Bottisham Airfield Museum

Bottisham Airfield Museum commemorates the airfield’s role in World War II, housing original wartime buildings and exhibits related to the RAF, US 8th Army Air Force, and Belgian Air Forces.

Planning your visit

Bottisham in Cambridgeshire was an operational airfield through the Second World War, and its history reflects the shifting Allied use of English airfields: RAF units first, then the United States 8th Army Air Force flying P-38 Lightnings and P-51 Mustangs as escort fighters for the daylight bombing campaign, and finally Belgian squadrons.

The museum, established in 2009, preserves original wartime buildings — the sort of prefabricated structures that once covered eastern England in their thousands and have almost all been demolished — and displays artefacts, documents and photographs from the units stationed here.

East Anglia held over a hundred such airfields, and the American presence transformed the region socially as well as militarily. Museums like this one, volunteer-run and modest, preserve what survives of that.

Bookable options include helicopter flights combined with a museum tour and cream tea, which is an unusual but appealing pairing. Current availability is shown below.