Summary
Control Tower (Watch Office), constructed to designs by the Air Ministry's Directorate of Works and Buildings (DWB), as a Night-Fighter Stations Watch Office, (based on drawing 12096/41), built 1942.
Reasons for Designation
The Control Tower (Watch Office), Yorkshire Air Museum (former RAF Elvington), completed in 1942, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
Architectural interest:
* a substantially intact example of a Watch Office for Night Fighter Stations, based on DWB drawing number 12096/41, retaining its floor plan and original fenestration;
* it demonstrates a key stage in the Second World War development of the growth in size and complexity of 'standardised' watch office building designs;
* unusual construction using 'permanent' brick 13.5 inch thick walls with hollow concrete floor and roof beams, rather than the more usual 'temporary' brick 4.5 inch thick walls.
Historic interest:
* it played a major role in the mounting of RAF Bomber Command raids against occupied Europe and Germany, including the Battle of the Ruhr, the Battle of Berlin, D-Day, and against V1 Doodlebug flying-bomb sites;
* the Watch Office was actively involved in Operation Gisela, controlling the airfield's local air defence and the diversion of its aircraft on the night of 3rd/4th March 1945, during the last major operation mounted by the Luftwaffe against England in the Second World War;
* RAF Elvington was the only RAF Bomber Command airfield operated by the Free French;
* the Watch Office represents an eloquent witness to the impact of world events on our national and international story during the Second World War.
History
RAF Elvington was originally completed in 1940 as a grass-surfaced aerodrome; however, no sooner had it been completed, the increasing size and all up weight of newly introduced bomber aircraft made it out of date. As a consequence, the aerodrome was completely re-built, with three concrete runways linked by a perimeter track that led to 36 'frying-pan' aircraft dispersals, a bomb store sited in Dodsworth Plantation on the southern side of the airfield, two T2 and one B1 aircraft sheds or hangars, and the technical site, which was situated on the eastern side of the airfield, north of Brinkworth Grange. All domestic accommodation was dispersed off site. The control tower was complete by April 1942; however, the airfield wasn't opened until October 1942, under the auspices of No.4 Group, Bomber Command. No.77 Squadron was the first unit to take up residence, flying four-engine Handley Page Halifax BII bombers.
The squadron quickly became fully operational, first in mine-laying missions before taking part in several main force targets in Germany, including the Battle of the Ruhr, which commenced in March 1943. The squadron consisted of crews from all the allies, especially from Canada and Australia and suffered very heavy losses in the worst two years for Bomber Command. It remained at RAF Elvington until May 1944, when it moved to RAF Full Sutton, making way for the arrival of two Free French heavy-bomber units, equipped with Halifax Mk. V bombers: No.346 (Guyenne) Squadron and No.347 (Tunisie) Squadron. RAF Elvington then became the only Free French operated Bomber Command airfield in the whole of Great Britain, operated by both British and French staff. Having become a French airfield, every man had the right to a glass of Algerian wine with each meal; however, only British food was served in the messes. Both units began operations in June 1944, No.346 Sqd attacking a radar station at Ferme d'Urville and enemy gun positions at Grandcamp-Maisy, ahead of the D-Day landings, and No.347 Sqd attacking a V1 'Doodlebug' site at Mont Candon, Bacqueville-en-Caux. A major incident occurred at Elvington on the night of 3/4 March 1945, when Luftwaffe Junkers 88 and 188 intruder aircraft taking part in Operation Gisela, slipped into the No.4 Group Halifax bomber stream returning from a raid on Kamen; biding their time, they joined the aircraft in the circuit and waited until the runway lights were turned on, before pouncing on the unsuspecting bombers. The control tower immediately turned the lights off and ordered three aircraft to their diversionary airfields; unfortunately, one aircraft was shot down north-west of the airfield and others had to crash-land due to lack of fuel. The tower also warned one of the French pilots that a Junkers was on his tail; however, this German aircraft was fired at and hit by the airfield ground gunners (who were later mentioned in despatches for that night's action) and it crashed into a nearby farmhouse at Dunnington Lodge Farm, fatally injuring the three occupants and all four crew members. It is believed that this was the last German aircraft to be shot down over England during the Second World War. The final bombing mission by both squadrons was mounted on 25 April 1945 against gun batteries on the East Frisian island of Wangerooge (covering the entrance to the German Bight), and the naval base at Bremerhaven.
