Residents in Southampton, Hampshire, can join a new series of guided walking tours starting in March 2026 to learn about the city’s significant role during the Second World War. Hosted by Southampton Museums & Gallery, the events will highlight local landmarks like former aircraft factories and underground bomb shelters.
The first tour, “In the Shadow of the Spitfires,” takes place on March 24, 2026. Historian Alan Matlock, the chair of the Spitfire Makers Charitable Trust, will lead visitors around the former Woolston and Itchen Supermarine works where the famous fighter planes were once built.
On April 2, 2026, the “Southampton and the Second World War” tour will show how the conflict changed the city. This walk includes access to medieval stone vaults that were used as air-raid shelters to protect residents during bombing raids.
The “D-Day Walking Tour” on June 6, 2026, will explore the city’s history as a major military port. During the war, three and a half million service members and 250,000 vehicles passed through Southampton to join the invasion of Europe, more than any other port in Britain.
Tickets for the guided tours are priced at £10 per person. Several of the walks are set to begin at St Michael’s Square in the Old Town.
