Extensive damage and loss of life inflicted on the air station in a Luftwaffe raid by Junkers Ju87 Stuka bombers. The original watch office was destroyed in this raid.
The new watch office is completed and comes into service during the preparations for Operation Neptune.
A standard Air Ministry design for watch offices for night fighter stations was used.
Following an inspection of local airfields during the preparations for Operation Neptune, General Dwight D. Eisenhower. Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Forces, dined with officers at the then Ship Hotel in Chichester.
Operation Neptune begins, leading the way to the liberation of occupied Europe.
Tangmere operated as a sector command base and many of the day’s operations were co-ordinated from the Control Tower.
Tangmere became the home of the High Speed Flight. In 1946 and 1953 Gp Cpt ‘Teddy’ Donaldson and Sqn Ldr Neville Duke (pictured) respectively broke the air speed records off the Sussex coast, flying from Tangmere
HRH The Prince of Wales is presented with his preliminary flying badge by Air Marshal Sir Leslie Mayor. Pince Charles had completed 80 hours flying from Tangmere in a Chipmunk of the Queen’s Flight.
Following a closing ceremony where the Honorary Freedom of the City of Chichester scroll was returned to the Mayor of Chichester for safekeeping. RAF personnel marched off the parade ground for the last time.
After almost 20 years of disuse, when parts of the former station were used as industrial units, for police motorcycle instruction, and as a playground for local children, most former RAF buildings were demolished and the building of a modern housing estate began.
As one of only a handful of original RAF buildings to have survived the redevelopments of the 1980s and 1990s, the Control Tower was recognised by English Heritage for its historic value and listed at Grade II.
Your generous support has now allowed us to embark on the first vital stage in the restoration of the tower. We have engaged an architectural consultancy to carry the project forward and it is now time to start the second round of fundraising to get us to the first RIBA stage in the project planning process. Your donation will help us to realise our ambition to save this historic and iconic building.
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