Parham Airfield Museum comprises both the390th Bombardment Group Memorial Air Museum together with theMuseum of the British Resistance Organisation, and occupies theControl tower and adjacent buildings on the formerRAF Framlingham airfield near the village ofParham, Suffolk, in England.
RAF Framlingham was occupied by theUSAAF390th Bombardment Group from 1943 to 1945, and was also identified asUSAAF Station AAF-153.[1][2]AfterWorld War II in Europe ended, the runways at RAF Framlingham were broken up and buildings were allowed to deteriorate. In 1976 a five-year restoration programme began to restore the control tower, shot up and abandoned after the Americans held a riotous farewell party there in August 1945. The restored tower was finally dedicated as the390th Bombardment Group Memorial Air Museum on 13 May 1981. Exhibits focus on the history of theU.S 8th Air Force, theRoyal Air Force and the GermanLuftwaffe in the Second World War. Displays include recovered Second World War aircraft engines, parts of Allied and German aircraft, uniforms, photographs, documents, combat records, paintings and memorabilia.[3]
The Museum of the British Resistance Organisation was created in 1997, with the opening ceremony being carried out by Lieutenant Colonel J.W. Stuart Edmundsun, TD, RE, one of the founders of the nondescript 'Most Secret' GHQ.[4]The museum is located in aQuonset hut adjacent to the control tower, and is dedicated to theAuxiliary Units, one of Britain's nine secret services ofWorld War II, alongside better known clandestine organisations such as the Security Service (MI5), theSecret Intelligence Service (MI6), and theSpecial Operations Executive.
In case the Germans succeeded in invading Britain, the men and women of the Auxiliary Units were trained to operate as the British underground resistance. They were to remain undetected in carefully constructedbunkers (Operating Bases – OBs) as the invading German Army made its way through Britain.
The museum includes a replica underground Operational Base, as well as photographs, special weapons such astime pencil fuses and other explosives,dead letter boxes, agent instruction papers, and information about the special radio communications network installed by theRoyal Corps of Signals.
52°11′44″N1°24′14″E / 52.1955°N 1.4038°E /52.1955; 1.4038