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RAF Thruxton
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RAF Thruxton,
was like many early wartime airfields, built for fighter command with six fighter pens to hold one squadron of RAF fighters and they were laid out on the eastern end of the airfield. The Watch office was on the western end, the airfield site to the south and dispersed accommodation to the S/E. There are runways, a quarter size 'A' standard bomb store to the far west.
Handed over to the RAF in August 1941.
The first unit to move in were Lysanders of 225 Squadron Army Co-Operations. They were used for air-sea rescue duties and flew hour after hour, looking for downed pilots in the channel. The next unit to arrive was the BAT flight with Airspeed Oxfords of 26/1526 Blind Approach Training Flight. "Blind Approach is a normal process of flying by instruments along a predetermined line of approach to an aerodrome until a point of space is reached from which a landing can be completed by vision".
A detachment of 42 OTU arrived. (Operational Training Unit).
Next Whitley bombers of 298 Squadron converted to carry parachutists In 1941. They were commanded by Wing Commander Pickard, he was asked to participate in the making of the Crown film Target for To-night. Attention from the film made him a public figure in England. Later that year he led 298 Squadron with Whitley bombers to carry paratroopers to their drop zone for the Bruneval raid from Thruxton.
Around this time 225 Squadron exchanged its Lysanders for Mustangs then immediately moved to RAF Macmerry.
Operation "Jubilee", the Dieppe Raid was an amphibious attack on the German-occupied port of Dieppe. Thruxtons part was to host detachments of 226, 13 & 614 Squadron. With Bostons and Blenheims to lay smoke screens on both flanks of the attack. Smoke-laying aircraft were tested at Porton Down, a few miles to the west so may have been using their equipment.
August 1942, 298 Squadron was formed with Whitley bombers converted to airborne forces, to parachute and glider towing. They changed their Whitleys for Albermarles and then left for RAF Stoney Cross.
September 1943, No123 Airfield arrived with 168, 170 & 268 Squadrons. They used Mustang aircraft. Their training was the build-up for D-Day. 123 stayed for the winter and left in Spring to RAF Sawbridgworth.
1st March and with D-Day imminent, the Americans moved in with 366th Fighter Group, they included three squadrons of P47 Thunderbolts.
Over the next few weeks, they were heard thundering down the runways with two 1000lb bombs, a full load of fuel and often a drop tank full of fuel. Then fly off to France to attack railways, bridges, army units and anything that did and did not move. In this they were extremely successful.
20th June and they all moved out and flew off to A1, Advanced Landing Ground, Normandy.
Several small units came and went, RAF Netheravon used Thruxton as storage for gliders and as the war ended they started dismantling them here.
1946 Thruxton was closed and sold off. Wiltshire Flying School of High Post, Amesbury took a lease out on the airfield and later the perimeter track was converted to a racing circuit. The main site was converted to small factory units. The dispersed hutting sites were all pulled down, except for one latrine which I found on Google Maps and returned to farming and housing.
225 Squadron Army Co-Operations.
Airspeed Oxfords of 26/1526 Blind Approach Training Flight.
42 OTU crew in training.
298 Squadron.
RAF Thruxton
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RAF Thruxton
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RAF Thruxton
AM record site plan 65/45
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RAF Thruxton
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No.1 Airfield site.
24 x Aircraft dispersals.
6 x Fighter pens.
1 x Quarter size bomb store.
1 x T2 Hangar.
8 x Blister hangars.
1 x Robins hangar.
1 Bessoneau hangar.
1 x Shooting in Butts.
2 x Aviation fuel supplies.
History:
By 1941 a three runway airfield was ready for Army Co-operation Commands Lysanders of No.225 squadron.
TB - Temporary Brick.
T - Timber Hutting.
PC - Perminent Concrete.
N - Nissen Hutting.
St - Steel.
Westland Lysander.
No.225 Squadron RAF
"We Guide the Sward"
.
Bessoneau hangar.
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20 November 2005
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Motor Racing Circuit
The entrance into the racing circuit and leads directly to the control tower and a cafe that now uses all its ground floor.
