Museums are ranked by how many Second World War airframes their inventories list, cockpits and replicas included. Each museum page has the full checklist.
Where to go
East of England: museums with Second World War aircraft
| Museum | Second World War airframes | Adult entry | Airframes | Examples | Headline exhibit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IWM DuxfordCambridge, Cambridgeshire | 72 | £29 | 146 | Airspeed Oxford I V3388 Avro Lancaster X KB889 Fairey Swordfish III NF370 |
Concorde 101 (G-AXDN), the pre-production development aircraft and the fastest Concorde of them all at Mach 2.23 — plus an SR-71A… |
| Norfolk and Suffolk Aviation MuseumBungay, Suffolk | 6 | £10 | 65 | Fairchild F.24 C8-F Argus NC16676 de Havilland Mosquito NF nose replica Supermarine Spitfire LF.XVIe skin and components TD248 |
Depends who you ask — the joy is the oddities. Come for the Bloodhound missiles and decoy rarities; stay for volunteer flight-simulator… |
| The Shuttleworth CollectionBiggleswade, Bedfordshire | 5 | £19.50 | 55 | Hawker Sea Hurricane Ib G-BKTH Hawker Hurricane XIIa G-HURI Supermarine Spitfire LF.Vc G-AWII |
The 1934 DH.88 Comet 'Grosvenor House', winner of the MacRobertson England–Australia air race, restored to fly; and the Edwardians —… |
| Bottisham Airfield MuseumCambridge, Cambridgeshire | 3 | £6 | 4 | North American P-51D Mustang full-size replica North American P-51 Mustang sit-in cockpit replica Auster (under reconstruction) |
Bottisham hosted the 361st Fighter Group's Mustangs; the museum's restored buildings, Mustang connections and WWII jeep rides make it… |
| Halesworth Airfield Memorial MuseumHalesworth, Suffolk | 2 | Free | 2 | Republic P-47 Thunderbolt cockpit wreckage Republic P-47 Thunderbolt wing section |
Halesworth (56th FG — Zemke's Wolfpack — and the air-sea rescue squadron) remembered in a compact free museum strong on personal effects… |
| Hardwick Airfield MuseumBungay, Norfolk | 2 | Free | 2 | Avro Lancaster wing-tip section Short Stirling tailplane section |
Hardwick Airfield Museum — home of the 93rd BG 'Ted's Travelling Circus', the Eighth’s longest-serving Liberator group — a hangar of… |
| Boxted Airfield MuseumColchester, Essex | 1 | Donation | 1 | Martin B-26C Marauder rear fuselage section 41-35253 | Boxted flew Marauders, Mustangs and the 56th Fighter Group's Thunderbolts; the Nissen-hut museum holds a substantial B-26 fuselage… |
| City of Norwich Aviation MuseumNorwich, Norfolk | 1 | £9 | 33 | de Havilland Mosquito NF cockpit replica | City of Norwich Aviation Museum at Horsham St Faith: Norfolk's largest, ~30 airframes including a Vulcan and Nimrod with bookable… |
| East Essex Aviation MuseumClacton-on-Sea, Essex | 1 | Free | 1 | North American P-51D Mustang forward fuselage wreckage 44-14574 | An aviation museum inside a Martello tower at Point Clear: crash-site recoveries (including a P-51 engine with pilot's story attached)… |
| Langham DomeHolt, Norfolk | 1 | £7 | 1 | Supermarine Spitfire IX full-size replica | Langham Dome is a one-building wonder: a 1942 concrete gunnery-training dome where projected aircraft taught AA gunners to shoot —… |
| Nuthampstead Airfield MuseumRoyston, Hertfordshire | 1 | Free | 1 | Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress wing section | The 398th Bomb Group's Nuthampstead story — plus the 55th Fighter Group — in a smart little museum behind the Woodman Inn, which handles… |
| RAF Sculthorpe Heritage CentreFakenham, Norfolk | 1 | £2.50 | 2 | Boeing B-29 Superfortress substantial wreckage 44-62191 | Sculthorpe: North Norfolk's atomic secret — 10,000 Americans and nuclear-alert B-45s in the 1950s — remembered in a heritage centre with… |
The era
Second World War, 1939–1945
IWM Duxford holds 69 Second World War airframes, the most in the gazetteer, including Lancaster KB889 and Swordfish NF370. Shuttleworth flies Spitfire Vc AR501 and Lysander G-AZWT. The smaller sites hold fragments. Sculthorpe has B-29 wreckage, Halesworth P-47 remains, Nuthampstead a B-17 wing section and Clacton a P-51D forward fuselage.
- Duxford needs a full day.
- Bottisham, 10 miles from Duxford, has a P-51D replica and is best on its 1940s weekends.
- Hardwick, with a Lancaster wing-tip, is 11 miles from Halesworth.
What to see
Second World War types on display in East of England
1934Fairey Swordfish11935Hawker Hurricane101935Messerschmitt Bf 10921935North American Harvard21935Bristol Blenheim21935Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress31935Douglas C-47 Dakota11935Consolidated PBY Catalina11936Supermarine Spitfire201936Westland Lysander41936Messerschmitt Bf 110 & Me 41011936Vickers Wellington11937Airspeed Oxford11937Short Sunderland11937Mitsubishi Zero & Nakajima Kate11938Handley Page Halifax11938Curtiss Kittyhawk41938Fiat CR.42 Falco11938Focke-Wulf Fw 189 Uhu11938Piper Cub11938Douglas A-20, A-26 & Martin B-2611939Percival Proctor11939Taylorcraft Auster31939Consolidated B-24 Liberator11939Bristol Beaufighter11939Short Stirling11940de Havilland Mosquito31940North American B-25 Mitchell11940North American P-51 Mustang71940Hawker Typhoon & Tempest11941Avro Lancaster21941Fairey Fulmar & Firefly21941Republic P-47 Thunderbolt41941Grumman Navy set31941Fairchild Argus11942Focke-Achgelis Fa 330 & Flettner Fl 28211942Boeing B-29 Superfortress21942Avro York11944Heinkel He 162 Salamander1
Questions
Frequently asked
Where can I see Second World War aircraft in East Anglia?
Duxford has 69. The Norfolk and Suffolk Aviation Museum at Flixton has six, and Shuttleworth five, mostly airworthy.
Where can I see a B-17 in the East of England?
Duxford’s collection includes B-17G ‘Sally B’. Nuthampstead has a B-17 wing section.
Are any free?
Yes: Halesworth, Hardwick, the East Essex Aviation Museum and Nuthampstead are free.