation history. The Imperial War Museum at Duxford first started hesitantly in 1920, but the air field continued to be in military use till 1961. During WWII it was a RAF base. From November 1944 it became one exclusively for US fighters and bombers. Air shows started in October 1973. Duxford is now UK’s largest Aviation Museum and has the finest collection of more than 200 old but well maintained aircraft from France, Germany, UK, USA, and the former Soviet Union. Many of them fly. The very first hangar in the airfield is that of a private company that restores legends. There are three cavernous exhibition hangars on the North of the runway. In between the UK and US hangars are three heritage hangars still in use. One is loaned to an aircraft reconstruction company where people can see old aircraft being repaired. The others exhibit airplanes. The IWM is open throughout the year. Several huge passenger aircraft are permanently parked in a corner of the vast grounds. Many are familiar, some are not. One exhibit is of the de Havilland Rapide 8 seater twin engine passenger biplane built of plywood in 1933. It used to do short trans channel hops then. Now, not only does it move, but it gives expensive happy joy rides. It is surprising how there’s always a long queue eager to pay £ 100toget on board. The enthusiasm for IWM Duxford is so intense that three generations are there in large numbers. Grandparents, parents and children from teens to infants. At this air show there was one great grand dad – an RAF veteran- in a wheel chair being rolled around by his teenage descendant. However, teenagers were the least represented age group! Inside the UK and US hangars is a large two level static display of all kinds of civilian and military planes. Quite a few planes – even a Canberra bomber- are hung from ceilings. The first hangar, closest to the entrance, is for British fighter and passenger planes and the other for USAF war planes from WW II till those phased out of service twenty five years ago. Further ahead there’s an another large hangar for tanks and motor vehicles and heavy guns of WW II combatant countries. Each is an eye opener. The IWM at Duxford is worth seeing repeatedly- for one can’t see enough in one visit. Immediately inside the entrance of the UK hangar is a huge well lit sign quoting Leonardo da Vinci- Once you have tasted flight, you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward. This is true even for those who are only passengers. In front of the hangars is a long belt of green. One corner has a playground for children to hop on and off skeleton planes. Another has a collection of a meter and a half long cute scale models of well known planes of the past patiently made by aviation hobbyists. They are flown by remote control. The rest of the open space is taken up by rows of eateries. One serves unusual preparations like strawberries and chocolate chips swimming in a glass of dark chocolate ice cream. Other booths handout information pamphlets, while the rest sell souvenirs and books about the world wars and planes and men and women who flew them. Yes, there were women flying planes in WW II too. They transported planes from factories to air bases such as Duxford. Air shows are held at Duxford six times every year. This year was the 85th anniversary of the Battle of Britain and special airshows were held in Duxford to commemorate that with legendary surviving airplanes from WW II flying low overhead. On the 6th of September, 2025 I was there for an anniversary display. WWII planes like Boeing B 17 Fortress, Curtiss Warhawk, Douglas Invader, Hawker Hunter, a Mustang, Spitfires, Focke Wolfe, Sopwith Snipe and a Sopwith Triplane, a Yak 17, a Vampire, a Lancaster, a Messerschmitt and a few more flew by and thrilled people with mock dog fights. The latest antique from USA is the Lockheed Blackbird! They are parked in a long and wide green patch between the taxiway and the runway in front of the spectators’ grounds. During the WW II this green stretch about one and a half kilometers long was used as a runway too. It provided a soft landing for shot up planes that could not bring their undercarriages down. It was used during the air show too. Till noon people are allowed to walk along the taxiway, but not to cross the green. There’s impressive discipline here. Thousands line the green but none takes more than one step on it even though volunteers stand about a 100 meters apart. There’s not even a hum of hushed whispers in this orderly line up. All are busy gawking at the beautifully manicured sleek war birds of old, and taking pictures of them. Later after noon most of them will be flying to every one’s delight. Trailing smoke from ‘injured’ planes and noisy ‘bombs’ add reality and raises continuous oohs and aahs. Before take off these planes considerately taxi just 20 meters away from the excited throng. Thousands upon thousands crowd Duxford on flight days. Many bring tents, camp seats and tables, cutlery, picnic baskets and of course children. Its like being in an Indian mela but without raucous noise and rowdiness. One may not hear a pin drop but certainly a loud laugh. A quiet expectant grace hovers over the