Elvington: Air museum seeks £100,000 to restore WW2 tower

The control tower at the Yorkshire Air Museum - formerly RAF Elvington - needs its windows and external rendering replacing

A campaign has begun to save a World War Two control tower on a North Yorkshire base which saw thousands of Halifax bombers take to the skies.

The Grade II listed building at the Yorkshire Air Museum, in Elvington, was saved from dereliction 40 years ago.

Museum staff said "vital restoration work" would preserve the "living memorial" for the future.

Founder of the museum Rachel Semlyen said: "We need more than £200,000, of which the museum has only half."

Ms Semlyen said the tower was rescued in the 1980s to create the museum which opened in 1986.

"During lockdown we had a survey of the tower and it was found to be leaking badly," she said.

Ms Semlyen said the tower's roof was repaired along with the rusted iron balustrade, the gutters and the staircases, in early 2022, but specialist restoration work was needed to prevent further decay.

During WW2 servicemen from the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, and France were stationed at the former RAF base

The Yorkshire Air Museum, on the site of what was formerly RAF Elvington, has a collection of about 60 aircraft and military vehicles.

A spokesperson for the museum said the French authorities made a film of the site in 1944, when two bomber squadrons of the Free French Air Force were stationed there.

The film made it possible to create an accurate replica of the original airfield, they added.

The spokesperson said out of 4,000 sorties made from RAF Elvington, almost half of all the aircrews involved (more than 700 young men) were killed or made prisoners of war.

The control tower stands as "a living memorial to the bravery and sacrifice of RAF Bomber Command", staff at the Yorkshire Air Museum said

Officials at the museum said the tower is one of the last of its kind still standing.

It had been "the eyes and ears of operations against Nazi Germany", they said.

Staff said to replace its windows and complete external rendering they needed to raise £100,000.

People could donate to the Save Our Tower appeal online or in person at the museum with a series of special events planned for 2023, they added.