Collections

Our rare radio collection represents some of the most ground-breaking developments in the evolution of radio, as well as many original pieces that played an important role in historical world events.

The full collection contains over 1000 items, such as radios, war communication, surveillance and broadcasting receivers.

See below for the range of categories and click to find out more about the specific radios and receivers. We will regularly be adding new imagery of our rare radio collection on this page, so be sure to keep checking back for updates.

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The complete radio used during the Battle of Britain to communicate with fighter control

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The same model of radio used by British bomber pilot Guy Gibson, to direct the attack on German dams during Operation Chastise in 1943

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The same model of radio that American pilot Francis Gary Powers had on his U-2 spy plane, which was shot down while flying a reconnaissance mission in Soviet Union airspace. This item featured in the 2015 film Bridge of Spies

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Radios that were used by the allied paratroopers who were dropped into Normandy on 6th June 1944, during Operation Overlord

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The transmitter and receiver used by the two planes that dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945