RAF Broadwell
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RAF Broadwell
Full ´A´ Class bomber station of 1943 turned over to transport aircraft of the RAF for the invasion of Europe.
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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.
Bomb train.
Armoury.
T2 Hangar.
RAF Broadwell
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RAF Broadwell
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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.
RAF Broadwell
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RAF Broadwell Plan
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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.
T2
Aircraft Shed.
Airmen's dinning room.
Main store.
Main workshops.
Nissen hut.
Officers mess.
RAF Broadwell
20 June 2004
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RAF Broadwell Control tower Watch Office for All Commands, drawing No.343/43.
Details
Viewed from the road.
Watch Office for All Commands, drawing No.343/43.
Drawing No.343/43.
Drawing No.343/43 ground floor plan.
Drawing No.343/43 First floor plan.
RAF Broadwell
20 June 2004
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RAF Broadwell Control tower Watch Office for All Commands, drawing No.343/43.
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A room with a view.
History : opened in 1943 and closed in 1947, mostly used by Transport Command. In February 1944 512Sqdn and 575Sqdn Dakotas arrived and some bringing Horsa gliders.
Plan.
Dakota.
RAF Broadwell
20 June 2004
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RAF Broadwell Control tower Watch Office for All Commands, drawing No.343/43.
Details
From those windows you will be able to see the whole flying area.
Web sites about the people who were stationed here or just passed through Battle of Arnhem and 6th Airborne Normandy. The Pegasus Archive.
C Company, 1 Bn, Royal Ulster Rifles try a google search and a very good PDF file comes up. Leading Aircraftman Alan Hartley
Horsa glider flying out.
Inside a glider.
Loading.
RAF Broadwell
20 June 2004
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RAF Broadwell Control tower Watch Office for All Commands, drawing No.343/43.
Details
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
Control room.
RAF Broadwell
20 October 2007
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RAF Broadwell Control tower Watch Office for All Commands, drawing No.343/43.
Details
Back : -
Top ------ Signals office (2 windows), Stairs and landing.
Bottom -
Met office, Teleprinter room, Rear door, WC.
RAF Broadwell
20 October 2007
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RAF Broadwell Control tower Watch Office for All Commands, drawing No.343/43.
Details
Officers toilets. To the right and under the stars is the Airman´s toilet.
Plan.
RAF Broadwell
20 October 2007
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RAF Broadwell Control tower Watch Office for All Commands, drawing No.343/43.
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Flag cupboard
Flags at RAF Goxhill.
RAF Broadwell
00 00 00
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RAF Broadwell Control tower Watch Office for All Commands, drawing No.343/43.
Details
Duty pilots rest room.
Duty pilots rest room.
Plan.
RAF Broadwell
20 October 2007
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RAF Broadwell Control tower Watch Office for All Commands, drawing No.343/43.
Details
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?.
Flair.
Very gun and cartridges.
Signal manual.
Plan.
RAF Broadwell
20 October 2007
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RAF Broadwell Control tower Watch Office for All Commands, drawing No.343/43.
Details
View out across the airfield.
RAF Broadwell
20 October 2007
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RAF Broadwell Control tower Watch Office for All Commands, drawing No.343/43.
Details
And from the other window.
RAF Broadwell
20 October 2007
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RAF Broadwell Control tower Watch Office for All Commands, drawing No.343/43.
Details
Top of the stairs and landing.
Plan.
RAF Broadwell
20 October 2007
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RAF Broadwell Control tower Watch Office for All Commands, drawing No.343/43.
Details
Controllers rest room.
Plan.
RAF Broadwell
19 June 2005
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RAF Broadwell Control tower Watch Office for All Commands, drawing No.343/43.
Details
Control room.
Plan.
RAF Broadwell
20 October 2007
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RAF Broadwell Control tower Watch Office for All Commands, drawing No.343/43.
Details
Control room with small window into the Signals office. In the corner would be the PBX ( telephone private branch exchange).
PBX
Plan.
RAF Broadwell
19 June 2005
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RAF Broadwell Control tower Watch Office for All Commands, drawing No.343/43.
Details
Signals office with window to the Control room.
Details2
RAF Broadwell
20 October 2007
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RAF Broadwell Control tower Watch Office for All Commands, drawing No.343/43.
Details
Balcony allowing excellent views around the airfield.
Plan.
RAF Broadwell
20 October 2007
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RAF Broadwell Control tower Watch Office for All Commands, drawing No.343/43.
Details
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.
Plan.
RAF Broadwell
20 October 2007
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RAF Broadwell Airfield Site
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RAF Broadwell
19 June 2005
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RAF Broadwell Airfield Site
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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.
Plan.
WAAF nurse Lydia Alford.
Loading in France.