Towing over Thruxton.
Airspeed Oxford BAT flight.
Armstrong Whitworth Whitley.
Hotspur training glides.
RAF Thruxton
Air Photo (from cafe wall)
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RAF Thruxton
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Air photo of the airfield on a race day.
1940s air photo.
RAF Douglas Boston.
North American Mustang in RAF service.
Bristol Blenheims.
RAF Thruxton
AM record site plan 65/45
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74 - Airfield Indicator.
75 - Signal Square.
76 - Watch Office - PB - 1272/41.
77 - Rest Room for Flying Control - N - 9024/41.
78 - Crash Hut - N -
9024/41.
79 - M&E Plinth - 2034/41.
80 - Pyro Store - N - 12725/41.
81 - Hangar - Blister - 16312/41
82 - Barrack Hut - N - 9024/41.
83 - Petrol Installation - 24,000gal - 15425/40.
M&E Plinth.
Nissen hut.
Signal square.
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83 - Petrol Installation - 24,000gal - 15425/40.
I have found many bulk fuel instillations on other airfields before but none like this one. The standard circular road around the pump house now hidden in bushes.
Fuel bowser.
900ga trailer Brockhouse Mk2.
Bedford articulated POOL delivery tanker.
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20 November 2005
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83 - Petrol Installation - 24,000gal - 15425/40.
Underground would be buried petrol tanks for 24,000 gal. of fuel.
Underground fuel tanks.
Fuel bowser.
Aerial view.
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20 November 2005 -------------------------------------------------------------------- 20 November 2005
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83 - Petrol Installation - 24,000gal - 15425/40.
Pump House Inside.
Insets clockwise:
1: Fuel pump.
2: Pump and fuel cocks.
3: Steel Door.
4: & 6: external fuel cocks.
5: Fuel dial.
7: Internals.
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20 November 2005
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76 - Watch Office - PB - 1272/41.
Bulk fuel on the right and in front the.
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20 November 2005
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76 - Watch Office - PB - 1272/41.
78 - Crash Hut - N -
9024/41.
Looking from behind, the rear of the watch office and the central hut replaces the Nissen huts.
Glider Pilots Exercise Unit used General Aviation
Hotspur gliders.
Airspeed Horsa gliders.
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20 November 2005
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76 - Watch Office - PB - 1272/41.
3/4 view.
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20 November 2005 ------------------------------------------------------------ The raid
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The Bruneval Raid plaque on the wall of the Watch Office.
History: February 1942 16 black Whitley's arrived to take paratroops on Operation Biting.
Whitley bomber/parachuting plane.
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20 November 2005 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The raid
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Plan of the attack.
Air photo of the target radar.
Items removed.
Items removed.
C Company of the 2nd Battalion the Parachute Regiment.
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PRO
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RAF Thruxton
P-47 thunderbolts of 366th Fighter Group. ----------------------------------------
American Air Museum Information
RAF Thruxton
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March 1944 the Americans arrived as they did all over the south of England with their P-47 thunderbolts, of 366th Fighter Group.
The Group moved to England over the New Year of 1944, setting up home first at RAF Membury and then at Thruxton. The pilots' first mission was a fighter sweep of the French coast in March 1944 and from then until D-Day the group supported Allied preparations for the invasion of France
They moved over to France by the 20th June 1944 to ALG A1 Saint-Pierre-du-Mont, Calvados. (Air Landing Ground).
North American P-47 Thunderbolts.
Pilot in his life jacket.
P-47 thunderbolts of 366th Fighter Group
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74 - Airfield Indicator.
Part of the airfield indicator. Behind are the grandstands for the motor racing.
Signal square.
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76 - Watch Office - PB - 1272/41.
Front view of all the Watch Office buildings
A good picture of all the buildings that have been added to the control tower in the past and in the not so long ago past. The temporary brick hut may have replaced the Nissen hut (detailed on the plan dated 1945)?.
Plan.
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20 November 2005
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The use of RAF Thruxton as a storage for Gliders from RAF Netheravon.
