The Heritage Centre
The FONFA Heritage and Interpretation centre contains aircraft artefacts, models, dioramas, individual pilot’s stories, interactive displays of each of the airfields, the aircraft and the units that operated from them.
The upstairs gallery contains many limited edition prints depicting the aircraft that flew here.
Visit Us at Mosquito Way, Bransgore, Christchurch BH23 8HE. Use the ‘what3words’: beyond.likely.surprised.
There is Free off-road parking. Please note there is also a Mosquito Way in Christchurch. Please be sure to use the above address in your satnav or phone to get directions to the correct Mosquito way
Entrance Fees:
Adult entrance (over 16) – £10.00*
Child (10 to 16) – £4.00
Child (under 10) – Free
Service Veteran (with ID) – £5.00
* Visitors who are taxpayers are asked to consider adding a £1.00 donation which will allow us to claim gift aid on the full £11.00. In return, as a “thank you”, you will receive a 25p voucher to use in the cafe or shop.
Opening Times
The Heritage Centre will be open from 10.00 to 16.00 every Sunday from 6th April to 26th October 2025. (Last admission 15.00)
At the FONFA Heritage Centre you can enjoy light refreshments in ‘Mee Mee’s Kitchen’
Mee Mee’s Snack Bar originated during the USAF 367th Fighter Group’s three month stay at Stoney Cross, which was their initial operational deployment in Europe. This sign followed them to Ibsley and when the Group’s squadrons departed severally to France, to A-10 Carentan, A-14 Cretteville and A-6 Beuzeville and thence as a Group to A-2 Cricqueville (La Cambe) and south to A-44 Le Peray, north of Le Mans.
‘Mee Mee’ was the nickname of a sergeant who was always able to find eggs, meat and vegetables, and eager to do his best for the men of the outfit. The sign was discovered in July 2007 by relatives of Lt. Hugh Hallman, after attending a dedication in honour of Lieutenant Donald Erickson, 392nd FS, in the Loire Valley. They visited several 367th Fighter Group Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) airfield sites and in a barn owned by a farmer at Marolles-led-Braux, a village very close to A-44 Le Peray, they were shown a collection of souvenirs, including several drop tanks and the original ‘Mee Mee’s Snack Bar’ sign, hung up in the roof.
Lieutenant Al Diefendorf, a replacement pilot assigned to the 392nd FS in mid-August 1944, mentions Mee Mee’s snack bar in his memoirs: “The pilots had a snack bar, and Mimi, the mess sergeant, always had eggs, ham, bacon and good coffee. It was a gathering place for breakfast and a real pleasure to eat there (aircrews got some extra ration authorization – a bit inequitable, but c’est la vie)”.
In his diary, Lt Jack Peterson, a replacement pilot of the 393rd FS wrote the following entry: “October 10, 1944 – We have just come from the snack bar where I had some hot chocolate and a hot dog. We have got a corporal at group headquarters, which is about a mile away, and he can get a lot of stuff that the mess halls can’t get. I don’t know where he gets them, but once in a while he has steak, hamburgers, hot dogs, tomato juice, pies etc., in his snack bar”.
