Fred and Harold Panton - Lifetime Achievement Award, 2007

Fred and Harold Panton received their joint Award from Prince Michael for the creation of the Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre.

The Centre stands as a memorial to the 55,000 airman of RAF Bomber Command who lost their lives during the Second World War and especially in memory of their elder brother, Pilot Officer Christopher Panton, a Halifax Flight Engineer, who was killed on a bomber raid over Nuremberg in March 1944.

The brothers' parents farmed near East Kirby airfield and as boys, Fred and Harold watched the resident Lancasters of 57 and 630 Squadrons take off on raids over Germany. The family’s poultry and mixed farm business expanded and subsequently they had the opportunity to acquire the original control tower, a hangar and other wartime buildings. The purchase of an increasingly rare Avro Lancaster bomber in the late 1980s initiated the present unique Museum.

A total of 7,377 Lancasters were produced and used during the second war, with over half being lost in action. The Centre's Lancaster, now called "Just Jane", is the centre-piece of the aircraft collection and is maintained in an active condition, being taxied regularly. An airworthy two-seat Spitfire is also resident at East Kirkby.

Among the exhibitions is a Blitz display, an excellent NAAFI and the Control Tower which is now fully restored to recreate the wartime atmosphere with figures, voices and aircraft sounds.

Fred and Harold Panton are very worthy recipients of the Transport Trust Lifetime Achievement Award.

For further information about the Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre, look here