RAF Culmhead, Somerset Airfield Site

Air Ministry Plan 4997/45.
1 x T2 hangar 14bay.
4 x Over Blister hangars.
6 x Extra Over Blisters hangars.
12 x dispersal pens ''B'' FCW4513.
23 x Frying pan aircraft dispersals.
1 x Control Tower (Watch Office) (tb) [12779/41]
1 x Old Watch Office (tb) [No number].
9 x Dispersed sites.

Here were two huts, one a Nissen hut and the other was a wooden hut.
159 Guard House (n).
162 Wing Command Station Intelligence & Briefing Room (t).
n = Nissen hut.
t = timber.

Screw Picket. by the tree stump. I thought for years this was a screw picket for barbed wire but know I think they were screw tie downs to hold the aircraft down in windy conditions.

History : - By 1941 a three runways 150ft wide with a perimeter track 50ft wide. Opened on the first of August 1941 probably in a sea of mud.

The first pillbox.

Several screw pickets on the roof.

One machine gun embrasure and one rifle embrasure.

History : - Very few of the huts would have been built so a lot of tents would have been used.

Pillboxes in the sunset.

History : - To the north many dispersed sites living sites and communal sites where officers, sergeants mess's and the men's institute.

19 Gas Clothing Store (tb) [12409/41]. The tin shed is a farm add on.

History : - The airfield started out as RAF Church Stanton. The name was changed because other airfields have ''Church'' in their names so it was changed to RAF Culmhead.

19 Gas Clothing Store (tb) [12409/41] Crittall window.

History : - A Blister hangar was placed by each three sets of fighter pens (a flight) and a T2 hangar was placed in a small depression on the west side. Blister hangars were used for first line servicing and the T2 hangar for larger repairs and servicing.

18 Gas Defence Centre (tb) [12408/41]. If the airfield had been attacked by a gas attack, something the British government thought might happen. Gas Defence Centres and Gas Decontamination centres were sighted on the airfield and on a prominent dispersed site to treat airmen and women for contamination.

History : - I can try and say which squadrons came and went but all this information is in any book that is written about airfields in Britain. Squadrons often only stayed a few months and were moved on. But for quite a while the Polish Wing arrived with No.316 (Warsaw) and No.302 (Poznan) squadrons. Then the Czechs came with 313 and then 312 both with Spitfires.

Latrines not on the plan.

History : - After the Battle of Britain Fighter Command went from defence to attack. That meant that squadrons on the south coast flew offensive strikes across the channel to France. Also they would give cover to daylight raids by RAF and USAAF bombers. Cherbourg, Brest, St Nazaire and Le Havre were their main target that were just in the range of day fighters at the time.

Another set of Latrines not on the plan.

31 Technical Latrines (WAAF) (tb) [9026/41].

This set of latrines was probably for the WAAF's that worked in the Parachute Store behind it.

31 Technical Latrines (WAAF) (tb) [9026/41].

A nice wash stand inside. Latrines were often left as the rest of an airfield disintegrated so the farm labourers could use them.

30 Parachute Store (tb) [11137/41].

This is where parachutes would be checked, repaired, aired, packed, stored and issued to flight crews.

30 Parachute Store (tb) [11137/41].

This is the front view, ignore the structure added to the left side this was added by the farmer.

MT Yard.

25 M.T. Bays (4 Bay - 2 lock up, 2 repair) (tb) [12774/41]

26 M.T. Office (n).

25 M.T. Bays (4 Bay - 2 lock up, 2 repair) (tb) [12774/41] view from behind.

History : - When the Polish left they were replaced in the summer of 1942 with a Czech 313 Squadron and later to make up the Czech Wing 312 Squadron.

Vehicle inspection ramp. This is getting very badly damaged now. The tank on the right may have been the vehicle petrol tank and the water tank on the left may also have been used here on the camp.

1a Battery Charging Building (old Watch Office) (tb) [17658/40].

1 Control Tower (Watch Office) (tb) [12779/41].

The control tower placed slightly forward of the old Watch Office and from the top floor you can see the whole of the airfield.

1 Control Tower (Watch Office) (tb) [12779/41]

Front view.

1 Control Tower (Watch Office) - tb - [12779/41].

The control room.

1 Control Tower (Watch Office) (tb) [12779/41].

Out on the balcony.

29 N.F.E. (Night Flying Equipment Store)(tb) [12411/41].

The dark patch in the grass may be the Signal Square.

29 N.F.E. (Night Flying Equipment Store)(tb) [12411/41].

Most airfields at this time did not have electric landing lights so a couple of Erks (lowest airmen life on an aerodrome) would have to go out with possibly a tractor & trailer with enough Goose Neck flairs and paraffin for the night. The flairs would be placed equidistant down both sides of the runway, filled with paraffin and the taper wick lit. When flying ended they would have to go back out and put out the flair by placing the cap over the wick putting out the flair. Then load up the trailer and come back. The Erks that did this would smell of paraffin as it would get into their clothing. Pooo.

Perimeter track 50ft running right around the airfield.

Perimeter tracks connected up all the runways to allow aircraft to go to the correct take off point allowing runways to stay clear for other aircraft to land or take off.

The tree line as a hedgerow grubbed out to allow huts to be placed under several of the large Beech trees.

The hut base with rubble on it was 167 Barrack Block: Sergeants & other ranks (Defence unit) (l).

[(l) = Laing Hut].

Base for a Laing Hut.

Somerset Light Infantry were the defence unit in the early years..

