Selected dates May - July 2025
IWM Duxford
Everyone
£5
Navy to Victory Tour 2025
The historic U.S. Navy Second World War aircraft Ready 4 Duty is honouring the 80th anniversary of the Allied victory in 1945, paying tribute to the sacrifices of American and Allied sailors and airmen during the Second World War.
Its 12,000-mile journey has taken it from Texas in the United States of America, across the Atlantic, and eventually to IWM Duxford, where it will be based over the summer.
Ready 4 Duty is a mobile museum; inside, the aircraft has an authentic interior, including replica depth chargers, a first aid station with stretchers, a fully equipped radio room, a navigator’s station, and a full 1940s period cockpit.
Also onboard is a collection of unique artefacts from a dozen surviving U.S. Navy warships – aircraft carriers, battleships, and destroyers – brought together in one place for the first time since the end of the Second World War.
Ready For Duty will be open to visitors from 10am - 3 pm on the following dates in May:
- Tuesday 13 May
- Wednesday 14 May
- Thursday 15 May
- Friday 16 May
- Saturday 17 May
- Sunday 18 May
- Tuesday 21 May
- Wednesday 22 May
- Tuesday 27 May
- Wednesday 28 May
- Thursday 29 May
Further dates in June and July, and Ready 4 Duty's departure date, will be confirmed in due course.
The Douglas R4D is the naval version of the iconic aircraft more commonly known as as the C-47 Skytrain, used by the USAAF and Dakota by the RAF. It was used by the US Navy during the Second World War for long-range maritime duties and anti-submarine warfare.
Built in 1944, ‘Ready 4 Duty’ was delivered to the U.S. Navy Atlantic Special Service Squadron and was used for airborne search and radar. It contributed to the sinking of a German U-boat in February 1945, and is the last of its kind still flying. 'Ready 4 Duty' is maintained and operated by the Dallas / Fort Worth Wing of the Commemorative Air Force.