Aussie airbase in UK facing demolition
An historic English airfield used by Australian airmen as a base for their World War II bombing raids on the Nazis is facing demolition.
Hundreds of Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) servicemen were based at the Driffield airbase in Yorkshire between 1942 and 1945 when they carried out bombing raids on German-occupied areas of Europe.
But now the buildings which housed their barracks, guards rooms and officers' mess could be demolished to make way for hundreds of new homes and shops.
A British man, Phillip Rhodes, who lived at the base as a child while his father worked there for the RAF, is leading a campaign to save some of the buildings in the hope they will be refurbished by developers.
He wants any surviving RAAF servicemen who spent time at the base, plus their relatives and friends, to back his campaign amid fears a piece of Australia's war history could be lost forever.
"It is one of the best complete airfields in the country," Mr Rhodes said.
"There were about 400 used in WWII and now only 12 are left that are fairly complete with a strong history attached to them."
Mr Rhodes says he is not opposed to the site being developed, but wants as much preserved as possible and re-used as either homes, apartments or businesses.
"Yes, you need to build houses for people, but you don't need to demolish 70 years of history just to make a profit," he said.
"It's part of our heritage."
The RAAF's 466 squadron was formed at the base in October 1942, and the next year its airmen launched strategic bombing raids against German forces and missions to support Allied ground troops.
Their final bombing raids were on Anzac Day, 1945, when German coastal defences on the island of Wangerooge in the North Sea were attacked.
Squadron 462 spent about five months at Driffield in 1944 and had the task of flying Halifax bombers on raids over France and Germany.
The development company which bought the site, Strawsons Property, plans to refurbish between five and 10 of the 90 surviving Driffield buildings if the local council approves its master plan for the 65 acre site.
"There's nothing of particular historical interest there," property manager Adrian Sail said.
"But having said that, we like the architectural style of some of the buildings."
A decision is expected within a year.
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