Photos - War in the Air

Squadron Leader M.G.F. Pedley, the CO of No. 131 Squadron RAF, about to set out on a sweep in his Supermarine Spitfire Mk VB from Merston, a satellite airfield of Tangmere in Sussex, June 1942.

Short Stirling Mk IVs of Nos. 196 and 299 Squadrons RAF lining the runway at Keevil in Wiltshire, before emplaning paratroops of the 5th Parachute Brigade Group for the invasion of Normandy, 5 June 1944.

North American Mustang Mark IIIs of No. 19 Squadron RAF based at Ford, Sussex, 21 April 1944.

Pilots and Hawker Hurricanes of No. 56 'Punjab' Squadron RAF at Duxford, 2 January 1942.

Wing Commander Guy Gibson VC, Commanding Officer of No. 617 Squadron (The Dambusters), May 1943.

Ground staff refuelling a Supermarine Spitfire Mk IIA of No. 19 Squadron RAF at Fowlmere, near Duxford in Cambridgeshire, September 1940.

Sergeant Bohumil Furst of No. 310 (Czechoslovak) Squadron is greeted by the squadron mascot on returning to Duxford after a sortie in his Hawker Hurricane Mk I, 7 September 1940.

Interior of RAF Fighter Command's Sector 'G' Operations Room at Duxford, Cambridgeshire, September 1940.

Radio mechanics testing the VHF transmitter/receiver in a Hawker Hurricane Mk I of No. 601 Squadron RAF at Exeter, Devon, November 1940.

Spitfire Mark VB, AD233 'ZD-F', being flown by the Commanding Officer of No.222 Squadron RAF, Squadron Leader Richard Milne, when based at North Weald, Essex.

Avro Lancaster bombers nearing completion at the A V Roe & Co Ltd factory at Woodford in Cheshire, 1943.

Avro Lancaster Mk I R5740/`KM-O' of No. 44 Squadron at Waddington in Lincolnshire, 29 September 1942. At the controls is Squadron Leader Pat Burnett, 'B' Flight Commander.

Aircrews of No. 149 Squadron RAF approach a line of Vickers Wellington Mark IAs at Mildenhall, Suffolk for an early morning training sortie. The Squadron's operations at this time were directed mostly against German naval installations and shipping.

Pilots of No. 33 Squadron RAF, at Larissa, Greece, with Hawker Hurricane Mark I, V7419, in background.

One of the specially modified Avro Lancasters used by No. 617 Squadron on the raid against the Ruhr dams, 16/17 May 1943.

Squadron Leader Dennis Barry (in cockpit) and other pilots of No. 616 Squadron RAF with a Gloster Meteor at Manston, Kent, January 1945.

Supermarine Spitfire Mk XIV flown by the CO of No. 610 Squadron RAF, Squadron Leader R A Newbury, based at Friston, Sussex, 3 July 1944.

Douglas Dakota Mk III of No. 267 Squadron RAF based at Bari in Italy, 27 December 1944.

Flight Sergeant Georges Nadon, a French-Canadian pilot with No. 122 Squadron, in his Spitfire at Hornchurch, May 1942.

Squadron Leader Donald 'Don' Finlay, the CO of No. 41 Squadron RAF with his Supermarine Spitfire Mk IIA at Hornchurch, Essex, January 1941.

Supermarine Spitfire Mk Is of No. 92 Squadron RAF taking off from Manston, Kent, February 1941.

Squadron Leader Douglas Bader (centre) and fellow pilots of No. 242 Squadron, Flight Lieutenant Eric Ball and Pilot Officer Willie McKnight, admire the nose art on Bader's Hawker Hurricane at Duxford, October 1940.

Spitfire pilots of No. 19 Squadron RAF gather at Manor Farm, Fowlmere, near Duxford in Cambridgeshire, September 1940.

Hawker Hurricanes of No 1 Squadron, Royal Air Force, based at Wittering, Cambridgeshire, followed by a similar formation of Supermarine Spitfires of No 266 Squadron, during a flying display for aircraft factory workers, October 1940.