RNAS St Merryn, HMS Vulture, Cornwall. Communal Site

RNAS · Cornwall · England · United Kingdom

RNAS St Merryn, HMS Vulture

Camp. This is the communal site for none officers, I believe they were in a different site on the other side of the airfield. The men that came to train here could be ground crew, riggers, engine fitters, air & ground, motor transport, air crew and even pilots. None officer pilots. They came in 1940 to fly bi planes such as the Swordfish, then many other British types, to Seafires, etc. Later on as the airfield grew and new runways were added, American aircraft on Lend Lease arrived, and were added too the strength. By 1945 and the war in the Pacific at its peak, this airfield would have been training sailors to go out east and fight the Japanese. When the war ended the airfield then carried on a little longer until 1956, and it eventually closed down.

RNAS St Merryn, HMS Vulture

Camp.

RNAS St Merryn, HMS Vulture

St Merryn camp quite early 0n in the war. The original civilian hangar and the small airfield. The camp has been started and the roads laid out with hutting being built.

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RNAS St Merryn, HMS Vulture

Camp. The road down to the camp with the crash tender shed on the left.

all photos taken on 08 July 2008

RNAS St Merryn, HMS Vulture

Camp. Crash Tender Shed with roller doors each end and making the vehicles able to drive through.

RNAS St Merryn, HMS Vulture

Camp. Hooks on the wall for hoses 500 x 18.

RNAS St Merryn, HMS Vulture

Camp. Chief's & P,O's Mess. The hut on the right is the Chief's & P,O's Mess and is now an office. Most of the buildings are used by the farmer but some are becoming office/factory units.

RNAS St Merryn, HMS Vulture

Camp. Rows of accommodation.

RNAS St Merryn, HMS Vulture

Camp. Boiler house. ablutions & barrack huts.

RNAS St Merryn, HMS Vulture

Camp. Boiler house. ablutions & barrack huts.

Water tank in the tower, also a chimney to heat the water for baths and showers.

RNAS St Merryn, HMS Vulture

Camp. Ablutions. The ablutions block with toilets where the windows are. The small hatch on the right is the coal hole for the heating plant. A water tank still sits in the tower and the small drive is to allow coal/coke deliveries by lorry.

RNAS St Merryn, HMS Vulture

Camp. Barracks. This hut is right next to the ablutions block.

RNAS St Merryn, HMS Vulture

Camp. Barracks inside the same hut with concrete 'A' frames are possibly an MOW standard hut.

RNAS St Merryn, HMS Vulture

Plan.

RNAS St Merryn, HMS Vulture

Camp. Barracks.

RNAS St Merryn, HMS Vulture

Camp. Another heating plant/ablutions.

The coal hole, where the coal would enter the building.

RNAS St Merryn, HMS Vulture

Camp. The next heating plant/ablutions & barracks.

RNAS St Merryn, HMS Vulture

Camp. Water tank still in the tower and the heating plant chimney showing on its roof.

RNAS St Merryn, HMS Vulture

Camp. Toilet stalls and where the sinks were.

RNAS St Merryn, HMS Vulture

Camp. Barrack huts.

RNAS St Merryn, HMS Vulture

Camp. Barrack hut.

RNAS St Merryn, HMS Vulture

Camp. Gas decontamination building and defence post.

Nurses in a Gas decontamination centre treating wounded.

RNAS St Merryn, HMS Vulture

Camp. Gas decontamination building and defence post. As a gas decontamination building the high chimney was for the water heating plant. Water would be used to clean off gas contamination and the pill box to fight off an attack.

Plan of an RAF decontamination building.

Nurses inside a decontamination building.

RNAS St Merryn, HMS Vulture

Camp. Gas decontamination building behind what I am lead to believe was the Captains house.

RNAS St Merryn, HMS Vulture

Camp. Gas decontamination building and defence post looking towards the parachute store.

By the 1930's gas was being taken seriously by the British Government and a lot of effort was placed on ant-gas infrastructure, whether military of civilian. .

RNAS St Merryn, HMS Vulture

Camp. Parachute drying store. A parachute issued to a pilot/crew, would be kept in the flight office. After a certain length of time the parachute has to be taken to the parachute store, for checking, drying and re packing. Thats what went on here.

WAAF's packing parachutes on an RAF base.

RNAS St Merryn, HMS Vulture

Camp.

RNAS St Merryn, HMS Vulture

Camp.

RNAS St Merryn, HMS Vulture

Camp. This is a typical Royal Flying Corps Officers Mess building. Its not but, that is exactly what it looks like. I would presume this is either an institute for the men, a Petty Officers mess or canteen, dining hall, NAAFI building. I believe the Officers were on the other side of the airfield. Talk about segregation.

RNAS St Merryn, HMS Vulture

Camp. Barracks.

RNAS St Merryn, HMS Vulture

Camp. Theatre, Cinema, Gymnasium.

RNAS St Merryn, HMS Vulture

Camp. Theatre, Cinema, Gymnasium. The large door may not have been there and was put in by the farmer, the entrance was the small door on the right.

RNAS St Merryn, HMS Vulture

Camp. Theatre, Cinema, Gymnasium. The small green door is the access to the projector room and to a toilet.

RNAS St Merryn, HMS Vulture

Camp. Theatre, Cinema, Gymnasium.

RNAS Crail's gymnasium equipment still on the walls.

RNAS St Merryn, HMS Vulture

RNAS Crail's theatre June 2019.

RNAS St Merryn, HMS Vulture

Camp. Theatre, Cinema, Gymnasium. Projection room.

RNAS St Merryn, HMS Vulture

Camp. Second gas decontamination building.

RNAS St Merryn, HMS Vulture

Camp. Second gas decontamination building.

RNAS St Merryn, HMS Vulture

Camp. Station sickbay with ambulance garage.

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RNAS St Merryn, HMS Vulture

Camp. Sickbay

RNAS St Merryn, HMS Vulture

Camp. Lonely unknown hut.

RNAS St Merryn, HMS Vulture

Camp. Motor Transport. The large barn looks modern to the airfield but was the in fact the MT shed. The crash tender shed can be seen with all its doors open.

RNAS St Merryn, HMS Vulture

Camp. Motor Transport office and yard.

RNAS St Merryn, HMS Vulture

Camp. Motor Transport office heating plant.

RNAS St Merryn, HMS Vulture

Camp. Motor Transport office heating plant inside where the boiler would have sat, showing the chimney outlet in the side wall.

RNAS St Merryn, HMS Vulture

Camp. Part of a Nissen hut rifle range, presumably a .22 range. Another Nissen hut behind.

The BSA manufactured Le-Enfield Rifle No.5 - .22in.

RNAS St Merryn, HMS Vulture

Camp. Remains of a Braithwaite water tank, re-used here at another time as a silage clamp.

RNAS St Merryn, HMS Vulture

Camp. Admiralty type S Mainhill hangar. Why were there so many hangars and small ones? The reasoning behind this was that all Naval aircraft would have been housed inside an aircrafts hangar deck with wings folded. So smaller hangars worked well for the Navy, also why so many. At the outbreak of WW2, there were very few RNAS airfields of there own and not that many aircraft carriers. As the war continued and Britain with Allied help, managed to build up a considerable fleet of aircraft carriers and by 1945 in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, the largest ever British task force was assembled.

There were ten Type S hangars on this site.