TWO historic airfields are among the latest buildings to achieve listed status.

Catterick and Elvington airfields, in North Yorkshire, are two of 255 buildings newly listed by Culture Minister David Lammy.

RAF Catterick, now Marne Barracks, began as a Home Defence Station, in 1914, and is the best-preserved fighter sector station in the north of England.

It still has a group of First World War hangars dating from the 1920s and 1930s. Fighter pens were added to the airfield at the beginning of the Second World War.

Elvington airfield, near York, was opened in October 1942 and the Halifax Bombers based there were engaged in the Battle of the Ruhr, in 1943.

In May and June 1944, two heavy bomber squadrons of the Free French Air Force were formed there, and made their first attacks near the invasion beaches of Normandy.

The control tower is one of 162 built to a particular design, but is one of the best preserved.

The listings are the result of a survey of military aviation sites by English Heritage, which consisted of consultation with the MoD and military historians.

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

Other sites newly listed include Larkhill, Wiltshire, the first military airfield used by the early flying pioneers of the Royal Flying Corps and Scampton in Lincolnshire, associated with the Dambuster raids.