Discover the fascinating history of Norfolk’s finest flying pigs!

Using slides from the Centre’s archives alongside Pathe news footage, Sheila King, our heritage trustee,  will tell the story of RNAS Pulham, its people and its amazing airships.

After the talk there will be the opportunity to visit our museum with Sheila and look at some of the objects in our collection.

RNAS Pulham was commissioned in 1916, part of a defensive network of air stations around the country, extending from Mullion in Cornwall to Longside, near Aberdeen. Airships from RNAS Pulham were sent to patrol the North Sea, to protect shipping from German U-boats.

As the war progressed, Pulham Air Station expanded to have two large sheds to house rigid airships alongside a smaller coastal airship shed. A railway line brought supplies into the base, and on-site both electricity and gas were generated.

At the peak of the war, over 3,000 service personnel were reportedly stationed at RNAS Pulham, with a further 2,000 civilians arriving daily to support its operations — over 500 men were needed to land some of the bigger airships, and large numbers of men, and women, were involved in maintaining the giant craft.