THE campaign to ‘Save Winkleigh Tower’ is ongoing despite the old RAF building being sold at auction.

A crowdfunding campaign was set up to try to purchase the two-storey building at Winkleigh Airfield along with 9.5 acres of land and disused outbuildings on September 22.

The campaign, set up by Gina Kennedy, aimed to raise £38,000 before the auction to buy the control tower and turn it into a ‘living history’ museum to honour the men and women who were stationed there during the Second World War. The target was not reached before the auction date and the tower was sold to a private bidder.

Despite this the campaign continues and Gina hopes that she can work with the tower’s new owner to preserve it for future generations to stand as a monument to those who served in the Second World War. An open meeting was held at the King’s Arms in Winkleigh on Sunday, October 11 to discuss the tower’s future.

She said: ‘The meeting went well although there were a fair few people who couldn’t make it due to the short notice. We’ll be holding another meeting at the King’s Arms in Winkleigh on November 22 at 3pm.

‘It was agreed that a committee should be formed so we’ll be opening nominations for the position of chairman, secretary and treasurer in November as well as a few other more general committee member roles. We also discussed how to move forward with the campaign given that we cannot communicate with the owner until the sale has been fully completed.’

RAF Winkleigh was built in 1941 and operated night missions until the end of the war in 1945. It played host to an incredible array of international squadrons and their support units. The airfield was decommissioned and sold in 1958 and since then, the airfield has been broken up into several different properties and several buildings which are left have been modified over the years for modern use. The building has been derelict since 1990.