Historian fighting plans to turn Dambusters HQ into asylum centre says campaign has been ‘hijacked’
The historian fighting to prevent Dambusters headquarters from becoming a migrant detention center says his fight has been hijacked by anti-immigration campaigns.
World War II expert James Holland set up an online petition that has now collected 18,000 signatures.
He supports an alternative £300m plan to redevelop the Lincolnshire site and protect the headquarters.
But Mr Holland believes the future of RAF Scampton has been pounced on by anti-migrant figures.
He said: ‘This is not about Dambusters versus migrants. This is about what is right for the future of RAF Scampton.
“It all seems a bit hijacked by Nigel Farage, which I absolutely can’t appreciate.
James Holland (left) set up an online petition that has now collected 18,000 signatures. He is backing an alternative £300m plan to redevelop the Lincolnshire site and
He says he thinks ‘the whole thing seems to have been kind of hijacked by Nigel Farage’
Mr Holland believes the future of RAF Scampton has been pounced on by anti-migrant figures
“My sympathy for the migrants is huge, and that’s not my point,” he added. Time.
The online petition is now being advertised by both Tommy Robinson and Farage, the former leader of UKIP.
In an open letter urging Suella Braverman to reconsider the proposal, previous campaigners said erasing the heritage would be an “outrageous desecration of immeasurable recklessness.”
The 44 who 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. , which hosts a popular podcast about World War II. RAF Scampton closed last year.
No. 617 Squadron – the Dambusters – was formed at the airfield, from which 19 Lancaster bombers took off for the famous 1943 raid to destroy three dams in the Ruhr area, Germany’s industrial heartland, with ‘bouncing bombs’.
A host of historians, broadcasters and senior RAF veterans have joined forces to fight against a ‘deeply alarming’ plan to turn the former Dambusters headquarters into a refugee detention centre. Pictured: A Lancaster HAP at RAF Scampton in 1967
No. 617 Squadron – the Dambusters – was formed at the airfield, from where 19 Lancaster bombers took off for the famous 1943 raid to destroy three dams in the Ruhr area. 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 £300 million regeneration project, which would make it a center of aerospace technology and create 1,000 jobs and, the letter says, aims to ‘serve the incredibly wealthy to honor’. heritage of Scampton’.
The letter highlights how it would entail turning the officers’ mess into a hotel, offering the “tempting thought” of being able to sleep where “so many brave fliers” did, including 617 Squadron’s commander, Wing Commander Guy Gibson.
Aviation historian Victoria Taylor and James Holland, president of the Daily Mail Chalke Valley History Festival, wrote the letter, which they shared on Twitter.
In it they write: ‘Of course refugees should be housed in a safe, functional and secure location, but they should be taken to a place where there is already an exciting and viable plan to secure their future and in a county where such investments are so hard to come by. needed?
Dambusters George “Johnny” Johnson (Bomber Aimer – Front Left) with the rest of his Lancaster Bomber Crew in November 1943. (Back Row LR) Dave Roger (Rear Gunner), Dom Mclean (Navigator), Bill Radcliffe (Flight Engineer), (Front Row L-R) “Johnny”, Lem Eaton (Wireless Operator) Joe McCarthy (Pilot and Captain) Ron Batson (Mid Upper Gunner) George ‘Jonny’ Johnson
Comedian Al Murray, best known for his character as a bar owner, described the plans as ‘bizarre’
‘And where the dramatic change of use to an asylum seekers’ center threatens the rich heritage of the site?
“There are other options – alternative locations in the UK that don’t share Scampton’s heritage, nor an already oven-baked leveling plan.”
The letter adds: ‘Johnny Johnson, the last of the Dambusters, has recently passed away, meaning it is now left to the Scampton buildings to provide that all-important tangible link to the past.’
The letter also points out that Scampton’s heritage goes back to a Royal Flying Corps airfield on the site in the First World War, predating its development in the 1930s, and that it was an important post-war Cold War base. became.
Comedian Al Murray, best known for his bartender character, said yesterday: “Losing the existing redevelopment plan seems bizarre to me.”
The Home Office said: “The government remains committed to working with local authorities and key stakeholders.”