News / VE Day
Filton Blitz Experience will be launched ahead VE Day celebrations
Aerospace Bristol, the museum at Filton that tells the story of Bristol’s aerospace history is opening a World War II air raid shelter, as well unveiling a restored Bristol Bolingbroke aeroplane just in time for the 80 th anniversary of VE Day.
The plans are part of Aerospace Bristol’s Spirit of ’45 event, a VE Day 80 celebration taking place at the museum on Sunday and Monday.
The street party style event will include also have food stalls including a barbecue on bank holiday Monday, music, dance classes, children’s games and activities, and talks exploring the WWII history of the museum’s historic site.
The new Filton Blitz Experience will give visitors the chance to go inside a real WWII air raid shelter and will offer an immersive insight into a Luftwaffe air raid on Filton, known as the Filton Blitz.
The September 1940 attack, which lasted just 45 seconds, saw 82 tons of high-explosive bombs and six tons of incendiaries dropped on the area and claimed an estimated 149 lives.
One of the air raid shelters used by RAF personnel during the Filton Blitz still stands alongside what is now Aerospace Bristol’s main exhibition hangar but was once part of RAF Filton.
The shelter lay locked and undisturbed for decades, but has now been restored by museum staff and volunteers to recreate its wartime condition and open to visitors.
Inside the shelter, visitors will hear a dramatic soundscape, featuring air raid sirens and bombers flying overhead, and discover the real-life stories of the local people who worked at Filton during the war.
The air raid shelter transports visitors back to the 1940s, offering a glimpse into life during wartime and the resilience of the local community.
As well as restoring the air raid shelter, museum volunteers have also been hard at work restoring a WWII aeroplane called Bristol Bolingbroke 9048, just in time for the VE Day anniversary.
The aeroplane served with the Royal Canadian Air Force during the war before being used as a training aircraft.
Since returning to the UK from Chino, California, in 2006, Bolingbroke 9048 has been restored and will roll out of its hangar for the first time ready for the Spirit of ’45 event.
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Entry to the Spirit of ’45 VE Day celebration is included with museum admission.
Visitors can add the Filton Blitz Experience for an additional £4 per person, with tickets available to book upon arrival at the museum or online.
All photos: Aerospace Bristol
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