Ian Allan Aviation Tour - UK D-Day Celebrations

By Kev Baxter

An international collective of aviation enthusiasts converged on the UK to witness the D-Day 80th Anniversary celebrations in late May, early June 2023, under the auspices of Ian Allan Aviation Tours. Gathering in Chertsey, Surrey, the intrepid band of brothers and one sister, embarked on a 1500 mile tour of aviation museums and aerial celebrations ranging from Southampton to Yorkshire over a two week period.  The cross section of individuals the tour attracted was eclectic in its mix.  However, the love of aviation history soon bound the tourists into a team, whether from the USA, Australia, New Zealand or the U.K.  

Beginning with Solent Sky in Southampton and ranging north to Elvington and the Yorkshire Air Museum, with a dozen other museums in between, the plethora of unique and a few, arguably, mundane exhibits seen delighted the assembled adherents, whatever their provenance.  

The Tour was breathless in its intensity, there was an awful lot to pack in.  However, the pace was tempered by attention to detail and enough time was allocated to ensure that everyone got to see what they wanted and quite a bit more. Targets of opportunity were not ignored and between the items on the jam-packed itinerary such landmarks as the airship sheds at Cardington, the Whittle roundabout near Coventry and the Belle pub in Bassingbourn (named for the famous Memphis Belle, based with the resident 91st BG) were visited additionally.

Airborne history was also high on the agenda and although the D-Day Squadron’s Dakotas were much diminished in numbers from its 22 aircraft for the 75th Anniversary in 2019.

Visits to Old Warden, North Weald and a cold and blustery Duxford, to witness the D-Day celebrations did not disappoint too much, despite the unseasonably cold and blustery weather wreaking havoc on the flying programmes.  

Overall, the items that were lacking had been more than made up for by the quality of the unique exhibits that our visitors had revelled in.  One of the greatest aviation nations and some World-class museums had not let us down.