World war buildings to be listed

Duxford in Cambridgeshire is one of the airfields to be listed

Buildings at wartime airfields linked to the Battle of Britain and the Dambuster raids are to be listed.

Some 255 buildings are to be given new protection status by Culture Minister David Lammy.

The only building to receive Grade I status is an underground bunker which acted as HQ for the vital 11 Fighter Group during the Battle of Britain.

Four hangars at Scampton, Lincs, from where 617 Squadron's Dambuster raids were launched, are also protected.

The listings are the result of a survey of military aviation sites by English Heritage.

ON THE LIST 1938 bunker in Uxbridge, Middlesex, from which 11 Fighter Group was commanded during the Battle of Britain World War I hangars at Larkhill, Wiltshire - the UK's first airfield Buildings at Battle of Britain fighter stations at Debden, Essex, and Duxford, Cambs Four hangars at Scampton bomber station, Lincolnshire

"As we saw with the Remembrance Day celebrations in November, it is important for younger generations to remember and learn from the past, and the courage of our veterans," said Mr Lammy.

"I hope the protection of these historic [buildings] will help to ensure that. These sites and the buildings on them are testimony to generations of heroes."

Veterans minister Don Touhig said: "These iconic historic aviation sites, along with those who served, played a crucial part in achieving the successes of the two world wars.

"Air power had an increasingly important role in armed conflict throughout the last century and is an aspect of our heritage that should not be forgotten."