- Title: United Kingdom: Queen Elizabeth II Opens American Air Museum At Duxford
- Date: 1st August 1997
- Summary: Thousands of American war veterans braved the rain on August 1 to watch Britain's Queen Elizabeth open a military museum built in tribute to US airmen who have served Britain over the past 80 years. More than 4,000 former American servicemen travelled across the Atlantic for the opening of the American Air Museum at Duxford, Cambridgeshire. The museum was built with a grant from the British National Lottery and thousands of donations from US veterans. Designed by Sir Norman Foster, the museum was built in the style of a B52 bomber and houses historic aircraft and archive footage from the Gulf War. It is the largest perkiest concrete structure in Europe and will contain the largest collection of American combat aircraft outside the USA.Other VIP guests at the opening ceremony included the Duke of Kent - who is patron of the American Air Museum - actor Charlton Heston, and Baroness Thatcher. The Queen said: "Relations between our two countries over the years have been enhanced by the presence of the United States Air Force in the United Kingdom and especially in this part of England." She paid tribute to the 30,000 American airmen who died during the Second World War, fighting from American airforce bases in Britain. The royal party spent half-an-hour touring the 70,000 sq ft museum before meeting veterans and watching a fly-past of historic aircraft.Charlton Heston, who flew with the 77th Bomb Squadron during the War, paid tribute to friends and fellow actor James Stewart, who was chief fund-raiser for the museum appeal in America before his death. Stewart asked Heston to take over his role when he fell ill last year. The museum was the culmination of 11 years of fund-raising and took 18 months to build.
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- Location: UK ENGLAND CAMBRIDGESHIRE DUXFORD
- Reuters ID: LDL00126ZAKAN
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- Copyright Holder: Reuters Archive
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