(1888PressRelease)
July 30, 2007 - On 4th August 07 RAF Digby will be holding the annual Digby Party in the Park. This is the fourth Party in the Park at Digby and upto 5000 partygoers at the previous 3 events have helped to raise over £20,000 for national service and local charities while enjoying a fun-packed day of entertainment for all the family. This year Digby celebrates a 70th anniversary and unveils a new exciting exhibit - the Enigma machine - in the Station museum, open to visitors to the Party in the Park.
On 13th August 1937 Royal Air Force Digby began preparations for looming hostilities, transferring to Fighter Command as a Sector Fighter Airfield of 12 Group. Today, 70 years on, you can discover the history of war-time Digby, and its special association with the 'Y services', and see a brand new exhibit - the famous German Enigma Machine.
With the threat to Europe growing as Hitler re-armed Germany and began to make his territorial claims on neighbours, the RAF's preparations for defending Britain's skies and industrial cities stepped up a gear. 70 years ago next month, RAF Digby was transferred from flying training to become a front-line Fighter Command station, and saw rapid construction of the Sector Operations Room, co-ordinating the fighter defences of a large part of Lincolnshire and the sea approaches. The Station Museum now resides in this original operations bunker.
Two years after becoming a fighter station, at 1115hrs, 3 September 1939, RAF Digby was ordered to war and responsible for protecting the skies over the East Midlands. The first operational war sortie scrambled at 2134 hrs on 3 Sep 1939, only 34 minutes after Digby was ordered by 12 Group to take on the responsibility for defending its sector area. You can see the original signal announcing the declaration of war, possibly unique in Britain, in our Station Museum which will be open during Party in the Park.
Most recently, Digby's historical association with signals research and 'Y services' was reinforced when the museum took delivery of a wartime Enigma machine. The Enigma machine was a cipher machine used by Germany to encrypt and decrypt secret messages. The intelligence gained through exploiting this source, codenamed ULTRA, was a significant aid to the Allied war effort and may have hastened the end of the war by two years because of the decoding of German ciphers. In recent years, Enigma has featured in the media after a stolen machine was handed over to Newsnight presenter Jeremey Paxman, and was featured in films such as U-571 (Harvy Keitel, Matthew McConaughey), All the Queen's Men (Eddie Izzard) and Enigma (Kate Winslett).
You can view the Sector Ops room, declaration of war signal and Enigma machine in the Museum which is open on Sundays from the first Sunday in May to the first Sunday in September for tours at 1100. Further details via 01526 327619 or Sleaford Tourist Info Centre 01529 414294. The Station Museum will also be open to visitors on Saturday 4th of August during our 9-hour music spectacular, the Digby Party in the Park, which also celebrates our historical roots.
The evening's music will see the afternoon's event build to a crescendo as a Spitfire aerial display, set to the "Spitfire Prelude" remind us of the Digby’s proud history as a World War Two fighter base, at the same time as the music headline act, the Massed Bands of the Royal Air Force, begin to play.
It's not too late to snap a bargain advanced discount tickets for Party in the Park: tickets purchased by post, telephone or online by 3rd August are available at a discount of upto £3 off the adult gate price. Adults £13, Children £4, entitled Military, dependents and MOD Civil Servants £10. Buy online at www.digbypartyinthepark.org.uk and by post or by phone from our ticket office on 01526 327684.
Editors' notes: This year at Party in the Park we will be commemorating the significant 70th anniversary of RAF Digby's 'finest hours'; the Station became a Sector Fighter airfield within RAF Fighter Command on the 13 August 1937. It was shortly after this date when the first fighter squadrons arrived in November 1937 as part of the RAF's expansion programme, with fighter aircraft operating from RAF Digby until July 1945. No fewer than 50 squadrons served here during the war; operating Hurricane, Spitfire, Blenheim, Defiant, Beaufighter, Typhoon, Mosquito, Mustang, Wellington, Oxford, Anson, Hudson and Magister aircraft. Operational sorties carried out from RAF Digby and its satellite airfields included Sector air defence by day and night, East coast convoy patrols, sweeps over enemy occupied Europe and night intruder missions.
The battle honours of our squadrons include Battle of France, Dunkirk, Battle of Norway, Battle of Britain, the 'Channel Dash', Dieppe, Battle for Europe, D-Day and in theatres of war abroad. This is the historical legacy which we uphold as we as invite you to join us for Party in the Park.
RAF Digby's rich history also includes many famous RAF figures including Sir Arthur "Bomber" Harris, the architect of the bomber campaign, and Sir Frank Whittle, born 100 years ago, the father of the jet engine which we take for granted today. Douglas Bader, Battle of Britain ace, was a flying instructor here.
Many of 'The Few', the Battle of Britain fighter pilots, learned their skills here.
More details of the museum at http://www.raf.mod.uk/rafdigby/aboutus/sectoropsmuseum.cfm and http://www.airops.freeserve.co.uk/digbyops/
More details of Digby history at http://www.raf-lincolnshire.info/digby/digby.htm
Party in the Park website: http://www.digbypartyinthepark.org.uk/
Party in the Park is made possible by the sponsorship of BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin UK, Alfred McAlpine, Babcock Dyncorp, EDS, General Dynamics UK, Thales UK and Cannons Horticulture.
