26 June 2021 – 12 March 2022
Take a virtual tour of the Courage & Devotion exhibition.
This exhibition remembers the lives of the Polish Airmen based at RAF Woodvale, the iconic Spitfire and some of the stories associated with the area during World War 2.
Once you have pressed the ‘play’ button, click on the grey circles on the floor to ‘walk around’ the exhibition and the blue circles to find out more information. We recommend viewing full screen.
If you have enjoyed this virtual exhibition, please donate.
Courage & Devotion
RAF Woodvale was originally conceived as a fighter base for the protection of Merseyside. It opened in 1941 with 308 Krakowski Squadron. Conditions were harsh in the early days, even for battle-hardened airmen, some of whom described facilities as being worse than Tobruk. A total of 145 Polish fighter pilots served in the RAF during the Battle of Britain, making up the largest non-British contribution. By the end of the war, around 19,400 Poles were serving in the Polish Air Force in Great Britain and in the RAF. During WW2 The Atkinson held numerous events to help fund the Polish servicemen including music concerts and exhibitions of work by Polish artists.
Along with the stories of the airmen and objects to help illustrate the story we have commissioned a replica scale model of a Spitfire Vb AB273 from paper artist sculpture Suhail Shaikh.
Further reading
Video: The Polish Air Force Memorial Committee
Podporucznik (Pilot Officer) Michal Drzazga
Online Talk (recording) – The Story of RAF Woodvale
Tragic day a Polish Spitfire pilot crashed at RAF Woodvale as Courage and Devotion exhibition opens
Building a paper Spitfire: Part 12
Building a paper Spitfire: Part 11
Building a paper Spitfire: Part 10
Building a paper Spitfire: Part 9
Building a paper Spitfire: Part 8
Building a paper Spitfire: Part 7
Building a paper Spitfire: Part 6
Building a paper Spitfire: Part 5
Building a paper Spitfire: Part 4
Building a paper Spitfire: Part 3
Building a paper Spitfire: Part 2
Building a paper Spitfire: Part 1
Suhail Shaikh: Paper Sculpture Artist
Wartime Tally Board returned to RAF Woodvale
