Civil servants told Suella Bravermanto scrap asylum seeker centre plan

Civil servants told Suella Braverman three months ago to scrap her plan to turn home of the Dambusters into an asylum seeker centre

• Senior Home Office official advised home secretary to stop work at RAF Scampton
• They warned of ‘significant challenges to progress’ with Lincolnshire base plans
• Home Office announced plans to use ‘portion of land’ at former air base in March 

Home Secretary Suella Braverman was advised to scrap plans to house asylum seekers at the RAF base that housed the Dambusters three months ago.

A senior Home Office official advised the home secretary to stop work at RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire, warning of ‘significant challenges to progress’.

The email from the Resettlement, Asylum Support and Integration Directorate, which formed part of the evidence, recommended the Home Secretary ‘agree to stop work on proposals for RAF Scampton’, according to an email seen by the BBC.

West Lindsey District Council, which has secured funds from a developer to regenerate the site, on Thursday lost the first round of a High Court challenge to the plans.

Mr Justice Kerr had been asked to impose an interim injunction, preventing the Home Office moving ‘materials, equipment or people’ on to the land, but he dismissed the council’s application.

A senior Home Office official advised home secretary Suella Braverman (pictured) to stop work at RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire, warning of ‘significant challenges to progress’

The RAF Scampton (pictured) plans were officially announced in March to house asylum seekers at the RAF base despite talks of a £300 million redevelopment that would see the base used for heritage and leisure activities.

During the Second World War, crews from 617 Squadron (pictured in front of a Lancaster bomber) flew from Scampton when they staged the Dambusters raid on the night of May 16-17 1943

READ MORE: Grave of Dambusters hero’s dog could be moved from RAF Scampton amid plans to house migrants at the site 

Wing Commander Guy Gibson VC (right), with his devoted dog

But he dismissed it after considering arguments from lawyers representing the council and Home Secretary Suella Braverman at a High Court hearing in London.

During the Second World War, crews from 617 Squadron flew from Scampton when they staged the Dambusters raid on the night of May 16-17 1943.

Heroic airmen from the base famously breached the heavily fortified Mohne and Eder Dams in the industrial heart of Germany in a daring night raid – using a bouncing bomb.

The Red Arrows display team also trained at the base.

In a similar case, Braintree District Council says it aims to appeal after losing a High Court fight over Home Office proposals to house asylum seekers at Wethersfield Airfield.

The RAF Scampton plans were officially announced in March to house asylum seekers at the RAF base despite talks of a £300 million redevelopment that would see the base used for heritage and leisure activities. 

West Lindsey District Council began legal action after the Home Office announced plans to use a ‘portion of land’ at the former air base.

Paul Brown KC, who led the Home Secretary’s legal team, told the judge that ministers had a duty to house asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute.

The email from the Resettlement, Asylum Support and Integration Directorate, which formed part of the evidence, recommended the Home Secretary (right, with PM Rishi Sunak, left) ‘agree to stop work on proposals for RAF Scampton’

The Red Arrows display team also trained at the base. Pictured: One of the famous jets parked in the hanger at RAF Scampton

He said the number of asylum seekers needing accommodation was at ‘record levels’. 

Mr Brown argued that the proposed use of the site was permitted under town and country planning rules. 

The base had further stresses heaped upon it this week – as the RAF asked the local council to move the grave of hero Wing Commander Guy Gibson’s black labrador.

The dog – whose name is a racial slur – was killed just hours befor Gibson led the raid and was the inspiration for the code word saying the dam had been breached.

The Dambusters: How bouncing bombs flooded the Ruhr and delivered a crucial blow to Hitler

On May 16, 1943, 19 Lancaster bomber crews gathered at a remote RAF station in Lincolnshire for a mission of extraordinary daring – a night-time raid on three heavily defended dams deep in Germany’s industrial heartland.

The dams were heavily fortified and needed the innovative bomb – which bounced on the water over torpedo nets and sank before detonating.

To succeed, the raiders would have to fly across occupied Europe under heavy fire and then drop their bombs with awesome precision from a mere 60ft above the water. 

The Mohne and Eder Dams in the industrial heart of Germany were attacked and breached by mines dropped from specially modified Lancasters of No. 617 Squadron.

A Lancaster Bomber on a commemorative flight in 1967 to mark the anniversary of the Dambusters raid that breached the Mohne and Eder dams

The Sorpe dam was was also attacked by two aircraft and damaged.

A fourth dam, the Ennepe was reported as being attacked by a single aircraft (O-Orange), but with no damage.

Up to 1,600 people were estimated to have been killed by floodwaters and eight of the 19 aircraft dispatched failed to return with the loss of 53 aircrew and three taken prisoner of war.

Wg Cdr Guy Gibson, Officer Commanding No. 617 Sqn, is awarded the VC for his part in leading the attack.

The raid, orchestrated by Guy Gibson and the RAF’s 617 ‘Dambuster’ Squadron, was seen as a major victory for the British, and Wing Commander Gibson is recognised as one of the war’s most revered heroes.

Their success was immortalised in the classic 1955 film The Dambusters, its thrilling theme tune and gung-ho script evoking the best of British derring-do.

Wg Cdr Gibson was killed at the age of 26 when his Mosquito plane crashed during a night-time sortie over Germany.  

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