Bastion in the Air
Lincolnshire's story of aviation development, production and defence in World War One.
An exhibition exploring the development of the aircraft industry in Lincoln in World War One, the employment of women on the Home Front building these machines, the Zeppelin threat and the creation of the Royal Air Force from the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service will take place at The Collection between 26th May and 9th September 2018.
This is the story of innovation in design within the fledgling aviation industry and how Lincolnshire rose to become one of the world's largest producers of military machines for both the RFC and the RNAS in World War One.
Due to the numbers of men sent to the Front, it was women who took up the baton and began work in factories such as Robey's, Ruston & Proctor, Marshalls and Clayton & Shuttleworth constructing aircraft designs straight from the drawing boards. We will examine this largely unknown story.
In the air the threat of the Zeppelin terror filled the civilian population with fear. Brave young airmen took to the skies, at night, in an effort to defeat them. We shall be displaying a Victoria Cross won by William Leefe Robinson, flying in an aircraft built in Lincoln, who destroyed such an airship in 1916, the first to be shot down over Great Britain. From the Bundeswehr Museum of Military History in Dresden we will be displaying memorabilia from the Zeppelin era never before seen in this country.
Artefacts and imagery will be on display to detail all these momentous events in the county's history.
The exhibition has been made possible through a Heritage Lottery Funded grant and is in partnership with Lincolnshire County Council, West Lindsey District County and Aviation Heritage Lincolnshire.
With thanks to the Lord Ashcroft Collection for the loan of the Victoria Cross.
2for1 tickets available on 11th & 12th August 2018 part of #RAF100 weekend in Lincoln.