Post-war the French Squadrons were involved in dumping large quantities of bombs that were surplus to requirements and eventually, they returned to France and officially ceased being part of the RAF in October 1945. Elvington had been placed in Care and Maintenance in November 1945 and acted as a sub-station of No 14 Maintenance Unit, RAF Carlisle. During this period, the RAF made some minor alterations to the watch office, including the installation of an external staircase to the observation gallery and the painting of an RAF crest on the wall above the rear door; the secondary external staircase has since been removed. In June 1953, with the Cold War gaining momentum, the airfield was passed to the United States Air Force (USAF), who wished to establish a Forward Operating Base (FOB), extending the main runway to approximately 3.09km (10,152 ft, the second largest in the UK), laying a massive 19.8 hectares (49 acres) Aircraft Servicing Platform (ASP) designed to operate B-66, RB-66 bomber and reconnaissance aircraft, and allowing the very large B-36 and B-52 nuclear bombers, flying directly from the United States of America to land and to be rapidly serviced and re-fuelled. In addition to the runway extension, a new control tower, radar head, crash tender shed, mess and offices were built approximately half-way along the length of the runway, making the wartime watch office redundant in its original role. The USAF did not ever use these facilities fully and left Elvington in 1958 and after a short hiatus, the runway was used during the early 1960s by the Blackburn Aircraft Company, to conduct trials with the prototype NA.39, later to become the Blackburn Buccaneer low-level bomber. Once the trials work had been completed, the airfield became a Relief Landing Ground (RLG) for No 7 Flying Training School at RAF Church Fenton, and from 1970 it became the RLG for No 1 Flying Training School at RAF Linton on Ouse until March 1992, when it was put up for disposal.
The technical site, including the watch office, was abandoned during the late 1950s and remained disused and derelict for more than 20 years, before the first moves were made in June 1982 to establish an air museum on the site, which after much work, held its first Open Day on Sunday 11 August 1985. The wartime watch office, which was considered central to the site, was restored over the winter of 1985/86. By good fortune, a wartime morale boosting film was filmed by the French in 1944 at RAF Elvington, which showed the interior of the control tower in detail, which allowed it to be accurately and faithfully restored and equipped to its wartime condition, just in time for the public opening of the Yorkshire Air Museum and Allied Air Force Memorial in May 1986. Since its restoration, the building has been subject to a regular maintenance regime; however, major works became necessary in 2023 to ensure the weatherproof integrity of the building was maintained. This included repairs to the roof, the Crittal windows, re-rendering of the exterior walls, and re-decoration. The artefacts, furnishings, and fittings and fixtures were temporarily removed while the work was in progress, and were not present at the time of inspection in June 2023.
Details
Control Tower (Watch Office), constructed to designs by the Air Ministry's Directorate of Works and Buildings (DWB), as a Night-Fighter Stations Watch Office, (based on drawing 12096/41), built 1942.
MATERIALS: rendered and painted brick, using 'permanent construction' i.e. 34.3cm (13.5 inch) thick walls, pre-cast hollow beam reinforced concrete floors and roof, galvanized-steel Crittal windows, reinforced concrete observation gallery, and a roof companionway ladder.
PLAN: two-storey rectangular plan, aligned roughly east/west, with the main elevation facing west out over the runways, and entered to the rear.