RAF Broadwell
19 June 2005
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RAF Broadwell Airfield Site
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Main runway 19 No. 1.
Plan.
RAF Broadwell
19 June 2005
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RAF Broadwell Airfield Site
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The famous Broadwell picture.
Landing lights.
Night time.
RAF Broadwell
19 June 2005
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RAF Broadwell Airfield Site
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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.
Loading door on a Dakota.
RAF Broadwell
19 June 2005
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RAF Broadwell Airfield Site
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Glider marshalling area Steel Planking.
Plan.
PSP Pierced Steel Planking.
PSP Pierced Steel Planking.
RAF Broadwell
1944
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RAF Broadwell Airfield Site
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Glider marshalling area Steel Planking. Note the land at the end of the runway has been built up and levelled off to allow a greater area for gilders to be marshalled.
Plan.
PSP store.
Glider loading.
RAF Broadwell
19 June 2005
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RAF Broadwell Airfield Site
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97 General Purpose Latrine Temp. Brick 9026/41.
98
Armament Equipment Store Temp. Brick 12790/42.
99 General Purpose Hut -----Temp. Brick 12790/42.
Plan.
RAF Broadwell
19 June 2005
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RAF Broadwell airfield site
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97 General Purpose Latrine Temp. Brick 9026/41.
General Purpose Latrine Temp. Brick 9026/41 plan.
View from the air.
RAF Broadwell
00 00 00
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RAF Broadwell airfield site
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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.
Erk.
Erk´s at play.
Erk´s at work.
RAF Broadwell
19 June 2005
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RAF Broadwell airfield site
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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??
RAF Armoury handing out weapons and ammunition.
Armourer repairing guns.
RAF Broadwell
19 June 2005
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RAF Broadwell airfield site
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Blast Shelter for 32 men 2360/41. Entrance on one side.
Plan Blast Shelter for 32 men 2360/41.
Air Raid warning.
RAF Broadwell
19 June 2005
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RAF Broadwell Airfield Site
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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.
Plan Blast Shelter for 32 men 2360/41.
RAF Broadwell
19 June 2005
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RAF Broadwell Airfield Site
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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.
Plan Blast Shelter for 32 men 2360/41.
RAF Broadwell
19 June 2005
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RAF Broadwell Airfield Site
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95 General Purpose Latrine Temp. Brick 9026/41.
From the air.
British Para´s at Arnhem.
RAF Broadwell
19 June 2005
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RAF Broadwell Airfield Site
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M & E Plinth, here electricity would be brought around the airfield in a big looping undergroun armoured cable and spurs taken off via the M & E plinths. They would then adjust the power for whatever voltage was needed.
Plan.
Details2
RAF Broadwell
19 June 2005
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RAF Broadwell Airfield Site
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A 3.3kv oil immersed transformer.
A part of a ring main cable.
Often you will find broken glass set into the cement on the top of the wall as a security measure.
RAF Broadwell
19 June 2005
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RAF Broadwell Airfield Site
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Details of a ring main cable.
RAF Broadwell
19 June 2005
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RAF Broadwell Bomb Store
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Now we work our way to the bomb stores that is nicely half hidden in an ancient woodland as this Oak (I think its an Oak) shows.
Plan
RAF Broadwell
19 June 2005
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RAF Broadwell Bomb Store
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Bomb store roadway.
Loading a bomb train.
Plan
RAF Broadwell
19 June 2005
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RAF Broadwell Bomb Store
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On the left is an un loading bay. One of four.
Details2
One side is for unloading with a dwarf wall and the other is for loading from ground level.
Bombs arrive on a lorry and are transferred over the wall via trammelling and then piled and stored on wooden planking. When needed a bomb train would arrive and the bombs loaded onto the tailors.
RAF Broadwell
19 June 2005
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RAF Broadwell Bomb Store
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Plan.
RAF Broadwell
19 June 2005
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RAF Broadwell Bomb Store
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All roadways in around and out of a bomb store are very gentle curves to allow a tractor towing several tailors to go around without losing a wheel on the grass. I am sure it happened many times though.
Plan.
WAAF with a Fordson tractor towing many tailors.
Bombed up and fuzzed ready for delivery to the planes.
RAF Broadwell
19 June 2005
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RAF Broadwell Bomb Store
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107 Component store ´B´ Temp Brick1930/43.
Plan.
RAF Broadwell
19 June 2005
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RAF Broadwell Bomb Store
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107 Component store ´B´ Temp Brick1930/43. Plenty of air vents in both end walls.
Tools.
RAF Broadwell
19 June 2005
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RAF Broadwell Bomb Store
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107 Component store ´B´ Temp Brick1930/43.
RAF Broadwell
19 June 2005
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RAF Broadwell Bomb Store
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Back out on the track.
Plan.
