The Royal Air Force Museum has acquired three significant collections from 20th century aviation photographers.
The first collection, acquired before lockdown, is from Richard Winslade worked with historic aviation organisations, including the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight and the Royal Navy Historic Flight.
The second collection from Richard Wilson was offered just before lockdown but couldn’t be collected before travel restrictions were imposed. Richard Wilson was one of the foremost aviation photographers of his generation, learning from the masters, such as Charles E Brown, and take their place when they retired. Richard, like Brown, worked closely with RAF PR and was awarded the CP Robertson Memorial Trophy, presented annually to the person considered to have made the best contribution in presenting the work of the RAF to the public. An interview with Richard was published in Supplement No. 7 to Aeroplane Monthly, 1985.
While waiting for an opportunity to collect the Wilson collection, the Rentoul and Wakeford collection was offered to the Museum by Tom Wakeford’s widow. This collection is far larger than the other two combined and is more varied in its content. Tom Wakeford was a semi-professional aviation photographer, author and magazine editor. The subject of his books included the Panavia Tornado, Operation Granby and the RAF 75th anniversary. He worked closely with Ian Rentoul whose photographs are included in the collection.