30th June 2005

Fairey Firefly helps celebrate VE and VJ day.

The Living Museum is a major part of the official 60th Anniversary commemorations of VE and VJ Days, when the Second World War came to an end.

As part of the contribution from the four naval museums, the FAA Museums Fairey Firefly Mark I was shipped to St Jamess Park on the evening of June 30th. Under the direction of FAAMs Chief Engineer Dave Morris, and aided massively by the specialist equipment and experience of Wheelers Transport of Bridgewater the Firefly was loaded from Cobham Hall in the late morning, and arrived, by a circuitous route, in outer London, about 10 p.m.

From there, a scenic route was taken, chosen to enable the 16 feet wide aeroplane to pass safely between all the various bits of street furniture to be found in the capital, which triumphed in a full circuit of Trafalgar Square just around midnight. For safety, every light on the truck had been switched on since entering London and the whole thing, preceded by police motorcyclists, and followed by the escort jeep, had the air of a carnival float. Dick Whittington might have thought the streets of London were lined with gold, but on this night they were lined with people. Vodafone must have made a fortune out of the number of phone photos that were being mailed around !

The run around the square was essential to enable a straight run in towards Admiralty Arch, and a pass through with less than 6 inches on each side of the tailplane. By 12.30 a.m. the aeroplane had been hoisted off and safely into position in the park, where it has already attracted a lot of attention from the many other museums and contractors working on their own exhibits.

HRH The Prince of Wales opened the event on the morning of July 4th, and the commemorations culminate in a major veterans tribute, in the presence of HM The Queen, on Sunday July 10th.