News & competitions

Header Image: BBMF aircraft in the Flight’s hangar at RAF Coningsby undergoing winter maintenance. The BBMF Visitor Centre provides guided tours of the hangar to visitors. (Photo: Clive Rowley)

The BBMF Visitor Centre will be closed to visitors for the Christmas and New Year period from Saturday 21st December 2024, with the last day for hangar tours being Friday 20th December. The Visitor Centre will re-open with tours of the BBMF hangar recommencing on Monday 6th January 2025.

Header image: Lancasters in formation in daylight. These are actually 50 Sqn Lancasters which were not involved in the daylight raid against Cologne on 23rd December 1944, but this picture shows how it would have looked for the crews of the 582 and 35 Sqn Lancasters that took part.

Eighty years ago, on Saturday 23rd December 1944, a vital daylight bombing raid against rail yards in the German city of Cologne (Köln) proved very costly for RAF Bomber Command and meant that many of the crews were not going to see Christmas.

For this month’s Club members’ ballot prize, we’re giving away a limited edition Spitfire Over Normandy puzzle.

We will randomly select one Club member to win the prize.