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Research help

The American Air Museum’s archive is a rich resource to help put the experiences of your relatives into context.  

Please note

We do not have the resources to give individual responses to requests for family history research. The American Air Museum does not hold personal service records or official documentation. 

Research guides

Our useful guides can help you to find out more about the people, aircraft, places, missions, units, and media which make up your family history.

Personnel of the 303rd Bomb Group visit the local water pump. ©IWM (FRE 1002)

Places research guide

Read our guide on how to find out the history of places associated with US forces in Britain
Pilots of the 56th Fighter Group sit along the body and wing of a P-47 Thunderbolt, probably at Boxted air base where the 56th FG were based between 18 April 1944 to 9 September 1945. Passed for publication on 17 July 1944. ©IWM (FRE 169)

Unit research guide

Read our guide on how to find out the history of US Army Air Force units
A meteorologist prepares a weather map for the 379th Bomb Group. ©IWM (FRE 1249)

Missions research guide

Read our guide on where you can find information about US Army Air Force combat missions

Explore our stories

Your can find more information about some of the events, people and themes recorded in our archive in our stories

Locals and United States troops meet at the Dove Inn, Burton Bradstock, Dorset, 1944. ©IWM (D 20142)
STORY

A Welcome to Britain

The film A Welcome to Britain presents a guide to British society, behaviour and wartime conditions and was made for American troops arriving in the UK prior to the Normandy Landings.
Capt Edwin Caudill of the 4th Fighter Group the Station Adjuntant practises with his bow and arrow with which he has shot several rabbits and partridges ©IWM (FRE 3)
STORY

American airmen in Britain during the Second World War

Over two million American servicemen passed through Britain during the Second World War. In 1944, at the height of activity, up to half a million were based there with the United States Army Air Forces.
Glenn Vaughn close up on AAM ROH ©IWM
STORY

The American Air Museum's Roll of Honour

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.  
A B-17 Flying Fortress bombs an German aircraft factory in 1943. The USAAF hoped daylight precision bombing would prove a winning strategy during World War II which would justify the independence of US Air power if it succeeded. US official photo
STORY

The Allied strategic bombing campaign

Over the course of the Second World War, the strategic bombing campaign developed from a limited force into a weapon of immense destructive power, with hundreds of cities subjected to air attack alongside military targets.
A B-17 Flying Fortress of the 490th Bomb Group taxies along the runway at Eye. ©IWM (FRE 6835)
STORY

Flying the B-17 Flying Fortress

The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress dropped more bombs than any other US aircraft in the Second World War. A lot of these aircraft flew out of bases in England, but what was it like to fly?
A P-51 Mustang (PI-W, serial number 44-15056) nicknamed "Jackie" of the 356th Fighter Group in flight, flown by Captain Jack W "Wild Bill" Crump. ©IWM (FRE 6075)
STORY

What made the P-51 Mustang special?

The P-51 Mustang could fly and fight with British and American bombers all the way to Berlin and back again. By 1944, the aircraft helped the Allies gain aerial superiority over Western Europe.
Second Lieutenant Clifford McIlveen and his brother First Lieutenant Clarence McIlveen, both of the 385th Bomb Group with a B-17 Flying Fortress, October 1943 ©IWM (FRE 4960)

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IWM research facilities

IWM's extensive collections reflect people from all walks of life. Our research facilities provide the widest possible access to our collections, including printed material, documents, sound, film, photographs and more

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