Nigel Morter to publish book on North Creake's Control Tower

The owners of the building, on the former RAF North Creake airfield, have gathered together its history and that of the rest of its base - including the pivotal role it played in the Normandy Landings - in a book, Control Tower Calling.

Claire Nugent and Nigel Morter now run the site, just off the B1105 between Fakenham and Wells, as a beautifully restored Art Deco bed and breakfast and want to preserve its stories.

The book looks back on the history of the station, the airmen who were lost and those who survived, as well as the story of the couple's own love affair with the control tower.

Mr Morter, a former academic, said: "Once we met veterans with all their stories and memories, I felt compelled to capture this story.”

Mrs Nugent added: “Local people arrived at our door clutching pieces of paper - log books for us to scan, the 1944 Christmas menu, original photographs and other priceless - to us - original documents.

“We knew then, the history was going to become a very large part of our lives.”   

The couple are planning a series of events and special stays at the tower this summer, which marks the 80th anniversary of the base opening, and also of D-Day.

It is also 10 years since the couple opened the B&B.

The base became operational just before D-Day and its first operation saw 199 Squadron fly out in support of the landings on the night of June 5, the day before the invasion.

The squadron's Stirling bombers were fitted with radar jamming equipment and flew circuits near the Normandy coast to conceal the position of Allied aircraft and confuse the German air defences.

Towards the end of the war, Halifax bombers were also flown from the base.

North Creake's main runway was 2,000m long and intersected with two smaller runways.

There were 36 aircraft dispersal points and three hangars, technical and administration sites, and quarters for more than 3,000 servicemen and women. At its centre sat the control tower.

The base's operational history was short-lived. After the war it was used for the storage and scrapping of aircraft, mostly Mosquitoes.

It was decommissioned in 1947 and its runways were largely broken up.

The B1105 now slices through what was once the airfield's Technical Site, and its Nissen huts and two large hangars can still be spotted. 

With crowdfund support, currently at £6,000 of their £10,000 target, the couple plan to launch Mr Morter’s book. 

Since purchasing the Control Tower, they have also raised more than £50,000 for a memorial which now stands on the site. 

It consists of a Roll of Honour recording the 73 airmen who lost their lives while serving at the station and a sculpture of a Stirling bomber by Andy Knighton Sculptures.   

• Visit www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/controltowercalling to find out more about ‘The Control Tower Needs You’ crowdfunder. 
• Visit www.controltowerstays.com to get the latest update about the special D-Day event on June 8.