Dambusters relic from museum near Sheffield taken away to new RAF home on airbase
Museum closed after 30 years in operation at famous Dambusters landmark
It was once one of the centrepieces of a popular heritage exhibition near Sheffield into part of the Britain’s wartime history.
But now a full sized replica of one of the RAF’s famous Dambusters’ bouncing bombs has been taken away on a lorry for a new home, on an RAF base in East Anglia.
The Dambusters museum, which was once housed in one of the towers of the Derwent Dam, just outside Sheffield in Derbyshire near the Snake Pass, closed in 2016 because of health and safety concerns.
Plans by Yorkshire Water to relocate it nearby, close to the dam which was used by RAF in 1943 to train for the famous World War Two mission, never materialised. There were problems getting planning permission.
Now, Severn Trent Water has released pictures of the replica bomb being picked up and carried away by lorries to what will be its new home at RAF Marham in Norfolk. The pictures show it being loaded onto a lorry, before being dropped off at the base.
The replica bomb will go on permanent display to those on base at RAF Marham and visitors. The adjacent RAF Marham Aviation Heritage Centre also pays tribute to the Dambusters’ rich history and is open to the public every Tuesday and Wednesday, plus the last Saturday of each month.
The Derwent Dam Museum was founded by passionate historian Vic Hallam in the 1980s. It was opened to the public every Sunday and on Bank Holidays, but was closed for security reasons in around 2016, soon after much-loved historian Vic died. His family agreed to it being handed to the RAF.
The original bouncing bombs were made for secret raids on dams in Germany in May 1943, carried out by Lancaster bombers from 617 Squadron, at RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire.
The Dambusters were led by Wing Commander Guy Gibson and practiced low-flying raids in Lancaster bombers across the waters of Derwent in early 1943, ahead of the successful mission targeting dams in Germany.
A total of eight planes were damaged or shot down during the raids on May 16 and 17, with the loss of 53 lives but the mission was a success with two dams breached.
Severn Trent’s George Cook, a former Bombardier in the Royal Horse Artillery, said: “We are hugely proud of our links with the Dambusters at Severn Trent and this donation to RAF Marham is a wonderful way to honour that legacy..”