spectators. Some have paid £20 for grand stand seats. Between the first flight and the last is a lot of action by British, German, Portugese, Russian and US planes- military and civil. Two of the earliest jets made – the British Vampire and the US Sabre show that they can still perform aerobatics. The air show starts at 13.05 with a single two engine propellor war plane, with US markings, flying by. There is gentle clapping and faces light up with keen excitement and burning interest during every fly past. Towards the end are the special 85th Anniversary flights of Battle of Britain. The second last flight is by the legendary Avro Lancaster four engine bomber- the only one working in the world today. It flies in from the back of the crowds. Crosses the stands and then pirouettes to the left flies straight ahead for two minutes and makes a wide U turn to fly past once more and then disappears in the direction it had come from. Immediately afterwards, at about 16.30 hrs, the last spectacular flight starts. Sixteen WW II Supermarine Spitfires and six Hawker Hurricanes fly above the entranced spectators. They return again and again and the happy crowd roars- at last. The show is finally over and the thousands disperse quietly of course. Some fall in line to get a lift in one of the fifty or so buses especially chartered by IWM. Most return by cars to Cambridge or more distant towns. Duxford has a connection with Assam too. In this village is an Airforce mess. Near it are two curving roads named Ledo and Burma. During the WW II RAF fighter Squadron # 92 was posted in Dibrugarh, Upper Assam. Its job was to escort cargo planes and bombers flying across the Burma Hump to Kunming, China. It was posted in Upper Assam for so long that its insignia became a coiled cobra with its hood spread out in attack mode. After the war it was transferred to Duxford. This squadron renamed these two roads. Some of the houses on either side of these roads were built by Edwin Lutyens in 1933 for RAF personnel. Lutyens was the one who had designed Rashtrapati Bhavan and the Hyderabad House in Delhi too. Every time that I have visited Imperial War Museum and Duxford village, I have always found something new and it has always been an agreeable experience. Romesh Bhattacharji Duxford- Captions for pictures for Frontline article 1- A de Havilland Rapide flies NNE over the green airstrip of Duxford. At the back is the largest hangar of the Imperial War Museum. It has British fighter and civilian planes. The smaller hangars repair and maintain the relics. 2- Many thousands – young and old- come for these flying displays. A gentle calmness covers the grounds where thousands bring tents, picnic hampers and camp chairs. A charming scene if ever there was one. At the back stand WWII legends- the US built two engine Catalina Flying boat and the four engine Boeing B 17 Fortress bomber. 3- More impressive than the line up of aircraft is the line of people – three or four deep- along the green. There’s no pushing or shoving or shouting. And hardly any supervision. When one is done taking pictures another one steps in. This extraordinary discipline is a sight to see. 4- The beautiful 1930 de Havilland built British Tiger Moth two seater trainer and two other vintage aircraft of the same vintage. The Tiger Moth is still being used as a trainer in several countries. Planes like these fly and land to keep people engrossed till the main air display starts. 5- A Boeing Stearman biplane entertains the crowds. It was a late 1930s built US trainer. After the war and till today it is used as a crop duster! 6- Before the air show all the participating aircraft are lined up for people to see from close by. Now and then one or two planes take off with the appropriate loud thump thump that only propellors can make. Here a Spitfire is taxing to take off. 7- This is a replica of the most feared and notorious airplane of all in the first World War. It is a German Fokker Triplane in the Red Baron’s distinctive colour- red. Red Baron was the name given to Baron von Ricthofen. He was considered by all sides to be the ‘Ace of Aces’. He is credited with proven 80 kills. He was killed by ground fire over France in April 1918. Within hours of his crash very little was left of his plane. Souvenir hunters had taken all. 8- The British built Fairey Swordfish torpedo bomber has an unusual history. Despite being the slowest plane in WW II it was the most successful having disabled the famous Bismarck battleship. It sank more ships than any other Allied plane. Its slow speed was too slow for 350 mph aircraft of the Axis! 9- The Russian Yakovlev Yak 3 was the smallest and most rugged and agile plane during WW II. It had a top speed of 655 kmph. It was feared by the Luftwaffe. 10- A visitor pretending to be a Ground Movement Coordinator and enjoying herself. 11- The North Amrican Texan T known in Europe as Harvard. This one has Portugese markings. It was used in WW II but lasted till the 1970s. It was used to suppress independence movements in the Palestine, Portugese Africa and the Mau Mau in Kenya. In 1955 rebellious Argentinian sailors usedit to bomb parts of Buenos Aires. Pakistan Air Force employed it in the 1965 War without success. 