RAF Broadwell
19 June 2005
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RAF Broadwell Bomb Store
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Another off loading bay on the left. Bomb tail units were stored at one end of each bay.
Bomb & Tail Unit stores 3164/42.
A loading wall.
Ramp to trammel the bombs down.
RAF Broadwell
19 June 2005
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RAF Broadwell Bomb Store
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Un loading wall with trammel rings set into the wall, I think these came from local stocks of farm equipment wholesalers as they always seem different on other bomb stores.
Bombs all neatly stored on the other side.
RAF Broadwell
19 June 2005
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RAF Broadwell Bomb Store
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Trammel rings
Trammelling WW1 style.
RAF Broadwell
19 June 2005
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RAF Broadwell Bomb Store
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Plan.
RAF Broadwell
19 June 2005
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RAF Broadwell Bomb Store
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This is where the track splits one to the bomb store delivery road and the other the bomb store collecting side. Traffic would flow on a one way system to alleviate disruption.
Plan
RAF Broadwell
19 June 2005
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RAF Broadwell Airfield Site
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Continuing around the airfield in a counter clockwise direction.
RAF Broadwell
19 June 2005
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RAF Broadwell Airfield Site
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94 Pyro Store ´A´ Temp Brick 1934/43.
Plan
Details2
RAF Broadwell
19 June 2005
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RAF Broadwell Airfield Site
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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.
RAF Broadwell
19 June 2005
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RAF Broadwell Airfield Site
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94 Pyro Store ´A´ Temp Brick 1934/43. Where these flairs would be stored.
RAF Broadwell
19 June 2005
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RAF Broadwell Airfield Site
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Site of a T2 hangar. 86 Aircraft Shed T.2. 23 5653/42. An ´A´ type 1943 bomber airfield would have all had two T2 hangars, then they could also have a B1 repair shed. Then some had another three added depending how many were needed.
86 Aircraft Shed T.2. 23 5653/42.
85 Stores Block Nissen
2406/42.
84 Tech Latrines RAF Temp Brick 9026/41.
83 Tech Latrines WAAF Temp Brick 9026/41.
82 Squadron Armoury Nissen 2408/43.
Plan.
T2 being erected.
T2.
T2 inside.
RAF Broadwell
19 June 2005
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RAF Broadwell Airfield Site
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Found nailed to a tree. Part No. BG FN 945. Looks like parachute webbing.
RAF Broadwell
19 June 2005
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RAF Broadwell Airfield Site
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81 Shooting in Butts EARTH 3632/43.
81 Shooting in Butts EARTH 3632/43.
Plan.
Testing a rear turret.
RAF Broadwell
19 June 2005
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RAF Broadwell Airfield Site
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81 Shooting in Butts EARTH 3632/43. A large Frying Pan dispersal to park your bomber on and a heap of earth piled up and maybe sand added to the front face to catch bullets. Guns could be zeroed in to the range they wish to shoot at attacking aircraft.
81 Shooting in Butts EARTH 3632/43.
Rear turret.
Cleaning a Liberators front guns.
RAF Broadwell
19 June 2005
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RAF Broadwell Airfield Site
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Continuing along the perimeter track which would have been 50ft wide.
Refuelling a Dakota.
RAF Broadwell
19 June 2005
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RAF Broadwell Airfield Site
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A farm has been built on this part of the perimeter where there are six Loop dispersals. These are a later wartime designed dispersals to allow aircraft an easier way to park. The just drive in and out where as a Frying pan dispersal, they have to drive over and then power up and pivot 180° to face back outwards. This put a lot of strain on undercarriage, brakes and tyres.
Plan.
Different styles of dispersals. Inset Frying Pan,
bottom Loop type. Y type are for fighters and none are here.
Cloverleaf.
Square.
Class A.
Octagonal.
Loop.
RAF Broadwell
19 June 2005
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RAF Broadwell Airfield Site
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Odd bits of pipe work lying around.
Plan
RAF Broadwell
19 June 2005
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RAF Broadwell Airfield Site
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Cold war Monitoring Post.
Plan.
Monitoring Post for the Cold War, here a team of two/three Royal Observer Corps would go to when called and set up to monitor a nuclear explosion.
There were hundreds of these all over the country and you may have seen one but taken no notice of it.
RAF Broadwell
19 June 2005
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RAF Broadwell Airfield Site
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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.
RAF Broadwell
19 June 2005
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RAF Broadwell Airfield Site
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The communicating road between the Airfield site and the Dispersed sites. As you can see foot prints in the wet cement.
Plan.
I wonder who he was??
Civilian workers.
RAF Broadwell
19 June 2005
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RAF Broadwell Airfield Site
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This concludes the Airfield Site and the Bomb Store areas.
RAF Broadwell
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RAF Broadwell
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