The control tower - also listed - is largely complete in the form it was in 1942 and faces towards the location of the main runway, the ground floor having been restored as a gallery and coffee shop.
Situated near the site of the old guard house, a memorial to the personnel stationed at RAF West Malling was unveiled on 9 June 2002. Otto Bechtold, the FW-190 pilot, was a guest of honour at the ceremony.
During 1973 the airfield’s unused accommodation blocks were converted for use as temporary homes for around 30,000 British passports holders who emigrated to Britain, following a decree, by Idi Amin of Uganda in August 1972 ordering the expulsion of Asians who were not Ugandan citizens.
Several films and TV programmes, including The Beatles 1967 film Magical Mystery Tour, the 1972 television series Pathfinders and the 1982 television drama series “We’ll meet again”, used the airfield as a location during production, with aerial sequences for an episode of the TV series Dempsey and Makepeace were filmed here in 1984, involving some spirited flying by a Topflite de Havilland Heron G-ANUO.
After closure as an operational air station in 1969, West Malling acquired a more civilian guise, hosting several major Great Warbirds Air Displays during the 70s and 80s.
RAF West Malling is now a new village community, including over 2,000 homes, two schools, civic amenities, community centre, local retail and business units, an 18-hole golf course and an all weather sports centre, while still retaining several features of its military aviation heritage.