EXTERIOR: the main (west) elevation, has three rectangular 32-light Crittal casement observation windows with flush rendered plain sills and jambs to each floor. The three ground-floor windows light the watch office that spans the whole width of the building, and the first-floor windows light the larger control room, which also spans the width of the building. Each of the first-floor windows has a centrally set ventilation brick above. A reinforced concrete observation gallery supported on four cantilevered I-beam girders and protected by a tubular galvanised steel handrail, spans the width of the main elevation.
The south elevation: the ground-floor has four, square, 16-light Crittal casement windows that light the watch office, the duty pilot's rest room, and the electrical switch room; it also has one narrow eight-light window with a projecting window sill, which lights the pyrotechnic cupboard within the watch office. The first-floor has a large observation window to the left, similar to those of the front elevation and an adjacent six-light glazed Crittal door, which gives access to the observation gallery; a small 12-light window lights the radio telegraphy room, and to the right is a square stair window. There is a galvanised steel ventilation grille to the ground-floor duty pilot's rest room and a ventilation brick to the store, with a further one ventilating the first-floor signals room.
The north elevation has a similar appearance to that of the south, although there are differences in the size, shape and positioning of the windows. In addition, a ledged and braced timber door to the left of the watch office window, gives access to a short transverse corridor, and the observation gallery is only accessible from the first-floor control room on this side. There are ventilation bricks and grilles to the ground-floor officers' and airmen's lavatories and to the private branch telephone exchange (PBX), and to the first-floor controller's rest room.
The rear (east) elevation is largely blind, apart from the main entrance, which is off set to the right and is closed by a ledged and braced timber door. The door is flanked to the left by a narrow eight-light casement that lights the base of the internal staircase. A further door with a ventilator panel towards its base, is situated to the extreme left-hand side and allows access into the electrical switch room. A steeply inclined steel companionway ladder rises to the left-hand side of the window to a cantilevered concrete landing, which gives access to the flat asphalted roof. All sides of the roof are guarded by two-bar steel railings and are drained by modern plastic rainwater goods.
INTERIOR: the ground-floor of the interior can be entered from either the main entrance in the rear elevation or the side door in the north elevation; it can also be entered by the electrical switch room, which could also act as a light baffle entry. The building has concrete floors, painted brick walls with rendered dados and original joinery; including panelled 'utility' doors. The main entrance leads into a stair hall that has the officers' and airmen's lavatories to the right and a concrete staircase with a timber handrail rising to the left. A doorway adjacent to the staircase gives access to an under-stair store cupboard, beyond which, the hallway narrows into an axial corridor, leading to the watch office at its far end, the duty pilot's rest room on the left, and a private branch telephone exchange (PBX) room to the right. A single panel door with a ventilator at its base, situated in the east wall of the pilot's rest room, allows internal access into the electrical switch room. Immediately beyond the PBX, the axial corridor interconnects with the side door corridor. The watch office is a narrow rectangular-plan room that spans the width of the building and has a brick pyrotechnic cupboard situated in the south-east corner. The ground-floor ceilings are made of pre-cast hollow concrete beams, resting on longitudinal rolled steel joists (RSJ).
The first floor is accessed from the stair hall by a concrete staircase that rises against the east wall, which has a short rendered brick balustrade at its base with a single timber handrail and rendered dados, and is flanked at the first floor by a landing, with a painted brick balustrade wall. The landing leads to an axial corridor, which gives access to the controller's rest room to the right, the signals room to the left and the control room at the far end. A pyrotechnic locker closed by a steel door is situated at the opposite end of the corridor from the control room. The rectangular plan control room occupies half of the floor area of the first floor; it has wide observation windows in the main and the two side elevations, with a door in each side wall giving access to the external observation gallery. An internal window with an open teleprinter message slot beneath is situated in the rear wall of the control room and it communicates with the adjacent signals room. The first-floor ceilings are made of pre-cast hollow concrete beams, resting on substantial RSJ beams, one spanning the full width of the control room and one spanning the signals room and the controller's rest room.
