RAF Museum needs helping hands for huge move of hidden collection featuring thousands of historic treasures

Thousands of historic items are being relocated to a brand new purpose-built facility at the museum in Cosford.

The West Midlands' Royal Air Force Museum is appealing for volunteers to help relocate tens of thousands of historic objects to a new collections hub.

While the Cosford museum features hundreds of items capturing every element of life in the RAF, the objects on display account for less than one per cent of the museum's collection - most of which are hidden away in a storage facility at MOD Stafford.

This treasure trove holds everything from aircraft and ejector seats to uniforms, medals and memorabilia - each with its own remarkable story.

But, right now, the RAF Museum Midlands are relocating these hidden treasures to a new purpose-built 'Collections Hub' at its Cosford facility, where they will become accessible to the public for the very first time in 2028.

The grand move equates to more than 31,000 hours of work, which involves identifying and cataloguing each object, assessing its condition, carrying out essential conservation work, and carefully cleaning and packing the objects, ready for their final journey to the museum.

But the team at Stafford are in need of a bit of help, and are appealing for volunteers to assist with checking records, cleaning and packing up the precious cargo.

Amy Seadon, collections care and conservation manager said, since the mammoth mission began last year, the team had packed up around 15,000 items.

The largest of which was a 14-metre-tall V-2 rocket - the world's first practical, modern ballistic missile - which has been loaned to another museum for display.

Amy said one of her favourite parts of the collection was the extensive range of historic uniforms.

“I really love the uniform collection; we have around 12,000 pieces of uniform - everything from the very early days of the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Naval Air Service all the way to present-day items,” she said.

“They’re really quite cool and interesting, because they are personal for a lot of people who wore them.

“Everyone here is very excited for people to be able to see these things in person; they’ve been hidden away at an inaccessible site for so long.

“For people to be able to see them now, it’s a huge thing for the collection, and for the public.”

Volunteers don’t need to have museum experience - although it would be warmly welcomed - as training and equipment will be provided.

“What we do need people to have is a genuine interest in collections care, to take interest in the conditions of these items and how to move them safely,” Amy said.

Shifts are available from Monday to Thursday, and applications can be made online at rafmuseum.org.uk/support-us/volunteering