Battle against turning ex-Dambusters HQ into refugee detention centre
Historians, broadcasters and RAF veterans join forces in campaign to stop plans to turn home of former Dambusters HQ into refugee detention centre
- Historians, broadcasters and veterans urged Suella Braverman to reconsider
- The 617 Squadron – the Dambusters – destroyed three dams in the Ruhr Valley
- The Lincolnshire site had been earmarked for a £300m regeneration project
A host of historians, broadcasters and high-ranking RAF veterans have joined forces in the battle against a ‘very alarming’ plan to turn the Dambusters’ former HQ into a refugee detention centre.
In an open letter, they have urged Suella Braverman to reconsider the proposal for RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire, saying that to erase its heritage would be a ‘scandalous desecration of immeasurable recklessness’.
The 44 who have signed the letter include historians Sir Antony Beevor, Sir Max Hastings, Dan Snow and Tracy Borman, broadcaster Jonathan Dimbleby, Falklands veteran Air Marshal Graeme ‘Black’ Robertson, First Gulf War veteran Air Marshal Cliff Spink, and comedian Al Murray, who presents a popular podcast about the Second World War. RAF Scampton closed last year.
The 617 Squadron – the Dambusters – was formed at the airfield, from where 19 Lancaster bombers departed for the famous raid in 1943 to destroy three dams in the Ruhr valley, the industrial heartland of Germany, with ‘bouncing bombs’.
A host of historians, broadcasters and high-ranking RAF veterans have joined forces in the battle against a ‘very alarming’ plan to turn the Dambusters’ former HQ into a refugee detention centre. Pictured: A Lancaster HAP at RAF Scampton in 1967
The 617 Squadron – the Dambusters – was formed at the airfield, from where 19 Lancaster bombers departed for the famous raid in 1943 to destroy three dams in the Ruhr valley. Pictured: 617 Squadron led by 24-year old Wing Commander Guy Gibson (in aircraft door)
The 800-acre site in Lincolnshire had been earmarked by the council for a £300million regeneration project, which would make it a centre of aerospace technology and create 1,000 jobs as well as, the letter says, having the aim of ‘honouring the incredibly rich heritage of Scampton’.
The letter highlights how it would include turning the officers’ mess into a hotel, offering the ‘enticing thought’ of being able to sleep where ‘so many courageous airmen’ did, including 617 Squadron’s commanding officer, Wing Commander Guy Gibson.
Aviation historian Victoria Taylor and James Holland, who is chairman of the Daily Mail Chalke Valley History Festival, wrote the letter, which they shared on Twitter.
In it, they write: ‘Of course refugees need to be housed in a safe, functional and secure location, but do they need to be taken to a place where there is already an exciting and viable plan to safeguard its future and in a county where such investment is so desperately needed?
‘And where the dramatic change of use to an asylum centre will threaten the rich heritage of the site?
‘There are other options – alternative sites throughout the UK that do not share Scampton’s heritage, nor an already oven-ready levelling-up plan.’
The letter adds: ‘Johnny Johnson, the last of the Dambusters, recently passed away, which means it is now left to the buildings of Scampton to provide that all-important tangible link to the past.’
The letter also points out that Scampton’s heritage dates back to a Royal Flying Corps airfield on the site in the First World War, pre-dating its 1930s development, and that post-war it became an important Cold War base.
The 800-acre site in Lincolnshire had been earmarked by the council for a £300million regeneration project. Pictured: The commemorative flight of a Lancaster Bomber, carrying members of the original 617 squadron from Biggin Hill to Lincolnshire in 1967 to mark the anniversary of the Dambusters raid
Comedian Al Murray, best known for his pub landlord character, described the plans as ‘bizarre’
Comedian Al Murray, best known for his pub landlord character, yesterday said: ‘Losing the redevelopment plan in place strikes me as bizarre.’
The Home Office said: ‘The Government remains committed to engaging with local authorities and key stakeholders.’
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