Czechoslovak pilots at FONFA centre in the New Forest

On Saturday 23rd May we visited another important Czechoslovak trace in the UK in the beautiful New Forest, where many Czechoslovak RAF pilots flew from during WWII. Squadrons 310, 312 and 313 operated mainly from Ibsley, while 311 Squadron was based at Beaulieu between 1943 and 1944. During the war there were 12 airfields across the New Forest area supporting Allied operations.

We were honoured to visit the Heritage Centre run by the Friends of the New Forest Airfields (FONFA), who opened especially for us for a private viewing and discussion. The centre contains aircraft artefacts, uniforms, models, pilot stories and interactive displays dedicated to the history of the New Forest airfields and all those who served there during WWII.

We were warmly welcomed by current chair Sam Ruddy, past chair Henry Goodall, Paul Moores, who built many of the aircraft models, and other members of the team including Richard Grycz, Corina Ruddy and Lindsay Asquith.

A particularly special moment for the children was meeting Paul Moores, who was eight years old when Czechoslovak pilots flew from the New Forest airfields. He shared his memories of that time and helped bring this history to life in a very personal way.

The children also enjoyed completing activity booklets prepared by Lindsay Asquith, searching the museum for answers and building their own small airplanes afterwards. Thank you also to Corina Ruddy for the wonderful homemade cake.

During our visit we also stopped at the New Forest Airfields Memorial to pay our respects to all those who served.

Thank you to everyone at FONFA for such a warm welcome and for the incredible work you do preserving and sharing this important history with future generations. We highly recommend visiting the Heritage Centre if you are in the area.

More information about the Heritage Centre can be found at www.fonfa.co.uk
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You can also find more information about this and other Czechoslovak traces in the UK on our website.

More photos and videos from the visit, here: ​https://www.okenko.uk/new-forest-airfields.html