The decision has been made to create a brand new 1 100m2 building entirely dedicated to the war gliders’ role, including the WACO, in the conflict. It will first and foremost grant optimum exhibition conditions, by giving the necessary hindsight to envision the glider, and the conservation of the only remaining WACO glider in France, along with the collection’s objects.
The permanent exhibition will be divided between 4 themes:
Theme 1: The origins and the first uses
- The scenography based on archive pictures, technical documents and scale models will retrace the technical turmoil, the industrialization and the mass production. Visitors will discover the design of the CG4A model through virtual or real scale models, thus creating an “evolutionary gallery” of the gliders.
Theme 2: En route to Sainte-Mère-Eglise
This main sequence will be divided in several subsequences:
- 1. A glider in 5 pieces: the logistics surrounding the gliders, and the D-Day gliders missions
- 2. The in situ discovery of the museum’s glider: visitors see the glider from which the soldiers are extracting a Jeep, after having landed in a field.
- 3. The men onboard: portrait of the gliders pilots and some soldiers
- 4. The other gliders: the Horsa model
- 5. The unconventional uses
Theme 3: The other missions, after Normandy
Other military endeavours by gliders were undertaken after the Normandy D-Day success, such as in Provence, in the Netherlands, and in Germany. These different operations leading to the end of the war will be highlighted.
Theme 4: The museum’s glider and its history
The glider’s arrival coincides with the museum’s inauguration in 1964. The story of its renovation and its arrival in Sainte-Mère-Eglise are told through documents, photographs and videos. The partial renovation of the glider that will be done as part of the project, as well as its moving to its new shrine will also be documented to keep the storytelling going.
