Biggles and Chums - First World War watercolours and works on paper by Captain W.E. Johns and his contemporaries

The Flying Services – Royal Flying Corps and Royal Naval Air Service – played a very significant part in the Great War. For the first time the fighting extended into the air above the battlefield, and this space became vital for reconnaissance of the enemy’s positions and intentions. At sea, aeroplanes and airships were able to see far over the horizon visible from a warship, as well as spotting for submarine raiders around Great Britain’s coasts. Both sides tried to stop each other taking advantage of this over-view, and hence aerial fighting developed. The Museum’s art exhibition will feature works on paper never exhibited before, all of them produced during or immediately after the First World War. Aeroplanes, heroic actions, the new operational procedures of air warfare and portraits of the young men who flew, will be on display alongside a display of medals, clothing, badges, Zeppelin fragments and other exhibits.