A unique moment in Pembroke Dock’s aviation story has been re-created in model form, just in time for display at the Penfro Modellers Club’s Show at the town’s Heritage Centre tomorrow (Saturday, April 23).

It recalls the time, probably in 1945, when an example of the German Luftwaffe’s giant Blohm und Voss Bv222 flying boat flew into Pembroke Dock, dwarfing the resident Sunderlands.

Captured at the end of World War II, the six-engined Bv222 - now in RAF markings - was flown to Pembroke Dock and brought ashore in the RAF Station.

The Heritage Centre archive has the first-hand memory of an RAF air gunner, John Malby, who managed to get inside the aircraft, despite a ‘no entry’ rule.

No photograph exists of its visit to ‘PD’ but using photos from other sources Penfro Modellers Club member Paul Emens has re-created the giant flying boat from one of two model kits of the Bv222 generously donated to the Heritage Centre.

Fellow club member David Woolnough has built the other kit in Luftwaffe markings. Both will be on show, among hundreds of other models, at the Penfro Club’s Show - the first to be held since 2019 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Show is open between 10 am and 4 pm. Admission to the show and the Heritage Centre will be £2.50 per person with all proceeds going to two charities - Get the Boys a Lift (GTBAL), based in Haverfordwest, and Pembroke Dock Heritage Trust, which runs the Heritage Centre. Refreshments will be available.

Club member Peter Mitchell - who brought along a Sunderland flying boat model for comparison - said: “We expect to have 40 tables displaying scale models including ships, trains, aircraft and science fiction and Star Wars.”

Penfro Modellers Club hold regular meetings at 7 pm on the third Wednesday in each month at the Heritage Centre, where several members also volunteer.

For further details contact Peter Mitchell on 01646 689783 and [email protected]