Taylorcraft Auster Air Observation Post (AOP).
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20 November 2005
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35 - Hangar - T2 (St) - 3653/42.
The types of hangars that were used here, one T2 and eight Blisters, one Bessoneau and one Robins hangar.
This T2 is/was in reasonable condition but a fire has caused damage (in Nov 2005) to the south/west corner.
Blister hangar.
31 - Hangar - Blister - 16312/41.
Bessoneau hangar
Robin hangar.
RAF Thruxton
20 November 2005 -------------------------------------------------------------------- St Aubin-d'Arquenay
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Robin Hangar [84] 661/108
A re clad Robins type 'B' with its front doors removed and now only a small door fitted. The plan states that it may have been constructed by Redpath Bryson? the print is very bad on my plan.
This hangar may have been used as a repair shed for glider maintenance. Also a A Bessoneau hangar was added probably for the same reason.
History:
At the end of 1945 the gliders were being broken up and then by 1946 the RAF airfield was closed.
Men of a Detachment of the Heavy Glider Servicing Unit repairing a damaged Airspeed Horsa in a field near St Aubin-d'Arquenay, Normandy. This is the sort of repairs that would have been done here at RAF Thruxton.
Plan.
Robin hangar.
Wiltshire Flying School, High Post, Amesbury.
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20 November 2005
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Go-Kart track
Looked good fun. Thruxton Karting.
THRUXTON KART CENTRE.
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20 November 2005
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Double entrance air raid shelter
Not convinced that this is a Stanton Shelter.
Plan.
Double entree shelter.
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20 November 2005
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Crash gate N/E corner
If you see gates of this design, you can be nearly sure that it was a military establishment and of WW2 era.
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20 November 2005
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The modern flying side on a misty morning.
RAF Thruxton
15 May 2008 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- AM record site plan 65/45
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Site No.1 Airfield.
27 - Water Tank Tower
(Temporary) - 4500gal.
Remains of the
Braithwaite water tower.
AM record site plan 65/45 for this area.
Plan.
Braithwaite water tower.
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20 November 2005 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 15 May 2008
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Site No.1 Airfield
We visited on a bright sunny and frosty morning. Looking down on Site No.1 Airfield from what looks like an old landfill hill.
The first hut on the right was:
66to69 - Barrack Huts (Defence Unit) - T - "l" - 13903/40. (68 has been removed the base can be seen).
35 - Hangar - T2 - 3653/42.
Plan.
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20 November 2005
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Front:
54to55 -
Main Workshops - Romney - 5540/42.
Rear:
63to64 - Main Stores - Romney - 5539/40
Main Workshops.
Main Workshops.
Main Stores.
Main Stores.
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20 November 2005
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Air Ministry Lab. Bombing Teacher
Air ministry Laboratory Bombing Teacher, Maintenance office & W/T (radio workshop.
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20 November 2005 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 15 May 2008
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59 - AM Bombing Teacher - TB - 1733/41.
Air Ministry Bombing Teacher, to train bomb aimers their trade.
Vickers Bygrave bombing teacher that was fitted into this building.
Plan of the building.
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20 November 2005
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57 - Maintenance Office (W/T) - TB - 1269/41, (radio workshop.
Plan.
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15 May 2008
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57 - Maintenance Office (W/T) - TB - 1269/41, (radio workshop.
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T2 hangar
35 - Hangar - T2 - 3653/42.
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T2 hangar.
35 - Hangar - T2 - 3653/42.
Hangar 15 May 2008.
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20 November 2005
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T2 Side View.
35 - Hangar - T2 - 3653/42.
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Run off to the Hangar.
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15 May 2008 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 15 May 2008
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Test day.
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20 November 2005 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 20 November 2005
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34 - Petrol Instillation Aviation - 24,000gal - 15425/40.
To find one Bulk Fuel Installation Aviation pump house and then find two on the same airfield is like hens teeth, very rare, but this day we did.
Plan.
900galt Brockhouse Mk2 trailer.
