Dambusters Exhibition Programme

WELCOME TO THE NORTH WALL

THE ROYAL AIR FORCE AND ST EDWARD’S: AN INTRODUCTION TO THE EXHIBITION

We are delighted to be hosting The Dambusters and Beyond, a joint venture between The North Wall and our principal sponsor, St Edward’s School. As the RAF celebrates its 100th anniversary year, we are excited to share a very special collection of archive photography, military artefacts, and largely unseen private papers and diaries. We hope it provides some new insights into the exploits and ingenuity of these remarkable individuals, including many among them who are former pupils of St Edward’s. With such a strong connection to the School, it seems fitting to draw these exhibits together here at The North Wall and, perhaps, inspire a new generation to investigate and comprehend their extraordinary story.

The exhibition also highlights the vital roles played by women, from their significant contribution to the espionage activities of the Special Operations Executive in WWII right up to modern-day developments, where women are eligible to apply for ground close combat roles for the first time. We hope this unique collection provides a new perspective for people to reflect both on the history of the RAF in general and the very particular role played by the young pilots who spent their formative years at St Edward’s School.

By Basil Zirinis, Lower Sixth Historian

On 1st April 1918, against the backdrop of the Great War, the newly founded Royal Air Force emerged as the first independent air force in the world. This year, we celebrate its centenary. It is worth considering what exactly we are celebrating about the RAF. Perhaps, what we are truly celebrating is not simply the century that has passed since its founding, but rather the century that has passed in which the founding principles of the RAF have held strong. It was upon this bedrock of values that the RAF was built, and which has since allowed the RAF to be at the tip of Britain’s military might from WWII and the Falklands, to current engagements in Iraq and Syria. However, the founding values of the RAF were already well established before it was officially formed. It was Britain’s pilots in WWI (at the time part of the Royal Flying Corps (RFC)) who laid the foundation for what would become the RAF. Engaging in the first aerial combat in history, these men had shown themselves to be courageous and trailblazing, and as the very first pilots of the RAF, they defined the traits which would come to epitomise the RAF pilot. As we look back on the century that has passed, there is one legacy of the RAF I find particularly worthy of celebration: the RAF pilots from St Edward’s. 

Ria Parry and John Hoggarth Co-Directors of The North Wall

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