Hethel aircrew in mid-1943
The airfield was first developed in 1942 to be used by the U.S. Army Air Force as a Bomber Squadron base – Station 114 – from which to launch attacks across Europe during WWII. The base was assigned to the 320th Bombardment Group before construction was completed, and the 310th and 389th Bombardment Groups were also posted on the site. Having lost 107 aircraft during its campaign, the 389th flew its final combat mission on 25 April 1945, returning to the USA. Of the 321 missions in which RAF Hethel personnel were deployed, around 588 men went missing or were killed in action. After the end of the war in Europe and departure of the Americans, the airfield was assigned to RAF Fighter Command to see further service prior to its closure in 1948.
Today, for some, it acts as a Memorial to hundreds of lives lost. For others, it is a building which has reached the end of its life span.
Now Hethel airfield Control Tower is to be demolished. Lotus Cars had been using the Control Tower for track training days until last year, when the building was found to be structurally unsound. This led to the car company’s decision to demolish the building and create a new Club House. Meanwhile, Bracon Ash and Hethel Parish Council has asked the car factory to halt plans for demolition while another Consultation takes place to look at possible ways to save the building.
While it is recognised as a Memorial to those 600 men who never came back from war, and despite the argument that there is a moral duty to save a significant part of local history; a Report by MLM Consulting Engineers who inspected the building states the existing first- loor slab, believed to have been built in 1941 with poor quality concrete, is in poor condition, showing signs of severe corrosion. The outcome of the Report is that it is life expired.
The Report further suggests that, even with significant repairs, the structure is likely to have a limited useful and safe life before further substantial repairs would be required.
No date has yet been set as to when the demolition is to take place. However, with the deterioration of other such buildings, the same arguments will arise, and this is therefore but one example of what to do with airfield buildings which hold so much history to become true treasures of the past.
This article is from the Autumn / Winter 2019 issue of Confound and Destroy