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20 November 2005 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 20 November 2005 --------------------------------------------------- 15425/40 Pump house
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34 - Petrol Instillation Aviation - 24,000gal - 15425/40.
Inside looking at the pump mechanism
This may all have been removed as I could not find it in 2009????
15425/40 Pump house plan/elevation.
900galt Brockhouse Mk2 trailer.
POL delivery tanker from the Petroleum Board.
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20 November 2005
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The back of the T2 hangar.
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20 November 2005
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Windless sock
A month earlier at Perranporth the wind sock was horizontal, today here the total opposite.
The original Sleeve Streamer Mast [136] 5947/36 was above the Control Tower and this modern version is on the eastern side of the airfield. A month earlier at Perranporth the wind sock was horizontal, today here the total opposite.
The original Sleeve Streamer Mast [136] 5947/36 was above the Control Tower and this modern version is on the eastern side of the airfield.
RAF Thruxton
20 November 2005 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 15 May 2008 -----------------------------------------------------------------------14532-41 ARG
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36 - Squadron & Flight Office- TB - 1268/41.
Another view of the long squadron office by the hangar.
36 - Squadron & Flight Office- TB - 1268/41.
14532-41 plan of a Flight Office plan from ARG.
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15 May 2008 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 20 November 2005
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36 - Squadron & Flight Office- TB - 1268/41.
Plan.
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15 May 2008 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 20 November 2005
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38 - Static Water Supply - PB - 4100/40.
Emergency water supply about 20,000 gallons [38] 4100/41.
Trailer fire pump.
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20 November 2005
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Squadron & Flight Office
The other end of the squadron office.
I used to have a Moto-Lita steering wheel on my Morris 1000 convertible re-engine to 1500cc and wide wheel's.
Moto-Lita Ltd
Unit 2 Fairview Road
Weyhill, Andover
Hampshire
SP11 0ST, UK
details
Not my Morris 1000 but exactly the same colour.
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20 November 2005 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 15 May 2008
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41 - Lubricant & Inflammable Store - TB - 1270/41
This hut is now used by a model maker.
41 - Lubricant & Inflammable Store - TB - 1270/41
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20 November 2005
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47 - Gas Defence Centre - TB - 48/40
48
- Main Substation- PB - 12548/40.
49 - Fire Fighting Equip. Bldg. - TB - 8/40.
Plan.
Fire pump.
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20 November 2005
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RAF Thruxton
15 May 2008
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47 - Gas Defence Centre - TB - 48/40
Anti-gas cream.
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20 November 2005 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 15 may 2008
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49 - Fire Fighting Equip. Bldg. - TB - 8/40.
This building possibly held a small fire tender or a fire pump for local fires on the camp and not so much for aircraft fires.
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20 November 2005 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 15 May 2008
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54to55 -
Main Workshops - Romney - 5540/42.
Two Romney hut Main workshops 5540/42. To its left is the armoury [56] 1269/41 with the AML trainer looming above.
65 - Office of RAF Liaison Officer
Plan.
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20 November 2005
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54to55 -
Main Workshops - Romney - 5540/42.
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The control tower is the left of the picture, the airfield is between it and the T2 hangar on the right.
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20 November 2005
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Half an Auster
I am not sure if the Auster in the main picture is not our Auster at BDAC RAF Old Sarum, if so its looking a lot better but desperately needs a new cabin window.?
BDAC
RAF Thruxton
18 May 2008
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Control Tower
History: after the war motor cycles started using the perimeter track for racing, cars followed a bit later and now a very strong motor racing culture has grown up around Thruxton.
details
Mini's racing here in the 60's & 70's, there are two Avro Anson's in the picture and a squadron office.
RAF Thruxton
AM record site plan 65/45 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Google
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AM record site plan 65/45 of the dispersed sites.
Site No5 one building remains (Google).
226 - Officers Latrines - TB - 1267/41.
A lot of the barrack buildings were in Timber. The Communal was mostly Temporary Brick.
Possibly a Latrines - TB - 1267/41.
Timber hutting.
Temporary Brick.
RAF Thruxton
15 May 2008
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France
Great Britain
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