BETRAYAL OF OUR RAF HEROES
Dambusters and Red Arrows airbase sell-off sparks outrage
THE Ministry of Defence was last night accused of betraying the Dambusters and the Red Arrows.
Anger erupted after it said one of the RAF’s most historic airbases will close to make way for a new housing development.
RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire – home to the legendary 617 Dambuster Squadron and now the current base for the Red Arrows air display team – is to be sold off as part of a £3billion cost-cutting exercise.
The 102-year-old base has been at the heart of RAF operations since 1918. It was where the Lancaster bombers from the 617 departed to carry out the crucial raids on the dams of the Ruhr Valley in May 1943.
It is also currently the headquarters of No 1 Air Control Centre, which protects the UK’s airspace from hostile aircraft.
After surviving countless rounds of defence cuts it is now
WING Commander Guy Gibson – who became Britain’s most decorated wartime pilot – was originally rejected by the RAF at the age of 17 because he was deemed to be too small.
He was finally commissioned in January 1937 and rose rapidly through the ranks to be selected as the first Commanding Officer of 617 Squadron, formed to fly Operation Chastise which became immortalised as the “Dambusters” raid.
The missions resulted in the destruction of two large dams in the Ruhr area of Germany and he was awarded the Victoria Cross for his efforts.
He completed more than 170 war operations before dying in action.
At the age of 26 his plane was shot down over the Netherlands in September 1944.