Metheringham Airfield Visitor Centre
The Metheringham Airfield Visitor Centre with its original wartime buildings is on the site of RAF Metheringham, 13 miles southeast of Lincoln. It is dedicated to those who served at RAF Metheringham from November 1943 until the end of the Second World War, and to the British and US Airborne Forces who were based locally.
The Centre offers visitors the chance to climb inside a C-47 Dakota, and sit in its cockpit or one of the scuffed metal seats that paratroopers would have occupied before they jumped. Metheringham’s vintage transport plane has British livery on one side and American on the other to honour the WW2 Allied alliance. It is housed in a newly constructed hangar alongside a large model Horsa glider, displays of Airborne Forces’ equipment and information boards.
Metheringham airfield was constructed in 1942 and opened in 1943 , becoming home to the Lancaster bombers of No 106 Sqn from November 1943 until February 1946.
The Centre also pays tribute to a truly amazing wartime action. On the night of 26/27 April 1944, Sergeant Norman Jackson – a Flight Engineer on a 106 Squadron Lancaster – climbed out on the wing of his aircraft at around 20,000 feet over Germany to try and extinguish an engine fire. He was unable to do so but, for this staggering feat of selfless bravery, he was awarded the Victoria Cross.
To visit the Visitor Centre's website, click here:
On its port side, the C-47A carries US markings on its port side, the '3I' code indicating an aircraft of the 14th Troop Carrier Squadron, 61st Troop Carrier Group, based at Barkston Heath from February 1944 until March 1945.
On its starboard side, the aircraft is painted in the markings of a Dakota of No 24 Squadron, RAF, based at RAF Hendon.
A typical view of a C-47, seen by thousands of paratroopers as they headed to the aircraft for training and operational flights.
Inside the C-47: on the left are stretchers prepared for casualty evacuation; on the right are the standard bucket-type paratrooper seats.
Stretchers in place on the C-47A, ready for casualty evacuation.
The dedicated Dakota Hangar.