A wake-up call – RAF Swinderby turned to dust!

This blog is about the amazing people stories and rich heritage of RAF North Luffenham and Woolfox Lodge. It is at risk.

I was recently doing some work near Lincoln and called in to what was RAF Swinderby. The airbase was a pre-war station of substantial brick buildings. Not much remains and I was greeted with a view of a ‘familiar’ RAF station tree lined road, but with just a moonscape!  It was just an endless vista of processed brick. I was in shock.

This has made me appreciate what could happen at North Luffenham/St Georges Barracks. It could be reduced to brick dust. I have mixed feelings – as development seems inevitable, unless an alternate campus use is found.  Woolfox Lodge is also a proposed site for a town.

So facing brutal destruction I have a strong sense of loss for some reason, perhaps it is a feeling of no control.  For me it is hard to explain, but I know that brave people did amazing things here and at Woolfox – particularly in 1941 and 1942 – flying day bombers at night without the right meteorological information or night flying training or radio aids. Young men sent off 600 miles to the east with just a compass, stopwatch, map and airspeed indicator to fight. No wonder many failed to return.

In an 8 month period in late 41 to spring 42 over 180 allied airmen were lost and a significant proportion have no known grave.

I will be doing more thinking and feel we need to work harder to define what our heritage at North Luffenham and Woolfox Lodge is? What we can do before, during and after development, should it occur, to respect the deeds done from and at this battlefield? In the back of my mind is also the precedent for a new town to be built at Cottesmore should the MOD leave that as well.

The Luffenham Thor site is now Grade 2 listed but the rest of the station – which is a very well preserved bomber station, due to the it usage post war, is not much changed from when it was built. What is it’s significance?  What are we suggesting we destroy and how should we view this? How do we ensure ‘heritage’ is recognised and in particular, the amazing things that the people did to add to the war effort.  Therefore, this blog focusses on the ‘people’ stories that I can find.

More to follow – if you have a story to add – or would like to help – please contact me. I am in need of the help of a medals expert to uncover the citations – do you know one? – please connect me. Many thanks.