Imperial War Museum Duxford, also known as IWM Duxford or simply Duxford, is a branch of the Imperial War Museum near Duxford in Cambridgeshire, England. Duxford, Britain's largest aviation museum, houses exhibits, including nearly 200 aircraft, military vehicles, artillery and small naval vessels in seven main exhibition buildings.For a list of aircraft, vehicles and boats at Duxford, see The site also provides storage space for the museum's other collections of material such as film, photographs, documents, books and artefacts. The site accommodates several British Army regimental museums, including those of the Parachute Regiment (named Airborne Assault) and the Royal Anglian Regiment.

Based on the historic Duxford Aerodrome, the site was originally operated by the Royal Flying Corps in the First World War. During the Second World War, Duxford played a prominent role during the Battle of Britain and was used by United States Army Air Forces fighter units in support of the daylight bombing of Germany. Duxford remained an active RAF airfield until 1961. After the Ministry of Defence declared the site surplus to requirements in 1969, the Imperial War Museum received permission to use part of the site for storage. The entirety of the site was transferred to the museum in February 1976.

In keeping with the site's history, many of Duxford's original buildings, such as hangars used during the Battle of Britain, are still in use. Many of these buildings are of particular architectural or historic significance and over thirty have listed building status,Imperial War Museum Duxford (2009) Historic Duxford . Retrieved 15 September 2009. with Duxford reflecting two periods of development in both WW1 and the 1930s.Department for Culture, Media and Sport (2 December 2005) 'Chocks away! David Lammy secures a future for the aviation sites that protected our past' Press Release . Retrieved 14 September 2009. The site also features several purpose-built exhibition buildings, such as the Stirling Prize-winning American Air Museum, designed by Sir Norman Foster. The site remains an active airfield and is used by civilian flying companies, and hosts regular air shows. The site is operated in partnership with Cambridgeshire County Council and the Duxford Aviation Society, a charity formed in 1975 to preserve civil aircraft and promote appreciation of British civil aviation history.

History

The Imperial War Museum originated during the First World War in 1917 as the National War Museum committee, formed by the British government to record the war effort and sacrifice of Britain and her Empire. The museum opened in 1920, by which point it had been renamed the Imperial War Museum. With the outbreak of the Second World War, the museum's terms of reference were enlarged to include that conflict as well.'Imperial War Museum: Collection of war relics', The Times 14 May 1940 Issue 48615 Page 4 Column F The museum's terms of reference was broadened again in 1953 to include all modern conflicts in which British or Commonwealth forces were engaged.Imperial War Museum London (guidebook), (London: Imperial War Museum, 2009) pp. 2 The effect of these expansions of remit was to cause the museum's collections to expand enormously, to the point that many parts of the collection, especially those of aircraft, vehicles and artillery, could not be effectively stored or exhibited. Although the museum's south London home (a nineteenth-century building in Southwark which was previously the Bethlem Royal Hospital) had been extended in 1966, by the end of the decade the museum was seeking additional space.

RAF Duxford, a Royal Air Force fighter station had been declared surplus to requirements by the Ministry of Defence in 1969, and the museum duly requested permission to use part of one of the airfield's hangars as temporary storage. Duxford featured three double bay hangars of First World War vintage, which together provided over of space. Within two years, ten of the museum's aircraft had been brought to Duxford, and were being restored by volunteers of the East Anglia Aviation Society. While the museum's own aircraft were not restored to flying condition, by cooperating with private groups the museum was able to mount its first airshow in 1973. Further air shows followed, with a display in June 1976 attracting an audience of 45,000 people. The runway was bought by Cambridgeshire County Council in 1977. The success of these shows provided a valuable source of revenue, and complemented the efforts of volunteers, so that the museum applied for the permanent transfer of the entire site to its use. Permission was received in February 1976 and Duxford became the first outstation of the Imperial War Museum. Initially open from March–October, Duxford received 167,000 visitors in the 1977 season, and 340,000 in 1978. Two million visitors had been received by 1982Frankland (1999) pg. 205–208. and Duxford welcomed its ten millionth visitor in August 2005.National Museum Directors' Conference (September 2005) Newsletter No.48. Retrieved 21 October 2009

In 2021, it was reported that the museum was considering loaning 50 land vehicles to the Pima Air & Space Museum. The same year, approval for the construction of a nearby hotel was given by the local district council. In 2024, it announced that the Land Warfare Hall would be permanently closing. At the same time, a plan to collaborate with Gonville & Caius College on a combination advanced air mobility development centre and collections storage facility. The museum began a major renovation of the AirSpace hangar in 2025. More than 100 aircraft are to be relocated as part of a plan to convert the space to a dedicated Cold War exhibition.