Three defence pillboxes.

Three more pillboxes covering the North/Western side.

Machine gun embrasure covering the airfield.

The steel embrasure has two openings, one a rifle slot and the other which hooks up on the hook on the roof the machine gun embrasure.

The third Pillbox.

A bit damaged but it is protected.

Area defence brick lined trench.

There may have been more around here covering the dead ground.

A Motley Stalk.

Motley made a range of defence weapons mountings and this is one type.

13 Site of the T2 hangar Hangar [3669/42].

I have superimposed a T2 hangar onto the barn that is there now.

The track to the hangar base on the right and the perimeter track leading on.

The next set of photos are taken along the hedgerow.

539 M&E Plinth (tb).

That's camouflage that is.

205 Latrines (tb). 206/7/8 Barrack Huts (n).

Two rows of Nissen hut barracks and a Latrine block.

Defence position.

Set into the hedge made up as a defended slit trench.

520 Pillbox.

I am not too sure if its damaged or actually never built purely as a pillbox?? It would fire straight down the runway.

A very Grey day in February. Its still watching you.

The bottom of the airfield on the west side with the defences along the left hand edge and the Control Tower is on the horizon in the middle of the picture.

522 Pillbox.

On one side this is a Pillbox yet on the other side it was a Quadrant post for the bombing range in the fields beyond.

This is the road to 8a Petrol Installation Aviation (48,000 Gals) [9565/41].

Pillbox to the right and a defence position with a Motley Stalk mounting.

Gun pit machine gun position.

Motley were an innovative manufacturer of machine gun mountings.

231 Aircraft Pen [FCW 4513].

This is the right rear defence of the pen. An angled defending wall. You have to enter from the front left and a row of about nine rifle embrasures with shelves.

Aircraft fighter pen at RAF Harrowbeer very nicely cleaned up.
RAF Harrowbeer was built around the same time to the same sort of specification.
A link to RAF Harrowbeer.

Track to 216 Blister Hanger [12512/41].

The track was wide enough for the wheels of the undercarriage and the hedge cut back to allow the wings to pass.

The white concrete was the threshold of the Blister hangar [1251/41].

I have added some black lines to show how it may have looked.

Passing through here and just around the bend an Air-raid shelter.

I believe an earlier type of air-raid shelter.

Air-raid shelter.

Inside with strait sides and flat roof.

The marker board.

This is situated on the farm track.

Flight offices and a small lay-by. #This could be for flight vehicles to keep them off the perimeter track.

Plan of this area.

Busy area here it had three fighter pens, flight huts, petrol storage and another suet to the south.

201 Flight latrines [9026/41].

History : - 616sqn arrived with Spitfire VII and re-equipped with a brand new revolutionary aeroplane, the Gloucester Meteor twin jet.

201 Flight latrines [9026/41].

Just what a fighter pilot needs after flying.

Flight area.

T section flight office.

How it looks inside.

History : - D-Day and Culmhead became its busiest time. Spitfires and Seafire s were constantly shuttling to and from. The Seafire s spotted for the battleships firing inland.

Site of the second fighter pen 230 Type ''B'' [FCW 4513] .

Type ''B'' is the larger type for a fighter bombers like the Bristol Blenheim.

229 the third Fighter Pen in the group.

When I first saw this pen it was in pretty good condition but that was back in 2000.

229 the third Pen in the group.

The rifle defence of the front of the fighter pen.

229 the third Pen in the group.

The rifle positions but the top bricks have been removed.

229 the third Pen in the group.

Rear angled defence wall and exit from a Stanton air-raid shelter.

2a Squadron office hut in Nissen.

Built in tin a 24ft Nissen hut. Now removed. This was a two squadron station and the other Sqn office was a temporary brick [13875/41]

We now start on the S/W side.

This area has three fighter pens for a flight of six aircraft, a flight office, latrine and a Blister hangar.

199 Flight office in Temporary Brick.

There was also a static water tank here somewhere.

199 Flight office in Temporary Brick.

Replace the roof and the windows and this building could last a long time. ''IF''.

The second fighter pen at the rear.

228 Type BFCW4513 fighter pen.

226 the last fighter pen in this group.

This one is in a very good condition.

Fighter pen.

Drainage for the pen.

Fighter pen to perimeter track.

This is where many a fighter started, warmed up and then pulled out onto the perimeter track.

Over Blister hangar.

The aluminium fittings of the curtain rails

Heavy canvas curtains were used instead of doors to close off the the front and rear, also camouflage nets were used to cover the shadows made by the entrances, as they can be seen easily from the air.

18 Machine gun test butts [16461/41].

27 Machine gun range [1471/41].

All now totally removed. Four fighter frying pan style dispersals. Here was a cannon test butts for fighter aircraft to align their cannons/machine guns to converge at a set range. Then behind is a standard RAF rifle/machine gun butts.

18 Aircraft Machine Gun Test Butts [16461/41].

I took this picture a long time ago.

27 Machine gun range [1471/41].

The two huts were the Armourer hut and the target store. This is where airmen could shoot their .303 Lee Enfield rifles and armourers could test aircraft defensive machine guns as in a Lysanders rear gun, or a Blenheim's defence guns.

27 Machine gun range [1471/41].

The two huts were the armourers hut and the paper target store.

Continuing along the perimeter track going north.

The old GCHQ buildings.

Latrines (tb) [9026/41].

The only remaining building on the north east side.

What was a high bank removed to make way for an airfield.