World War Two Tiger Moth bi-plane returns to its wartime home at Bottisham Airfield Museum, near Newmarket

A Tiger Moth bi-plane from World War Two has returned to an airfield near Newmarket for the first time in nearly 80 years.

It has been donated to Bottisham Airfield Museum by the Imperial War Museum, in Duxford, and – much to the delight of museum volunteers – went on display for the first time on Sunday.

The plane was a regular sight in the skies over RAF Bottisham during the war from 1940 through to 1946, and was used by the RAF, the USAAF and the RAF Belgian section to train the tens of thousands of pilots who later went on to fly Spitfires, Hurricanes and Mosquito fighter planes and Lancaster bombers.

It was the first aircraft to land at Bottisham in 1940 and the last aircraft to take off when the airfield closed in 1946.

"We became aware about six months ago that the Imperial War Museum was disposing of it as part of its reorganisation and put a bid in for it, alongside other museums, and they kindly selected ourselves out of all the others," said Jason Webb, chairman of the airfield’s trustees.

“The Tiger Moth saw regular service at Bottisham and at Cambridge airport throughout the war years and, as such, was top of our wanted list of exhibits. We wanted to put it on display to tell the story of pilots who flew them."

He said the museum wanted to highlight the plane’s connections with Cambridge airport and 22 Elementary Flying School and, in particular, to focus on its little-known role in Operation Banquet Lights in 1940, which was the plan to attack the landing beaches with all available aircraft if the Germans had invaded England.

In late 1943, the 361st Fighter Group of the United States Army Air Force moved into Bottisham and they used the Tiger Moth as a utility aircraft, while from 1945 to 1946 the RAF Belgian Section continued to use it for pilot training.

The Tiger Moth bears the markings of the RAF’s top scoring wartime fighter ace Air Vice Marshall Johnnie Johnson from when he learned to fly at Cambridge in 1939.

Bottisham Airfield Museum was founded in 2009 to commemorate the airfield’s wartime role, which was being forgotten in the local community.

It moved into its current premises in 2014 thanks to the support of the late David Rayner, of Scotsdales.