Jack Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 Hell of a story. More than 60 years on, RAF Bicester - the most complete surviving wartime bomber base - is at the centre of a fresh battle, as a group of enthusiasts tries to save the historic site for the nation instead of it being sold off to developers... Click on the HMVF logo for the front page....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radiomike7 Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 It's a great idea Jack, but as the article states, the MOD has a duty to obtain the best price for the site which is going to put it out of reach of the enthusiasts. It will be interesting to see how the many grade 2 listed buildings on the site will be maintained, as apparently several are in a bad state of repair. Tony Iveson is a great friend of our family and has campaigned for many years to erect a monument to the 55,000 men of bomber command who perished; it looks like he has finally achieved his goal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N.O.S. Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 Let us hope they pull it off. It would be one thing to lose it to redevelopment for industry/commerce where people can go to earn a living, but if we end up losing such an important survivor to yet another giant retail park where people go to spend money they don't have on cr&p from China or elsewhere - well we might as well go back to the Stone Age....back to my wiring diagram now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony B Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 In Belgium a lot of NATO sites were given to local communities. Like the Arendonk site where BOAR was held. to sensible for this country, the H&S mafia would no doubt come out with all sorts of 'OHH you can't do that.....' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Great War truck Posted January 30, 2009 Share Posted January 30, 2009 It is a fantastic site. Go on to Google Earth and type in Bicester. You can really explore the place. Quite amazing that it still exists unaltered. I would think that the sale price will put it out of the reach of those that would want to save it, so its future might be a bit bleak. Saying that, they are not allowed to build houses on the site and as a lot of the buildings are listed it might not appeal to the average land developer. If you are interested you can scroll to the South of the airfield and you will find one of the MODS biggest ammunition dumps. lots of train tracks dissapearing under ground. Built (or enlarged) by Italian POWs in WW2. Quite fascinating. Tim (too) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N.O.S. Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 I once turned up on spec to view a RAMCO tender of rolling stock - spent for ever driving around trying to find the entrance to Site D - then spent an hour in the guard house only to discover that I had to cough up £250 just to look, refundable of course on successful bid!! No thanks. The point I'm trying to make is it is an amazing infrastructure, but you get absolutely no feel for the scale of it from the ground. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Posted January 31, 2009 Author Share Posted January 31, 2009 Just looked on Google maps and yes it is all there - very impressive site. Looks like there is a lot of ancient woodland in the surrounding area too - the names of the villages is a great give away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rambo1969 Posted February 1, 2009 Share Posted February 1, 2009 If they got rid of bletchley park............... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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