RAF Broadwell, Oxfordshire, Airfield Site.

What can be found :
A full Bomb store, Control tower, several latrines, some huts, Operations block, Ablutions block, hut bases, many blast shelters, remains of runways & aircraft dispersals, base of one of the two T2's, circular dispersal for the aircraft shooting in butts & more.
This was in 2012, today there is a solar farm built all across the airfield site so I am afraid there may not be so much access.

Buildings: - T.B. - Temporary Brick. S.T. - Steel Hutting: - N. -----Nissen. R.------Ripper. H. -----Hall. S. -----Seco Site No. the huts number on the Site Plan. Building. The name and use of it. Construction. As above, N, TB, Etc. Drawing number. -----/42 Date of the drawing.Buildings: -
T.B. - Temporary Brick.
S.T. - Steel
Hutting: -
N. -----Nissen.
R.------Ripper.
H. -----Hall.
S. -----Seco
Site No. the huts number on the Site Plan.
Building. The name and use of it.
Construction. As above, N, TB, Etc.
Drawing number. -----/42 Date of the drawing.

575 Sqn RAF & 512 Sqn RAF Dakotas Mks.I, III., Mk.IV.
Class ´A´ type for heavy bomber Airfield.
Full four bay bomb store.
Dispersed sites: -
Airfield Site. Hangars, Stores, Workshops, Armoury, M.T., Link Trainers, Guard Room and Fire Party, Etc.
Mess Site. Officers, Sergeants Mess´s, Airman´s Dining Room, Co´s quarters, Etc.
Sick Quarters. A small hospital, Mortuary, Ambulance garage, Etc.
Communal Site. Squash Court, Gym., Picket Post, Etc.
WAAF Site. Quarters in Nissen Huts.
Five Living Sites. Nissen Huts for sleeping, Temporary Brick Ablutions and Latrines.
Sewage Disposal. Enough for 2,000 Officers and Airmen.
Bomb Store. Full
Men ---- 2,041.
WAAFS - 253.
Buildings: -
Control Tower Watch Office for all Commands, 47Bldg No.,P.B. 343/43.
T2 Aircraft Shed, 23 & 86 Bldg No., T.B. 5653/41.

Left side with : -
Top ------ Control room, Signals office.
Bottom - Watch office, Duty pilots rest room, Met office.

History : like other 46 Group stations, Broadwell had three roles: -
1. to deliver airborne forces and supplies.
2. transport to the battle field.
3. retrieval of wounded troops.
Elements of No's. 91, 92 and 93 Forward Staging Posts reached the station in February 1944 and by then 1,620 officers, men & WAAFS were stationed here

Back : -
Top ------ Signals office (2 windows), Stairs and landing.
Bottom - Met office, Teleprinter room, Rear door, WC.

Pyro store. The store is to hold Very flair cartridges and the flair gun.

Looking out of the downstairs the windows are smaller on a 343/43 type. Why the windows on this type were smaller its to do with night flying and being used at night it is less area to cover the windows with blackout curtains?.

Balcony.

History : 23:14hrs 5th June 1944, 512 Sqn's. 32 aircraft took of only taking 15 minutes, followed by 575 Sqn. together taking 952 airborne soldiers to be parachuted into France.
14:00hrs on 6th June they were back in the air, this time towing Horsa gliders.

Main runway 19 No. 1.

History : on the 17th June 575 Sqn left for Normandy and landed at B5 landing strip (Camilly), they retrieve 254 casualties who were back in England before mid-afternoon. This was the first huge input to the Air Ambulance Pool.

Landing light fitting.
History : by April 1946. 271 Squadron concentrated on passenger and freight services mainly to Europe and March 31st 1947 the station was closed.

97 General Purpose Latrine Temp. Brick 9026/41.
98 Armament Equipment Store Temp. Brick 12790/42.
99 General Purpose Hut -----Temp. Brick 12790/42.

99 General Purpose Hut -----Temp. Brick 12790/42.
This hut is probably a ground crew hut to rest in and keep store their personal equipment. These men would have to be out in the open day and night either servicing planes or marshalling gliders into position and all the other myriad jobs a poor Erk would have to do.

98 Armament Equipment Store Temp. Brick 12790/42.
Although all these huts had type and construction numbers, they were for a general purpose ´A´ Class bomber airfield. By 1944 the bombing stations were from Yorkshire to down to Suffolk and these western airfields were turned over to transporting of Paratroopers and the use of Glider-borne troops. So a hut may be called a 98 Armament Equipment Store Temp. Brick 12790/42 here it could have been used for any use??

Blast Shelter for 32 men 2360/41.
Entrance. You would have to be fast and run into one of the two entrances, hope that there were not too many in your side.

Blast Shelter for 32 men 2360/41.
View into the middle. When inside, you ducked down and hope the blast went over the top of the shelter. A direct hit or very close hit there probably is not much protection. Better this than nothing.

94 Pyro Store ´A´ Temp Brick 1934/43.
Most WW2 aeroplanes carried a pyrotechnic flair of of some kind, also float flair that when they touch sea water they flair up to show where you are. These were probably stored here away from the planes when not on an operation. The store has an exclusion area (safety area) of 75 yards. There was also a Small Arms Ammunition (SAA) store 92 SAA Stores ´C´ Temp Brick 1934/43 further out on the boundary.

Cold war Monitoring Post.
Each post would send in the information of the direction of a bomb explosion and its power. Triangulation would tell the ROC HQ where and how powerful the bomb was or bombs.