Brit55
I think you'll find the 2 aircrew who are most vociferous in their wish to see Scampton revitalised, regardless of cost, are actually EX-aircrew who can now successfully fill the role of 'armchair general' - berating all and sundry about the lack of respect for tradition etc etc whilst singularly disregarding the shrinking defence budget. Pragmatism is what is required here - not dogmatism, otherwise we'll end up with a host of refurbished Scamptons and one Eurofighter - the rest of the latter having been sold to the Saudi's to pay for the former. It will be interesting to see the effect of EH's listings on the ability of the MoD to do works on other places if the effect at Scampton is anything to go by. How can you build SLAM blocks if you can't demolish buildings for fear of changing the 'look and feel' of a site - even if the buildings you are demolishing aren't themselves listed?
Having said that I wholeheartedly agree that we should remember those that fought and died for the freedoms we enjoy. However, I don't think that Guy Gibson would give a monkey's t*ss about the state of his admin office - the only 'office' he would care about is the one that he flew. Several years ago I was tasked to act as an usher at a gathering of the BoB Aircrew Association at Bentley Priory (anybody else notice that that was conspicuously left off the EH List?). None of the distinguished guests there seemed to bemoan the loss of all of the old BoB aerodromes in Kent (though they could probably tell a good few tales about their time there), but the looks on their faces and the tears that sprang to their eyes when the BBMF fighters flew over - it was the aircraft that meant something to them. Hence I think that the bomber and fighter crews of WWII are best commemorated by the BBMF, the OFMC, the Duxford flying collection and the CAF etc in the US. As for remembering all of the crews of the V-force, hopefully a fitting reminder will be returning to the skies shortly.
On the matter of being a 'Ground-Pounding POS' I had the great privilege of spending an afternoon in the RAF Club recently, in the company of a great many ex-aircrew who transferred to FC for all sorts of reasons, some of whom formed the core of the Branch after WWII. Strangely none felt the need to address me in the manner above, especially those who had seen action, and saw all who contributed to the fight as part of a big team, rather than a childish them and us situation. One of them is an ex-president of our Association - an abbreviated CV can be found
here.
Anyway, 2 of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse are here - where's ABIW - he's normally up for a spot of FC bashing...