Duxford aerodrome

Duxford has been associated with British military aviation since 1917, when a site near the village of Duxford, in southern Cambridgeshire, was selected for a new Royal Flying Corps training aerodrome. From 1925 Duxford became a fighter airfield, a role it was to retain until the end of its operational life, and in August 1938 the Duxford-based No.19 Squadron RAF became the first to operate the Supermarine Spitfire.Cheek, Tim (1998) 'Duxford: An unofficial history of one of the RAF's most distinguished airfields' Between the wars . Retrieved 2 September 2009.Imperial War Museum Duxford History of Duxford:1918–1924 , 1925–36 and 1938–39 . Retrieved 2 September 2009.Woolford and Warner (2008) Imperial War Museum Duxford (guidebook), London: Imperial War Museum p.21-28 With the outbreak of war in September 1939 Duxford was home to three RAF squadrons engaged on coastal patrol duties. From July 1940, Duxford saw considerable action during the Battle of Britain as a sector station of RAF Fighter Command's No. 12 Group. In the middle years of the war Duxford was home to specialist units, such as the tacticians and engineers of the Air Fighting Development Unit.Cheek, Tim (1998) 'Duxford: An unofficial history of one of the RAF's most distinguished airfields' Second World War . Retrieved 3 September 2009. In April 1942 the first Typhoon Wing was formed at Duxford. Notable among the pilots of the Wing was Group Captain John Grandy who would later rise to be Chief of the Air Staff and also served as Chairman of the Trustees of the Imperial War Museum from 1978 to 1989.Barrass, M B (2008) Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation Marshal of the RAF Sir John Grandy. Retrieved 3 September 2009.

In March 1943 the United States Army Air Forces' 78th Fighter Group started to arrive at Duxford with their Republic P-47 Thunderbolts. The Group reequipped with North American P-51 Mustangs in December 1944 and until the end of the war in Europe the Group remained at Duxford carrying out bomber escort and fighter sweeps, ground strafing and ground attack missions.Cheek, Tim (1998) 'Duxford: An unofficial history of one of the RAF's most distinguished airfields' Second World War: American Period 1943–1945 . Retrieved 3 September 2009. Duxford was officially returned to the RAF on 1 December 1945. It remained a fighter station but by 1958 changing defence priorities saw the RAF's fighter force move to more northerly bases. Duxford's last operational flight was made in July 1961. No longer operational, the site gradually became increasingly derelict and overgrown. In 1968 the American film studio United Artists obtained permission to use the site for the filming of Battle of Britain. During the shoot a single bay hangar, which had been built during the First World War, was demolished to simulate an air raid.Cheek, Tim (1998) 'Duxford: An unofficial history of one of the RAF's most distinguished airfields' Battle of Britain . Retrieved 4 September 2009. After the Ministry of Defence announced its intention to dispose of Duxford plans were drawn up for various developments including two Young Offenders Institutes but were not implemented.Evans, Peter (8 July 1971) 'Need for 20 new penal centres in S E likely' The Times Issue 58219 pg. 3

Duxford Aviation Society

Duxford is operated in partnership between the Imperial War Museum, Cambridgeshire County Council and the Duxford Aviation Society. The Society is a registered charity (No. 285809) and states two objectives; to educate the public by collecting and exhibiting historic aircraft, military vehicles and boats, and to support the Imperial War Museum.No. 285809 – Duxford Aviation Society, Charity Commission charitycommission.gov.uk/. Retrieved 15 September 2009.

The Society was formed in 1975 from a divergence of members of the East Anglian Aviation Society, which formerly operated the now-closed Bassingbourn Tower Museum at the former RAF Bassingbourn.

Duxford Aviation Society preserves and maintains the Civil Aviation Collection. Especially notable aircraft in the collection include a de Havilland Comet which made the first eastbound jet-powered trans-Atlantic passenger flight on 4 October 1958, and Concorde G-AXDN 101, a pre-production aircraft which achieved the highest speed of any Concorde, making a westwards trans-Atlantic flight in two hours, 56 minutes.Woolford & Warner (2008) p. 12 & 14.

In support of the Museum's goals, the DAS Military Vehicle Wing provides one of the world's leading teams of military vehicle restoration engineersTank Overhaul, Episode "The Centurion_tank", aired 18 March 2009. The Wing (or its volunteers) own some of the vehicles located at Duxford, and provide restoration services for vehicles within the museum's collection. The team also operate vehicles for demonstrations during the year. The wing's works have been featured in the Discovery Channel's Tank Overhaul programme, James May's 20th Century, and wide variety of magazines and other media.

Other elements of the society provide or support a range of functions at the Duxford site, including canteen, aircraft conservation, learning and interpretative activities and administrative tasks. An affiliated group, the Duxford Radio Society, collects, preserves, exhibits, and demonstrates historic military electronic equipment. This is housed in Buildings 177 and 178, close to the Gibraltar Gun.Duxford Radio Society Home page . Retrieved 15 September 2009.

Since January 1999, the Society have operated the Friends of Duxford membership scheme with the Museum.Imperial War Museum Duxford Friends of Duxford . Retrieved 15 September 2009.

As of 2008, the Duxford Aviation Society had almost 700 volunteer members.Imperial War Museum Annual Report and Account 2007–2008 . p. 24 Accessed 15 September 2009.

Air shows and flying