Parham Airfield Museum comprises both the 390th Bombardment Group Memorial Air Museum together with the Museum of the British Resistance Organisation, and occupies the Control tower and adjacent buildings on the former RAF Framlingham airfield near the village of Parham, Suffolk, in England.
RAF Framlingham was occupied by the USAAF 390th Bombardment Group from 1943 to 1945, and was also identified as USAAF Station AAF-153. [1] [2] After World War II in Europe ended, the runways at RAF Framlingham were broken up and buildings were allowed to deteriorate. In 1976 a five-year restoration programme began to restore the control tower, shot up and abandoned after the Americans held a riotous farewell party there in August 1945. The restored tower was finally dedicated as the 390th Bombardment Group Memorial Air Museum on 13 May 1981. Exhibits focus on the history of the U.S 8th Air Force, the Royal Air Force and the German Luftwaffe in the Second World War. Displays include recovered Second World War aircraft engines, parts of Allied and German aircraft, uniforms, photographs, documents, combat records, paintings and memorabilia. [3]
The Museum of the British Resistance Organisation was created in 1997, with the opening ceremony being carried out by Lieutenant Colonel J.W. Stuart Edmundsun, TD, RE, one of the founders of the nondescript ‘Most Secret’ GHQ. [4] The museum is located in a Quonset hut adjacent to the control tower, and is dedicated to the Auxiliary Units, one of Britain’s nine secret services of World War II, alongside better known clandestine organisations such as the Security Service (MI5), the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), and the Special Operations Executive.
In case the Germans succeeded in invading Britain, the men and women of the Auxiliary Units were trained to operate as the British underground resistance. They were to remain undetected in carefully constructed bunkers (Operating Bases - OBs) as the invading German Army made its way through Britain.
The museum includes a replica underground Operational Base, as well as photographs, special weapons such as time pencil fuses and other explosives, dead letter boxes, agent instruction papers, and information about the special radio communications network installed by the Royal Corps of Signals.
Royal Air Force Chelveston or more simply RAF Chelveston is a former Royal Air Force station located on the south side of the B645, 5 miles (8.0 km) east of Wellingborough, near the village of Chelveston in Northamptonshire, England. During the Second World War the airfield was occupied by both the Royal Air Force and the United States Army Air Forces. It was given the USAAF designation Station 105.
Royal Air Force Ridgewell or more simply RAF Ridgewell is a former Royal Air Force station located at Ridgewell, 7.5 miles (12.1 km) north west of Halstead, Essex, England.
Royal Air Force Harrington or more simply RAF Harrington is a former Royal Air Force station in England about 5.6 miles (9.0 km) west of Kettering in Northamptonshire south of the village of Harrington off the A14 road. During the early Cold War, it was a Thor missile site, designed to deliver atomic warheads to the Soviet Union. The nuclear missile site is now protected as a Grade II listed building as an example of Cold War architecture.
Royal Air Force Glatton or more simply RAF Glatton is a former Royal Air Force station located 10 miles (16 km) north of Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, England.
Royal Air Force Tibenham or more simply RAF Tibenham is a former Royal Air Force station located 13.5 miles (21.7 km) southwest of Norwich and 5.8 miles (9.3 km) north of Diss, Norfolk, England.
Royal Air Force Old Buckenham or more simply RAF Old Buckenham is a former Royal Air Force station located 2 miles (3.2 km) south east of Attleborough, Norfolk, England which was used during the Second World War by the United States for the strategic bombing campaign against Germany.
Royal Air Force Snetterton Heath or more simply RAF Snetterton Heath is a former Royal Air Force station located south east of the A11, 6 miles (9.7 km) south west of Attleborough, Norfolk, England.
Royal Air Force Mendlesham, or more simply RAF Mendlesham, is a former Royal Air Force station located 5.5 miles (8.9 km) east of Stowmarket, Suffolk, England.
Royal Air Force Great Ashfield or more simply RAF Great Ashfield is a former Royal Air Force station located 10 miles (16 km) east of Bury St. Edmunds and 2 miles (3.2 km) south of Great Ashfield, Suffolk, England.
Royal Air Force Seething, or more simply RAF Seething , is a former Royal Air Force station located around 9 NM south-east of Norwich, Norfolk, England. The base was located on the parish boundaries of Seething, Mundham and Hedenham.
Royal Air Force Rackheath, more commonly known as RAF Rackheath, is a former Royal Air Force station located near the village of Rackheath, approximately 6 miles north-east of Norwich, in the county of Norfolk in England.
Royal Air Force Attlebridge, or simply RAF Attlebridge, is a former Royal Air Force station located near Attlebridge and 8 miles (13 km) northwest of Norwich, Norfolk, England.
Royal Air Force Thorpe Abbotts or more simply RAF Thorpe Abbotts is a former Royal Air Force station located 4 miles (6.4 km) east of Diss, Norfolk, in eastern England.
Royal Air Force Framlingham or more simply RAF Framlingham is a former United States Army Air Forces WWII airfield located 3 miles (4.8 km) southeast of Framlingham, and 13 miles (21 km) northeast of Ipswich, Suffolk, England.
Royal Air Force Boxted or more simply RAF Boxted is a former Royal Air Force station located 4 miles (6.4 km) north-northeast of Colchester, Essex England.
Royal Air Force Andrews Field or more simply RAF Andrews Field is a former Royal Air Force station located 4 miles (6.4 km) east-northeast of Great Dunmow Essex, England.
Royal Air Force Matching or more simply RAF Matching is a former Royal Air Force station located 5 miles (8.0 km) east of Harlow, Essex and 22 miles (35 km) northeast of London.
The 390th Strategic Missile Wing was an intercontinental ballistic missile organization of the United States Air Force. Part of Strategic Air Command, it was stationed at Davis–Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona.
Royal Air Force Cheddington or more simply RAF Cheddington is a former Royal Air Force station located 1 mile (1.6 km) south-west of Cheddington, Buckinghamshire, England. The airfield was closed in 1952.
The 334th Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 95th Bombardment Wing at Biggs Air Force Base, Texas, where it was inactivated on 25 June 1966.
