The RAF & USAF in Oxfordshire with Aldon Ferguson, Online Talk and Q&A

About The RAF & USAF in Oxfordshire with Aldon Ferguson, Online Talk and Q&A

Soldiers of Oxfordshire (SOFO) Museum’s series of online talks return after a Summer break with The RAF and USAF in Oxfordshire, which will be streamed on the museum website from 7.00pm, 29 September 2022.

While Brize Norton, the largest RAF station, is also the most well-known in the county, Oxfordshire has a long history of hosting airfields and airbases home to both British and American forces.

In this talk & Q&A, Aldon Ferguson will give viewers a complete history of the RAF & USAF in Oxfordshire.

The Royal Air Force was already well established, as the Royal Flying Corps, in Oxfordshire at its inception on 01 April 1918 and has remained in the county ever since.

By the end of World War Two, there were 34 airfields in Oxfordshire – manned by about 70,000 personnel, including many from the USAAF.

Some of these played significant roles on D-Day and during the invasion of Europe, while others were major Cold War air bases operating nuclear-armed bombers as a deterrent to the Soviet threat.

Hear and see how the flying elements of the military impacted the county, its residents, the countryside and the economy, and discover their lasting legacy in both UK and European history.

Aldon is a former RAF officer himself, a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Association, and historian with a numerous books on regional airfields to his name.

Having previously featured in TV documentaries, he is a BBC Radio consultant and works with the RAF’s Air Historical Branch, RAF Heritage and Historic England in recording military bases for future generations and the public archive.

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Tickets

No digital ticket, sign-up or registration is required to join the stream – but the museum will be encouraging donations to support their continued work caring for the county’s military collections and bringing stories like these to a wider audience.

Those that miss the live show can still catch up afterwards as an archived feed will be made available on demand using the same link shortly after the live event ends.