RFC/RAF Drem

Aerodrome
The plan of 2 TDS with known buildings.
3 x double General Service Sheds (GS).
1 x Aircraft Repair Shed (ARS).
6 x Bessoneau tented hangars.
1 x Woodwork shop.
2 x 13 bay MT sheds.
6 x Barrack blocks.
1 x Men's institute 345 Men.
1 x Sergeants mess. 47 x NCO's.
60 x NCO's under instruction.
1 x Officers mess. 51 Officers. 120 x Officers under instruction.
1 x Women´s hostel. 155 x Women.
56 x Women household. A total of 889 personnel.
No.2 Training Depot Station.
Formed 15th September 1917 at Lake Down, Wiltshire. 2nd December 1917 Stonehenge, Wiltshire. 15th April 1918 West Fenton (Gullane). Disbanded 21st November 1919.
Aircraft: - DH4, BE2e, RE8, FK8, Scout D, Pup, Camel, SE5a, Avro 504 and F2b's.

Communal site This is a very good picture of the aerodrome, taken just before the wars end. You can see one pair of GS sheds still under construction.
The Officers Mess: - A standardised design used on many TDS's. There are still quite a few left but you have to find them.
Officers in training accommodation: - these are very distinctively shaped huts. A centre section slightly raised and the two sides probably where the officers rooms were.
ARS shed: - Aircraft Repair Shed, hangars were also sheds and both terms will be used here. (Shed is more a British name and Hangar a French word for shed gradually came into use later on). ARS's were a slightly smaller Belfast Truss hangar with on one side, Two aircraft storage rooms. On the other side, a row of offices/stores/workshops.
1918 GS sheds: - these sheds/hangars were built all over the country mostly laid out in a style with three attached GS hangars and one ARS. They were often made as a pair, using a central sharing wall. Made of brick or wooden. Belfast truss roofing covered with thin diagonal planking and tarred felt. The doors could be six large sliding doors or a set of Esavian bi fold doors, as here.
MT section: - two 13 bay sets of garages laid out facing each other. An MT office would either be attached and a latrine for the drivers.

Airfield site
Compass platform: - to align the aircraft’s compass to due north, ready for flying.
Bessoneau hangars: - a wood framed, canvas covered, transportable aircraft hangar. Designed in France and used extensively by the RFC and then the RAF. Old Sarum had one into the 70's. A collapsed one I last saw was at Weston Super Mere and there may be one at RAF Odiham??
Avro 504's: - at least two in the line, I am not sure what the others are. Flight offices: - each hangar was allocated to a squadron or flight and the office was for the senior officer to run his unit from. ARS: - we have talked about. There are two aircraft storage buildings attached to this side.
Esavian doors: - these are large bi fold hangar doors, when used there is no need for large heavy buttresses on the sides to hold the three sliding doors when open.

GS Shed.
Inside a Belfast truss General Service Shed (GS). Note two outer walls and one centre supports with the distinctive Belfast Truss designed roof. Each piece of wood, was between seven and nine feet long (anything longer had to go to France for trench construction) and also short lengths can be transported easily by lorries and horse and cart. The wood is laminated and not large beams and they are nailed together not glued. Thousands of nails must have been used.

Hangar
The iconic Belfast Truss structure close up. Note two clout nails per cross, 18 nails in this section alone.

Aerodrome
Another air photo of the airfield site and Officers Mess and accommodation hutting.
The Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) Hostel.
The women's jobs were not much different from the drudgery for woman before the war. Cleaning, mending, cooking. But then again they could be drivers, driving great lorries to motor cycle combinations, aircraft mechanic, aircraft frame fitters, carpenters and fabric workers.

RFC Officers mess
Nice fire place.

RFC Officers mess
The front of the Mess.

RFC Officers mess
The view south towards the Carleton Hills.

RFC Officers mess
One of the entrances.

RFC Officers mess
The view from the main door.

RFC Officers mess
Anti-room.

RFC Officers mess
A bit of door furniture, the original door handle, I have seen these knobs on WW1 & WW2 doors.

RFC Officers mess
Inside the left hand end. Thank you to the woodwork shop that now works from their. Fenton Bespoke Limited https://www.fentonbespoke.com.

MT garage,
On the original picture It states this is the MT Garage at Netheravon. An electric light at each bench, a large vice per bench. A shovel to clear up the mess off the floor. Even running water with a high level tank in he roof.

Work shop/store
Next to the MT section is this double row of huts all with large doors and the roof has the glass roof lights now covered over. This the could be part of the MT section, which is next door or just another workshop/store.

Workshop/store
Detail of the roof trusses. We find with WW1 RFC buildings several types of trusses. Here solid beams of wood and steel bolts attaching it. In my garage in Netheravon a 1916 RFC workshop, it too had steel bolts like this.

Office left and workshop right

Office
Maybe another workshop or office, also in the centre are a set of toilets, the smaller set of windows.

Crittall metal window frames
The original Crittall windows and possibly the original glass from WW1. Crittall have all the part numbers and could replace these with double glazed units that look exactly the same.

Workshop/store
Now the other side. This is a very well kept building with all the RFC details from 1917/18. The doors, air vents, roof and the glass roof lights are all original.

Workshop/store
The inside this store/workshop showing the roof light and trusses.

Workshop/store
The door locking fitting, this is very reminiscent of my old workshop which had fittings like this at Netheravon.

Workshop/store
The windows have been bricked up. Vents on the roof.

DFW 286/17 RFC Training Depot Wood Workshop and Dope Shop
This is where wing sections were repaired, re covered and then doped probably all in the one building

DFW 286/17 RFC Training Depot Wood Workshop and Dope Shop
Go to 'A Dopey Little Story' by Terry Grace at Old Sarum. All about Old Sarum's Dope shop.

DFW 286/17 RFC Training Depot Wood Workshop and Dope Shop
Plan of the woodwork shop, the U shape is a trench to allow when doping, the heavier than air fumes to be sucked down into the trench and drawn out via the chimney where an electrical fan was fitted.

DFW 286/17 RFC Training Depot Wood Workshop and Dope Shop
The end wall with the Dope shed on the far side, the only sign that it is the dope shed is that there are two supports in the wall that would have held the chimney or flu.

DFW 286/17 RFC Training Depot Wood Workshop and Dope Shop
The two rather rusty supports just below the eaves.

A Talk by David Spruce
A very good lecture about the men of the RFC