Flying through the ages of history
A little while ago now, Damien and I went to the Air Force Museum of New Zealand located here in Christchurch. This is one of those places that I drive past nearly every day but have never actually got further than that! However, after coming back from Melbourne and being fascinated by the Hollocaust Museum, we discovered that the Airforce Museum had on display the official Anne Frank exhibition from the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam. Naturally, we thought that this would be well worth our time to see, and to expand the overall experience we had had from Melbourne. The exhibition was absolutely fantastic, very sombre to read about, but well worth the visit - and all free as well!
The exhibition "Anne Frank- the history for today" shows the history of the Frank family together with the historical background, during and after the Nazi regime. The exhibition shows different stages in Anne Frank's life, with additional pieces of information included from the eyewitnesses of those days.
An image of the Anne Frank exhibit from Amsterdam (we were not allowed to take pictures, unfortunately)
The location of the Air Force Museum in Wigram, Christchurch, was the first operational base for the Royal New Zealand Air Force in the South Island. The museum itself opened on 1 April 1987, the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the RNZAF, and is primarily a museum of the RNZAF and New Zealand squadrons of the Royal Air Force.
The mission of the museum is to preserve and present the history of New Zealand military aviation for commemoration, learning, inspiration and enjoyment. As a result, the museum holds the national collection of the Royal New Zealand Air Force. The collection includes objects covering the early days of New Zealand military aviation both prior to World War I and during this major conflict, the interwar years which saw the formation of the RNZAF in 1937, New Zealanders who fought in the RAF and in other Allied air forces during World War II, the RNZAF’s campaign in the Pacific, and the post-war period to the present day. The collection also includes objects from former enemy forces, aircraft, aircraft components, aircraft engines, large objects, textiles, art and memorabilia as well as an extensive paper and photographic archive.
There are also numerous tours which visitors are able to take aroung the museum - the extent of what you as a visitor actually see in the museum in regards to the restored planes is actually only about a third of what is on site: you can take a "Restoration Tour" through 'behind the scenes' areas of the Museum including the Restoration and Reserve Collection hangars (I would love to do this tour at some stage!). We did have however have a wander through the large hanger which has a rather spectacular display...
The Antarctic Exploration plane
The Air Force Hanger with restored planes open to the public to view
(Apologies, for some reason Live Journal would not let me upload my own pictures - so I have had to pinch these from the web, so that you have an idea what we saw!)
The exhibition "Anne Frank- the history for today" shows the history of the Frank family together with the historical background, during and after the Nazi regime. The exhibition shows different stages in Anne Frank's life, with additional pieces of information included from the eyewitnesses of those days.
An image of the Anne Frank exhibit from Amsterdam (we were not allowed to take pictures, unfortunately)
The location of the Air Force Museum in Wigram, Christchurch, was the first operational base for the Royal New Zealand Air Force in the South Island. The museum itself opened on 1 April 1987, the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the RNZAF, and is primarily a museum of the RNZAF and New Zealand squadrons of the Royal Air Force.
The mission of the museum is to preserve and present the history of New Zealand military aviation for commemoration, learning, inspiration and enjoyment. As a result, the museum holds the national collection of the Royal New Zealand Air Force. The collection includes objects covering the early days of New Zealand military aviation both prior to World War I and during this major conflict, the interwar years which saw the formation of the RNZAF in 1937, New Zealanders who fought in the RAF and in other Allied air forces during World War II, the RNZAF’s campaign in the Pacific, and the post-war period to the present day. The collection also includes objects from former enemy forces, aircraft, aircraft components, aircraft engines, large objects, textiles, art and memorabilia as well as an extensive paper and photographic archive.
There are also numerous tours which visitors are able to take aroung the museum - the extent of what you as a visitor actually see in the museum in regards to the restored planes is actually only about a third of what is on site: you can take a "Restoration Tour" through 'behind the scenes' areas of the Museum including the Restoration and Reserve Collection hangars (I would love to do this tour at some stage!). We did have however have a wander through the large hanger which has a rather spectacular display...
The Antarctic Exploration plane
The Air Force Hanger with restored planes open to the public to view
(Apologies, for some reason Live Journal would not let me upload my own pictures - so I have had to pinch these from the web, so that you have an idea what we saw!)