The Carpetbagger Aviation Museum, located in Harrington, Northamptonshire, is a unique institution dedicated to the clandestine operations of the Allied forces during World War II. It focuses on the role of the USAAF 801st/492nd Bomb Group, nicknamed the “Carpetbaggers,” which carried out secret missions, including dropping supplies and agents into occupied Europe.
Harrington Aviation Museum / Carpetbagger Aviation Museum
+44 1604 686608
April – October
- Saturday, Sunday and Bank Holiday Mondays 10:00 – 17:00
Admission fee
Gift shop
The museum is accessed by a roadway from off the Harrington to Lamport road adjacent to the bridge over the A14 (M1-A1 link road). The museums are about a mile down the roadway from this junction. Although the roadway is relatively narrow it has several passing places and is suitable for coaches.
Aircraft collection
| B-163
G-APWK | Noorduyn Harvard IIB
Westland Widgeon (cockpit) |
Displays and exhibits within the Carpetbagger Aviation Museum depict the history of the airfield and show the work carried out by both the RAF at Tempsford and the 801st (Provisional) / 492nd Bomb Group USAAF, especially during Operation Carpetbagger, and their secret missions to deliver agents and supplies to resistance groups in Occupied Europe during the Second World War.
Key Highlights
- The Carpetbagger Operations:
- Exhibits about the 801st/492nd Bomb Group, which conducted secretive night missions for the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) (the precursor to the CIA).
- Displays on the role of the aircrews in supplying resistance fighters and inserting secret agents into Nazi-occupied Europe.
- Aircraft and Equipment:
- Focus on the Consolidated B-24 Liberator, the primary aircraft used in these missions.
- Equipment used for parachuting supplies, such as drop canisters, and displays on how cargo was prepared and deployed.
- Coded Communications and Espionage:
- Artifacts and stories about the use of coded messages, sabotage tools, and other espionage techniques.
- Exhibits detailing the collaboration between the Carpetbaggers and European resistance groups.
- Life at Harrington Airfield:
- A reconstruction of wartime life at the airfield, with photographs, personal stories, and artifacts from servicemen stationed there.
- Models and maps depicting the airfield and its surrounding areas during the war.
- Post-War History:
- Displays on the airfield’s later use during the Cold War as a base for the RAF’s Thor intermediate-range ballistic missiles, which played a role in Britain’s nuclear deterrent strategy.