Dedicated to exploring Britain and America’s experience of war

The P-47 Thunderbolt was one of the leading American fighter aircraft of the Second World War. It saw widespread use in the European Theatre as an escort and ground attack aircraft.   

The American Air Museum commemorates the 30,000 American servicemen and women who died while flying from Britain. Their names appear on our Roll of Honour, which draws information from our archive onto the museum's walls.  

To British people familiar with Hollywood movies, the American servicemen who arrived in Britain during the Second World War often seemed like film stars. Of course, some of them actually were.

The A-10 Thunderbolt II is best known for two things: the GAU-8 30 mm rotary cannon in its nose, and its ability to destroy tanks.

Roger Freeman was a farmer’s son who lived close to Boxted airfield in Essex during the Second World War. His teenage enthusiasm for the Eighth Air Force developed into a life-long interest.

U-2 overflights across the Soviet Union were incredibly dangerous missions. Every flight was at risk of being perceived as an unauthorised invasion of another country’s airspace.