The Imperial War Museum (tel: (01223) 835 000); website: http://duxford.iwm.org.uk) in Duxford is Europe's premier aviation museum, and it also has one of the finest collections of tanks, military vehicles and naval exhibits in the UK. It was first used as an airfield in WWI and later played an important role in WWII as an RAF fighter station and American fighter base. The American Air Museum is part of the complex. It is a memorial to the 30,000 American airmen who gave their lives flying from the UK during the WWII. Duxford is just 8km (5 miles) south of Cambridge. Further away to the east is Bury St Edmunds, a beautiful Suffolk town with a magnificent cathedral, the country's smallest pub, one of Britain's few remaining Georgian playhouses, a brewery and the ruins of the Abbey of St Edmund located in beautiful, award-winning gardens. The tourist office (tel: (01284) 764 667; website: www.stedmundsbury.gov.uk) can provide further information.