AN exhibition of historic First World War photographs is taking off again after attracting 3,000 visitors earlier this year.

The newly-restored images were displayed in the spring as part of celebrations marking the centenary of the day the Royal Flying Corps – forerunner of the RAF – arrived in the New Forest.

Visitors to the former airfield at East Boldre also enjoyed a two-hour play written to commemorate the anniversary.

Other attractions included a dogfight involving replica First World War aircraft owned by members of the Great War Display Team.

The display was staged as a tribute to former member Doug Gregory, 92, of Blackfield, who died after being injured in a hit-and-run accident in March.

One of the organisers said: “The crowds in the East Boldre Village Hall were so big that many people were unable to get a clear view of the photographs.

“It’s for that reason that the exhibition is being remounted on October 3-4, with the pictures on show between 10.30am and 4.30pm.

“There will also be guided tours of the old airfield showing exactly where the hangars and other buildings were located.

“The hall was built as the officers’ mess during the First World War to serve the training station operated by the Royal Flying Corps. Hundreds of photographs taken by the trainees have been painstakingly restored.”

The airfield closed after conflict but land on the opposite side of the road was used as an airfield during the Second World War.