Diocesan News24 Apr 18

Belfast Cathedral hosts exhibition to mark RAF centenary

A fascinating exhibition of memorabilia celebrating 100 years of the Royal Air Force has gone on display in Belfast Cathedral.

Highlights include a restored Nash & Thompson FN 4A Turret and the propeller of a Spitfire.

Among the RAF uniforms on display are a ground crew uniform from the Middle East Campaign, 1940s pattern battle dress jackets – one male, one female, worn by local people who saw active service during World War Two, and an officer pattern service dress (or No 1) dress jacket worn by Flight Lieutenant Graham from Lisburn who received a variety of honours and awards.

There is the photo diary of Lieutenant A Erwin, 58th Squadron, and a selection of recovered aircraft parts, including a fragment of a propeller, a compass and a pilot’s head cushion. Another cabinet holds items including a blind flying panel, an RR Merlin engine cylinder, and a gun sight.

Visitors can browse a collection of medals, as well as water bottles, flying goggles, and an airman’s clothing ration ticket, among other many other historic items.

You can read the story of the Donegal Spitfire which crashed into a bog in 1941 and was only recovered in 2011. Learn too the story of the Monaghan Spitfire, excavated from a field in Emyvale, Co Monaghan, in May 2017, having lain there since it crashed in 1942.

This exhibition has been compiled by the Royal Air Force with items provided by War Years Remembered, The Somme Association, The Ulster Aviation Society and Mr Jonny McNee, a Second World War Aviation Researcher.

It will run until May 6, and forms part of the centenary celebrations of the RAF which include a service of commemoration taking place in St Anne’s on Sunday April 29 at 3.30pm.

The Cathedral’s normal admission fees apply throughout the period of the exhibition.