In a welcome return to normality at Parham Airfield Museum, guests, visitors and volunteers gathered to celebrate the official opening of the latest addition to the site. The product of countless hours of volunteer time, a skilled build team and generous donations, the new Kindred Building houses a huge range of exhibits relating to the British Resistance Organisation and the 390th Bomb group.
Among those in attendance on 14 May were descendants of former Auxiliary Unit members, as well as those whose fathers had served at the base during the war. After contributions from the museum’s President, Peter Kindred, Chairman, Peter Senior and BRO curator, Chris Pratt, it was over to John Warwicker to open the new building. John was the driving force behind the creation of the British Resistance Organisation Museum in 1997 when he contacted former members and encouraged them to tell their story. The new building, named after the Kindred family who were closely involved with both the USAAF and BRO during the war, includes a cinema, dressing-up facilities for younger visitors, artefacts, and a timeline putting Parham’s wartime role into a national context.
Members of the public and invited guests enjoyed looking round the newly expanded site, as well as admiring the assembled historic military vehicles. Peter Kindred, the museum’s President, said, ‘This new building is an exciting new development and shows how the museum has continued to thrive despite the difficulties of the last 2 years. It is a credit to the volunteers who have made it possible and we are already seeing increased visitor numbers and interest’.
Currently rated with all visitor reviews being granted 4 or 5 stars on TripAdvisor, the museum is open on Sundays between 11am-5pm until the end of October and on Wednesdays between 11am – 4pm in June, July and August. Find out more on the Parham Airfield Museum website.