12- A Supermarine Spitfire taxis past spectators before taking off. It was the back bone of the successful resistance against waves of thousands of German aircraft during the Battle of Britain (10 July – 31 October 1940). 13- A Hawker Hunter of the Royal Navy. This was the second most successful fighter of the Battle of Britain. 14- The Thunderbolt P 47 was a fast WW II fighter carrying lots of ammunition to high altitudes. Was in service from1941 to1945. 15- Remote controlled flying scale models of phased out aircraft being proudly displayed by their creators. 16- The single engine twin boomed Vampire that is taxing past after a flight, was developed during the Second World War, but it was ready for flight only after the war ended. It was in the Indian Air Force till replaced by French Ouragons in 1953. 17- The single engine Mig 17 was produced by the Soviet Union in 1952. Surprisingly this subsonic plane is still in service with North Korea. Maybe there’s an advantage of using slow planes in a supersonic age. 18- The plywood built two engine De Havilland is used for joy rides. This one is about to take off despite the looming storm, which passed Duxford to its west. 19- Waiting for the show to begin and relaxing outside the British hangar of war and civilian planes from WW I onwards. It is the largest hangar on these immense grounds. It is known as the Air Space Museum. 20- A two level indoor display in the British hangar. A suspended twin jet English Electric Canberra. The Canberra could fly up to a height of about 22,000 meters. It was used by the IAF from 1957 till 2007. In the 1965 and 1977 wars with Pakistan it had bombed radar stations in Rawalpindi and oil dumps in Karachi. It was unrivalled as a photo observation planes too. The Pakistani Air Force too ordered some after seeing its successful use by the IAF. 21- A British made twin engine and three tail fin Airspeed Ambassador. It was owned by the short lived Dan Air, which started in 1953 and was taken over by British Air in 1992. This aircraft was pressurized and was used on chartered and regular flights. 22- The Short S.25 Sunderland British WW II amphibious patrol bomber. It was introduced in 1937 and after the War some were sent to the Far East as there were few runways. The last one retired from New Zealand in 1967. The black biplane in front is a Nimrod Hawker 1 aircraft carrier based plane. Behind it is suspended a Hawker Harrier VTOL plane. The yellow planes is a Faery Swordfish. There’s an abundance of old exhibits in the British hangar. 23- This Paddy Bird from Ceylon was only one of two WW I planes made. It had this peculiar name thanks to a subscription started by the Times of Ceylon to finance an aircraft for WWI. 24- The glass fronted massive entrance to the US hangar. 25- The Mitchell B 25 medium range twin engine twin tail fin US bomber built for use in WW II but it remained in use till the eighties. It was an exceptionally sturdy bomber capable of flying on one engine and even after many hits. 26- The Lockheed SR 71 Blackbird first flew in 1964, but despite expectations the last one was phased out to this museum in 1999. 27- This sweeping view from the entrance to the Tank and Heavy guns museum takes in every display hangar in IWM Duxford. Also seen are the retired passenger jets of the 50s and 60s. 28- One of Soviet Union’s formidable heavy tanks. It was introduced in 1944 and was in use till 1970. It led the Soviet attack on Berlin. 29- Two WW II heavy German Tanks of the Panzer class- known as tank destroyers. The tank on the left is Sturmgeschutz II and on the right is Jagdpanzer IV. 30- This was the tank used by Genl. Montgomery in the battle of El Alamein. The gun is made of wood as the original had been removed to make way for all kinds of wireless equipment. 31- A string of Spitfires getting ready to fly. 32- Five WW I aircraft chasing each other in a 2016 air display. The triplane to the right is a German Fokker Triplane. It is chasing a British Sopwith Camel which was faster in level flight, but the Fokker could climb faster and make narrower turns. The top left monoplane is post WW I and had joined these biplanes to show off its maneuverability! 33- A ‘burning’ Spitfire hurt in a mock dog fight. 34- Three British Hawker Hurricanes and an American Mustang delighting the crowd. 35- A Boeing B 17 Fortress lands on a green strip after impressing viewers with its maneuverability. 36- A Spitfire taxis close by an enthralled crowd before it takes to the sky. 37- A German Messerchmitt BF 109 waiting to fly to settle old scores. 38- The second last flight of the three hour long flight display. The tough Avro Lancaster four engine bomber of the RAF. This is the only working survivor. 39- The last flight- by 16 Supermarine Spitfires and 6 Hawker Hunters. These were the backbone of the Battle of Britain the 85th Anniversary of which is being remembered this year. They kept circling and flying again and again to delight an excited crowd. 40- The Indian connection with Duxford- A road named after Ledo in Upper Assam. Ledo was the base for land and air attack on Japanese forces in Kunming, China. Romesh Bhattacharji