The RAF Millom Aviation & Military Museum was a museum of the British Royal Air Force bombing and gunnery school, located in Millom, Cumbria.
Opened in January 1941 as No.2 bombing and gunnery school and in summer became No. 2 air observer School. In 1942 it became No. 2 Observer Advanced Flying Unit until 1945 and in 1946 it was put under care and maintenance until 1953 when it was reopened for a 12 month period as No.1 Officer Cadet Training Unit. It was then again put under care and maintenance until the 1960’s when various army regiments passed through. HM Prison Service took it over in 1967. The museum project originated in a very small way in 1992, however due to a great deal of hard work by volunteers and ex-servicemen and women of the old RAF Millom our collection has all but outgrown the present buildings and the yard we occupy.
In July 2005, Time Team from UK's Channel 4 TV, along with members of RAF Millom Museum, took part in a major project to excavate the crash sites of two A-26 Invader aircraft which had collided shortly after take-off over marshes close to the then USAAF BAD 2 airbase at Warton in Lancashire on the 29th November 1944. The planes, A-26B-10-DT 43-22298 (pilot: 2nd Lt. Kenneth E. Hubbard accompanied by Pvt. John F. Guy) and A-26B-15-DT 43-22336 (2nd Lt. Norman Zuber unaccompanied), had been en route to Brétigny, Oise in northern France to take up service with the 641st Squadron of the 409th Bombardment Group.[1]
The museum was in financial difficulties during the summer of 2010 and was asked to vacate its current main site by the Ministry of Justice - owners of the buildings the museum occupies which is part of the original airfield now occupied by Her Majesty's Prison Haverigg. Negotiations failed regarding a new lease agreement.
The permanent closure was confirmed on the 1st September, 2010 with outstanding debts being the driving force. Much of the museum's exhibits were on-loan and will be returned to owners. Millom Heritage Museum And Visitor Centre has shown an interest in some of the exhibits relating to the very local area but is limited for space.
