PRIDE MONTH
Pride Month is dedicated to celebrating LGBTQIA+ communities around the world. The Bunker is celebrating Pride Month by showcasing our colourful collection to form a rainbow. The rainbow flag is the symbol of the Pride movement; the colours reflect the diversity of the LGBTQIA+ community, and the flag is often used as a symbol of collective pride during marches.
PRIDE MONTH RAINBOW
The Bunker is celebrating Pride Month by showcasing our colourful collection to form a rainbow. The rainbow flag is the symbol of the Pride movement; the colours reflect the diversity of the LGBTQIA+ community, and the flag is often used as a symbol of collective pride during marches.
RED CONTROLLER’S TELEPHONE
This telephone was used by the Group Controller in the Controller’s Cabin. The Controller sat overlooking the plotting table and could see what was happening in real time. The Controller had as little as two minutes to analyse this information and make a decision on how best to respond to the threat and deploy available squadrons.
ORANGE PLOTTING MARKER
This arrow would have been used on the map table in the Plotting Room (Operations Room) in the Bunker. Arrows like this one could have pointed out important information, or shown the direction of travel for an enemy raid. Originally, these markers would have been made out of wood or Bakelite (an early form of plastic), but this one here is painted metal.
YELLOW LIFE PRESERVER
Life preservers were especially important during the Battle of Britain, when many fighter pilots found themselves flying over the English Channel. This particular version is the 1932 Pattern, and its waistcoat design closed with three buttons and two buckled straps. Some personnel painted their life preservers with bright yellow paint, so they could be easily spotted after baling out of the aircraft into water.
GREEN ANTI-AIRCRAFT SEARCHLIGHT
A searchlight would have been used throughout Britain to locate enemy aircraft at night. It produced a powerful beam (90cm in diameter) and had a five mile range. Once the enemy aircraft had been spotted, the searchlight would attempt to ‘lock on’ to the aerial target and anti-aircraft gunners would open fire. Many searchlights were operated by women from the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS).
OBSERVER CORP JACKET
Here is our blue Royal Observer Corp uniform jacket. The Observer Corps provided information about enemy raids and spotted, tracked and reported enemy aircraft as it passed over Britain. Any relevant information would be reported to the regional Headquarters and then passed to Group and Sector Operations Rooms. This jacket was part of the new issued uniform following the title change to Royal Observer Corps in 1941.
PURPLE NITRILE GLOVES
To complete our rainbow for the end of Pride Month, we’ve chosen a rather unusual item… nitrile gloves! Whilst these are not part of our collection, they play an important role in keeping artefacts safe when handling. We wear gloves when working with all of our objects, as our skin secretes oils and metabolic wastes (salts, etc) and these can react aggressively with some materials causing irreversible damage. For example, fingerprints can cause damage/corrosion on metals. Nitrile gloves can also protect us from any substances on objects that may be harmful to us, such as historic paints. Needless to say, we would not be able to do our jobs without them.
For National Inclusion Week in 2021, our Military History Curator interviewed Caroline Paige, a highly experienced and respected pilot who became the first transgender officer to serve openly in the UK Armed Forces. Caroline spoke to us about her career in the Royal Air Force and her transition in early 1999.
Caroline has also written a book about her experiences. True Colours explores the emotional complexities of her transition alongside active duty. Her book is available to purchase in our Gift Shop, open during museum opening hours.