My civilian take is this:: relics of historical interest frequently disappear into skips, unloved, unvalued, abandoned by the owner, be it the RAF or an individual. The issue becomes cloudy if the rescuer sells it on.
When a certain RAF HQ closed permanently, the RAF moved out, and contractors were due to develop the buildings and site for housing..
There was a lot of RAF memorabilia abandoned, and a slack handful of MoD civilians remained on site for a month or two. Most of the civilians couldn't give a stuff about historical but apparently valueless artefacts. Some, with long RAF association, gave the material a home.
And yes.