March 2025 saw the return to Wattisham Station Heritage of a significant artefact. Many thanks go to David Taylor for the generous donation of the front canopy of Phantom FGR2 XV494 which ended its extensive RAF career with 56 Squadron at Wattisham.
XV494 had served with many different RAF squadrons throughout its service life, including a significant portion at Wattisham, as shown by the attached RAF Movements Record Card.
After suffering the same fate as many RAF Phantoms at the end of the Cold War, the front canopy from XV494 was rescued from the scrapman and has been looked after for the last 30-odd years.
The return to Wattisham means this important artefact is back in an appropriate location, and should be well looked after going into the future.
Thanks also go to David Taylor and Wayne Button for the photographs, as well as ukserials.com for the detailed service history of XV494.
