The Parachute Regiment and Airborne Forces Museum is based at

Duxford Duxford is a village in Cambridgeshire, England, about south of Cambridge. It is part of the Hundred Parishes area. History The village formed on the banks of the River Cam, a little below its emergence from the hills of north Essex. One of t ...

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the ...

and tells the story of the Parachute Regiment and other airborne forces.

History

The museum was established by a meeting of the Committee of the Parachute Regiment Association in October 1946. It was housed in various barracks until a permanent home at Browning Barracks at the Aldershot Garrison was opened by Field Marshal

Lord Montgomery Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, (; 17 November 1887 – 24 March 1976), nicknamed "Monty", was a senior British Army officer who served in the First World War, the Irish War of Independence and ...

on 23 March 1969. The museum moved to a new home in partnership with

Imperial War Museum Duxford Imperial War Museum Duxford is a branch of the Imperial War Museum near Duxford in Cambridgeshire, England. Britain's largest aviation museum, Duxford houses the museum's large exhibits, including nearly 200 aircraft, military vehicles, artill ...

under the Airborne Assault name in late 2008. The new exhibition at Duxford was opened by

Charles, Prince of Wales Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to a ...

(now

King Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to a ...

), Colonel-in-Chief of The Parachute Regiment on 8 December 2008.

The exhibits

New multimedia displays tell the story of today's airborne soldier and his heritage from 1940 when British Airborne Forces were first formed at the insistence of Prime Minister

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...

. The displays include the original briefing models for airborne operations of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, including the

Bruneval Raid Operation Biting, also known as the Bruneval Raid, was a British Combined Operations raid on a German coastal radar installation at Bruneval in northern France, during the Second World War, on the night . Several of these installations were id ...

, D-Day and the Rhine Crossing. The phases of the battle of

Arnhem Arnhem ( or ; german: Arnheim; South Guelderish: ''Èrnem'') is a city and municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands about 55 km south east of Utrecht. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland, located on both ban ...

and Operation Market Garden are fully explained in a dedicated exhibit. Broad coverage is given to the post-war campaigns from

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and ea ...

and

Suez Suez ( ar, السويس '; ) is a seaport city (population of about 750,000 ) in north-eastern Egypt, located on the north coast of the Gulf of Suez (a branch of the Red Sea), near the southern terminus of the Suez Canal, having the same bou ...

to the Falklands War,

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

and

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

. Exhibits of light weapons and heavy drop equipment from jeeps to field guns are suspended as if dropping into action. An original nosecone of the

Horsa Hengist and Horsa are Germanic brothers said to have led the Angles, Saxons and Jutes in their invasion of Britain in the 5th century. Tradition lists Hengist as the first of the Jutish kings of Kent. Most modern scholarly consensus now rega ...

glider which carried airlanding troops into action at

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

and the Rhine is featured, as well as the stuffed Bing the Paradog, who dropped in 1945.

Medal Gallery

The Medal Gallery exhibits many of the medals awarded to British airborne troops, including the posthumous VCs awarded to Lt. John Hollington Grayburn of the 2nd Battalion the Parachute Regiment, Captain Lionel Ernest Queripel of the 10th Battalion the Parachute Regiment, and that awarded in 2007 to Corporal

Bryan Budd Corporal Bryan James Budd, (16 July 1977 – 20 August 2006) was a British Army soldier and a Northern Irish recipient of the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Comm ...

, of the 3rd Battalion.

The ParaData resource

The vision for Airborne Assault is a unique attraction bringing alive the history and modern reality of the Parachute Regiment and Airborne Forces. Central to this is ParaData - a comprehensive database record of all who have served, and are currently serving, linked to accounts and details of relevant campaigns and engagements. Photographs, documents, letters and film and audio interviews are appended to each entry where available, and contributions of further material are invited. The database aims to be a definitive history and a continually updated resource. While paying respect to those who have served and their families, this will engage a younger audience, especially with reference to the National Curriculum, through the use of the latest technology.

Gallery

File:Assault Medal Gallery1.JPG, Section of the Medal Gallery File:Airborne Gallery.JPG, Display of weapons and uniforms File:Airborne Assault3.JPG, Bing the ParaDog displayed with his Dickin Medal File:Exterior View of Airborne Assault Museum.jpg, Airborne Assault entrance File:Glider Pilot Display in Airborne Assault Museum.jpg, Glider Pilot Display

References

External links

ParaData the living history of The Parachute Regiment and Airborne Forces online
{{DEFAULTSORT:Parachute Regiment and Airborne Forces Museum Imperial War Museum Military aviation museums in England Military parachuting in the United Kingdom Parachute Regiment (United Kingdom) Paratroopers Regimental museums in England World War II museums in the United Kingdom