Spitfire Visitor Centre Calls for Polish Town Twinning

The Spitfire Visitor Centre: Hangar 42, located at Blackpool airport, at what was once RAF Squires Gate, is calling for Blackpool to be twinned with a town in Poland.

The award-winning visitor attraction breathes life into Blackpool’s World War II past, as well as life in the town that became RAF Blackpool, through exhibits, simulators, storytelling and themed displays.  It says it believes the twinning would help recognise the contribution that Polish air crew played in the defence of Britain.

At the current time, Blackpool is only twinned with Bottrop in Germany and Sanya in China, reasons for which are far less clear.

During World War II, Blackpool’s boarding houses hosted what is estimated to have been 835,000 RAF personnel who passed through the town for training.  It also became home for 20,000 Polish air crew, who had escaped the atrocities of the German occupation of Poland and then had to flee France, when that country also fell.

The Poles arrived in Britain determined to help fend off Hitler and his forces.  In RAF terms, the Polish air squadrons 303, 306, 307, 308 and 317, were all formed in Blackpool.  All played a major part in helping defend the country during the Battle of Britain and subsequent blitz.

Following the war, many Polish air crew did not wish to return home to Stalin-occupied Poland and remained in Blackpool, which had been their home for so long.  To this day, Blackpool has a strong Polish community.  

As a result, the Spitfire Visitor Centre would love to see Blackpool reach out to either Lublin or Toruń in Poland.  

The Polish Air Force Academy was first situated in Deblin, near the capital of Warsaw, from 1927, and remains there to this day, close to Lublin.  Lublin is the eighth largest city in Poland and the largest east of the Vistula river.

Given its links to the Polish air force, and the fact that the free Polish Air Force regarded Blackpool as its home from 1940 onwards, it would appear a fitting choice.  .  

Medieval Toruń, the other suggestion, is situated on the Vistula, in north-central Poland, and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  Gingerbread in Toruń is what rock is to Blackpool and an integral part of its heritage.  As importantly to the Spitfire Visitor Centre’s twinning mission, it is home to the 306 Polish Fighter Squadron that was originally formed in Blackpool.  Its population is just around 50,000 more than that of the resort.

A pilot from 306 squadron was actually commemorated at the former King Edward School in Blackpool, in 1991.  This was Sgt Ottan Pudrycki, whose Spitfire crashed into the school’s grounds on December 5, 1941, during a training exercise and poor weather.  Observers recognised that he had made a supreme effort to avoid hitting the school.

The Spitfire Visitor Centre puts it heart and soul into conveying the story of the Polish air crew who so bravely fought alongside British RAF personnel during the war.  Compelling stories of such individuals infuse the visitor experience each time the attraction opens its doors.  This includes narrative about the Polish airmen killed outside Hangar 42, by a German fighter pilot, as they were enjoying a cigarette.  

The passionate volunteers at the attraction bring the lives of the brave men and women who passed through RAF Squires Gate, defended the Irish Sea against Luftwaffe planes, or built Wellington Bombers in the Vickers factories, to life.  A visit is far more than about seeing the spitfires or the German ME109 and Hurricane, or looking through the lens at wartime photos of Blackpool, observing engines and other parts of aircraft retrieved locally and touring the ops room, briefing room and scramble hut.

Given its passion for the bigger picture, the attraction would love to welcome more Polish visitors and believes that the twinning would allow more Polish families to become aware of the attraction, housed in a location at which their relatives may have served during World War II.

Speaking on behalf of the Spitfire Visitor Centre, director, John Coombes, says, “It makes a lot of sense for Blackpool to be twinned with a Polish town, given the undeniable links between the town and Polish air crew who came to be based here during World War II.  Either Lublin or Toruń would seem a perfect choice.”

Polish families wishing to understand more about RAF Squires Gate and the life their wartime relatives may have experienced there, can visit the Spitfire Visitor Centre up to this season’s closing date of October 28.  The attraction is open in October on Saturday and Tuesday, between 10am and 4pm, with last entrance at 3pm.  An adult ticket costs £10 and children aged 6-16 pay £6. There is also a joint Wings & Wonders admission ticket available on the Showtown Blackpool website, at a slightly higher cost, which also provides entrance to the Blackpool Showtown Museum, where a ‘Wartime Blackpool’ exhibition is being staged until November 9.

Head to www.spitfirevisitorcentre.co.uk for more details.

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Editors notes

The Spitfire Visitor Centre, found in Hangar 42 at Blackpool Airport, is a hidden gem and winner of the Small Visitor Attraction of the Year Award, in the Lancashire Tourism Awards 2025. Celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2025, this wonderful attraction combines vintage aircraft and air paraphernalia, with atmospheric exhibits, nostalgia aplenty and wonderful wartime storytelling from passionate volunteers who are mines of information. With Spitfires, German bomber, Hurricane, the only full-size Spitfire simulator in the world, a mini simulator and the chance to experience a virtual reality wartime bombing raid, a visit to Hangar 42 and the Spitfire Visitor Centre is a must-do in Blackpool.