RAF West Malling over the Channel. The three surviving aircraft were rescued only when the fight was joined by Hurricanes from No. 111 Squadron. The remainder of the unit returned north to RAF Prestwick on 25 July due to the ineffectiveness of the Defiant against single-seat fighters. No. 29 Squadron flying Bristol Beaufighters arrived for its first tour of duty on 27 April 1941. One of the Squadron's pilots, Guy Gibson VC, later officer commanding 617 Squadron on the Dambusters Raid, said of the station "Of all the airfields in Great Britain ... we have the most pleasant". A regular and long-standing inhabitant,
RAF Scampton well as Lincolnshire's aviation engineering heritage and the Dambusters Raid. It is hoped the project will secure the future of the base and compliment the proposals to establish an air show at Scampton. It was hoped that the facility would be opened by 2018 in order to mark the centenary of the creation of the Royal Air Force, however that proved to be somewhat ambitious. The council's current idea is to operate the facility in tandem with continued military activity at the base. The remnants of a Roman Villa are situated to the southwest of RAF Scampton. Excavation of the