RAF Museum Conference – 5/6 September, 2022

2022 Museum Conference: Meaning, Memory, and the (Mis-)Remembered Past

5 /6 September 2022

Hosted at the Royal Air Force Museum, London, this two-day conference brings together an interdisciplinary field of academics and scholars to present research which challenges the accepted historical consensus. The conference will explore the meaning of parts of the past and establish their importance to the historical and will feature a keynote address given by Richard Toye entitled: ‘Bet you’re sorry you won!’: Generations, authority, and honour in the public memory of the Second World War.

The cost of attending the conference in-person for both days is £50. This cost covers registrations, refreshments and lunch for both days. The RAF Museum is making up to a third of the conference tickets available at a concession price of £35 (*Concession tickets are intended for students, retired delegates, and those who define themselves as being on a clearly limited budget). Tickets are available now

The research presented will offer new evidence and provide critical reflections on, and reframe our historical understanding of, the history we ‘remember’, the history we ‘misremember’ and the history we have ‘forgotten’. In doing so, this research revises the conclusions of previous works and challenges myths which have developed and represents an important moment in advancing historical knowledge as well as an exciting line-up of speakers from around the World.

The panels hosted at the conference will include the latest research on a range of topics including: Memory and Media: The Pilot (Mis-)Remembered; Forgotten Efforts from the Second World War; Productions of the Past: Archives, Paintings, and Representations of Aerial Warfare; and Myths and their Meanings in the Present: The Battle of Britain, Navalist Reinterpretations in China, and Air Power in Africa. The conference will feature papers on the development of the French Aircraft Industry in the late 1930s, the Panavia Tornado procurement programme, and the 1957 Defence. The conference will conclude with a panel which considers the RFC and RAF’s respective pre-war preparations and development and the RAF’s experience of occupation in Japan.

The keynote address will be provided by Richard Toye, Professor of Modern History at the University of Exeter. Professor Toye is an historian of Britain in its global and imperial context in the period from the late Nineteenth Century to the present day, and an expert on the life, career and reputation of Winston Churchill. His book Winston Churchill: A Life in the News (OUP, 2020) builds on the approach Richard used in The Roar of the Lion: The Untold Story of Churchill’s World War II Speeches (OUP, 2013) which showed that Churchill’s oratory generated much more controversy and criticism than legend suggests. Professor Toye has also explored how Churchill’s reputation has been exploited in the decades since his death in the co-authored book Churchill Myths (OUP, 2020).

Location

The conference will take place at the RAF Museum, London, on Monday-Tuesday 5-6 September 2022. Registration will open from 9.00AM on 5 September.

TICKETS

The cost of attending the conference for both days is £50. A limited number of Concession tickets are available at £35.  Booking is quick and easy: Click HERE to purchase tickets

Program

The conference program is available for download here. Please note that changes in circumstances may require the program to be altered.

Online

The conference will also be available to watch remotely via the Museum’s Crowdcast Channel.

To access the conference you may need to check your internet browser is compatible. It is currently reported that Google Chrome provides the best experience for using Crowdcast.