Yorkshire Air Museum: Fundraising drive to restore WW2 air control tower at former RAF Elvington

The Grade 2 Listed World War Two Control Tower at Yorkshire Air Museum

From its windows, air traffic controllers at RAF Elvington watched thousands of Halifax bombers take to the skies. Almost half wouldn’t make it home.

A fundraising campaign has begun to help with the restoration of the control tower which witnessed hundreds of allied bombing raids over occupied Europe and Nazi Germany.

The grade two listed tower at the Yorkshire Air Museum – formerly RAF Elvington – is one of the last of its kind still standing but it needs its windows and external rendering replacing.

The museum, which is looking to raise £100,000 towards the cost of the work, says it is a “living memorial" to the bravery and sacrifice of RAF Bomber Command.

The WW2 air control tower at the Yorkshire Air Museum – formerly RAF Elvington – is one of the last of its kind still standing

Out of 4,000 sorties nearly half of all the aircrew, more than 700 young men, were killed or made prisoners of war.

They came from the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, as well as from France, with two bomber squadrons of the Free French Air Force being stationed at Elvington in the last year of the war.

The tower is at the centre of the museum, which is also the Allied Air Force Memorial.

It was saved from dereliction 40 years ago and now is in need of further restoration to preserve it for the future.

"The work is being carried out by specialist builders and engineers at a total cost of around £200,000.

Chair of Trustees Rachel Semlyen said: “In the 1980s we rescued the tower and the site to create a museum and memorial.

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

"Earlier this year we repaired the roof, the rusted iron balustrade, the gutters and the staircases.

"But now to complete this specialist restoration work and prevent further decay, we need to find more than £200,000 – of which the museum has only half.”

The fundraiser comes nearly 80 years after the first bombing missions in 1943. People can donate online or in person and a series of special events are planned for 2023.