A NEW EXHIBITION has opened to showcase the town’s storied past with the RAF.

Peter Trafford-Smith, pictured, an officer of the Learning Resource Centre in Langley Academy, has worked to create his own exhibition within the school, which will be open for the next five weeks. The exhibition was created alongside Mathew Britten, museum co-ordinator, and Brett Chinchen, head of history.

The exhibition was created to mark 100 years of the RAF, and to highlight Slough’s extensive aeronautic past.

Mr Trafford-Smith said: “My whole objective with this was to give kids a bit of history about the town they came from. Slough gets a bad rap, but kids should be proud of their town’s heritage.”

Slough has a rich aviation heritage in the now-demolished Langley Aerodrome, formerly located on Sutton Close, Langley, where the research, development, and manufacturing of a number of wartime aircraft such as the Hawker Hurricane, Tempest, and Hawker Typhoon was undertaken.

The aerodrome was set up by aviation pioneer Thomas Sopworth and his test pilot Harry Hawker in Parlaunt Park Farm, to manufacture aircraft in readiness for the looming World War 2.

The Flight Lieutenant James Brindley Nicholson, the only Battle of Britain pilot to win the Victoria Cross during World War 2, did so from the cockpit of a Langley-built plane. The RAF Bomber Command HQ was also briefly installed at Langley Hall.

When the V-1 rocket bomb raids began, the Langley-built Hawker Tempest proved to be crucial tool in combating them, as it was one of the few planes fast enough to catch up with, and destroy, the bombs before they landed.

The Aerodrome eventually closed down in 1959, partly due to competition for airspace with the nearby Heathrow.

However, town’s aeronautic link has continued in the academy, with one member of Mr Trafford-Smith’s Museum Learning Club going on to join the No.153 squadron air cadets, in Slough.

Benas Jouzelenas, 13, of Slough, said: “I’ve been in there for five weeks, and its been really fun. There are actually more girls than boys. I’ve made a lot of friends – we learn a lot about the RAF. The exhibit taught me a lot about their history.”