When the bulldozers moved in to Princess Alexandra Hospital this week, part of Wroughton's heritage was also destroyed.

The demolition of the red brick building, which had served people from all over the world since it opened in 1941, has left a large stretch of rubble.

Swindonians must now use their imagination to project a few years hence, when the 65-acre site will become home to a multi-million pound complex, complete with houses, offices, a village hall and a children's play area.

It will be a far cry from its former use.

In its time the hospital was used as a clearing-house for World War II casualties from across Europe, took in wounded soldiers from the Falklands War and also treated casualties from the first Gulf War.

In recent times it has been empty, although the site has been used as a camping ground by groups of travellers and a training base for SAS troopers.

Swindon Council planning bosses decided the hospital's fate at the beginning of the month when they approved to transform the site.

London developer Dukeminster first bought the 65-acre site in 2000, five years after the RAF hospital shut following Government defence cutbacks.

Dukeminster then sold the land to current owners David Wilson Homes Ltd and Hayley Conference Centres. And they have grand plans for the site.

The development will comprise 149 houses alongside 30 flats, two single and two two-storey office blocks, a conference centre with four meeting rooms and 120 bedrooms, and a village hall with a play area.

The development will be built from scratch with the final cost running to several million pounds. It is expected to create several hundred more jobs.

But the sight of yesterday's bulldozing would have been an abhorrence for thousands of people who wanted to save the hospital.

A local campaign to re-open the hospital, headed by the late Coun Jim Masters, a former Swindon mayor, gathered momentum in the years following the closure.

It culminated in a 50,000-name petition, which was handed to the Govern-ment. But despite the efforts of the Wroughton Action Group, Princess Alexandra was doomed.

But Wroughton Parish Council chairwoman Ann Richard, now believes the development will be beneficial to the area.

"It will bring many jobs to the area and the planned houses will mean the new residents won't have to commute to work," she said.

"We are very pleased that the development is going to be on a brownfield site and there are also plans to enhance the local transport system to and from Swindon.

"We are slightly anxious about possible traffic repercussions and are hoping more main routes in Wroughton are used rather than smaller roads like Prior's Hill."

A vital role to play in war and during peace time

Princess Alexandra Hospital first opened in June 1941 and a year later all its 319 beds were in use.

During World War II the hospital treated casualties from the battles raging all over Europe.

From 1977 the hospital was run jointly with the army. Patients included servicemen and women from British Military bases in Cyprus, Hong Kong, Germany and Gibraltar. The hospital operated the only aero-medical team in the country.

The first 170 people wounded in the Falklands Wear arrived at the hospital in June 1982 and by the end of the conflict in the South Atlantic the hospital had cared for more than 600 men.

In October 1990 all non-essential operations were postponed to keep beds free for casualties from the first Gulf War.

British hostages Terry Waite and John McCarthy were treated at the hospital after their release by Middle East fundamentalists.

A year later the hospital closed its maternity unit because of changes in medical and legal rules, after delivering almost 300 babies a year on behalf of the Swindon Health Authority.

Then Defence Secretary Malcolm Rifkind told the House of Commons in October 1994 that the hospital would be closed as part of defence cost cutting.

1994 a 50,000-name petition against the closure was taken to Downing Street.

It officially closed its doors for the last time on December 7 1995.

Four years later it was suggested that the former hospital would be used as a possible centre for refugees from the war in Kosovo.

2000 - London developer Dukeminster bought the 65-acre site but since sold it to current owners David Wilson Homes Ltd and Hayley Conference Centres.

September 2001 residents were left angered after a group of travellers left piles of mess and rubbish on the site after settling there for three weeks.