RAF CULMHEAD, CHURCHSTANTON, SOMERSET Heritage Environment Programme PROJECT REPORT By Hazel Riley RAF CULMHEAD, CHURCHSTANTON, SOMERSET Heritage Environment Programme PROJECT REPORT By Hazel Riley Date of report: December 2015 Copyright: © The author Hazel Riley BA (Hons), ACIFA, FSA Consultant in Landscape History, Management and Conservation Grazing The Furley Herd of Dexter Cattle New House Cottage Furley Axminster Devon EX13 7TR 01404 881330 [email protected] CONTENTS ABBREVIATIONS LIST OF FIGURES AND IMAGE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ABSTRACT ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION AND DESIGNATIONS INTRODUCTION Project background and methodology Location, topography and geology Names and numbering schemes PREVIOUS RESEARCH AND SURVEY WORK A BRIEF HISTORY OF RAF CULMHEAD The national context Airfield design: the RAF Expansion Period Airfield design: temporary airfields Airfields in south west England The construction of RAF Culmhead The Polish and Czech pilots RAF Culmhead The Gloster Meteor Glider Training Schools FISH, CSOS Culmhead and the Cold War THE AIRFIELD Trickey Warren The development of the airfield The buildings in the northern technical area The runways and perimeter track Fighter pens, associated structures, aircraft hangars and dispersal areas The airfield defences Machine gun test butt, range and bombing practice range STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT Preservation by record Conservation, management and adaptation ACCESS AND INTERPRETATION Restoration and presentation Gaps in the story ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS REFERENCES APPENDIX 1: GAZETTEER OF SOURCE MATERIAL APPENDIX 2: CONDITION SURVEY 2015 APPENDIX 3: RAF CHURCH STANTON AND RAF CULMHEAD TIMELINE APPENDIX 4: RAF AND RNAS SERVING AT RAF CHURCH STANTON AND RAF CULMHEAD APPENDIX 5: MEASURES FOR VEGETATION CONTROL AT SCHEDULED MONUMENTS 1019845, 1019846, 1020492, RAF CULMHEAD, CHURCHSTANTON Culmhead HEP ABBREVIATIONS AM Air Ministry AOC(-in-C) Air Officer Commanding (-in-Chief) AONB Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty CSOS Composite Signals Organisation Station EH English Heritage (now Historic England) GCHQ Government Communications Headquarters HE Historic England (formerly English Heritage) HLF Heritage Lottery Fund IWM Imperial War Museum ORB Operations Record Book OS Ordnance Survey RAE Royal Aircraft Establishment RSP Record Site Plan SIGINT Signals Intelligence SCC Somerset Heritage Centre SRO Somerset Record Office, Somerset Heritage Centre SWAHT South West Airfields Heritage Trust USAAF United States of America Air Force WAAF Women’s Auxiliary Air Force W/T Wireless Telegraphy Frontispiece Spitfire Vb DUZ (AR614), piloted by 312 Squadron Leader Tomas Vybiral and stationed at RAF Culmhead October 1942 to June 1943 (Flying Heritage Collection) Culmhead HEP FIGURE LIST AND IMAGE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Front Cover The control tower at RAF Culmhead (Hazel Riley) Frontispiece Spitfire VB DU-Z (AR614), piloted by 312 Squadron Leader Tomas Vybiral and stationed at RAF Culmhead October 1942-June 1943 (Reproduced with permission of the Flying Heritage Collection) Figure 1 Location maps Figure 2 The surviving buildings and structures at RAF Culmhead in 2015 Figure 3 Scheduled Monument 1020492 Figure 4 Scheduled Monuments 1019845 and 1019846 Figure 5 Polish officers of 306 Squadron drawing cartoon (of the official photographer?) in a flight office, RAF Church Stanton 1942 (© IWM CH4799) Figure 6 Polish pilots of 306 Squadron having English lessons in a flight office, RAF Church Stanton1942 (© IWM CH4790) Figure 7 Sergeant Witold Krupa of 306 Squadron wearing his ‘Mae West’ life jacket, RAF Church Stanton 1942 (© IWM CH4795) Figure 8 No. 306 Squadron mascot attending a briefing, RAF Church Stanton 1942 (© IWM CH4789) Figure 9 The old watch office and the rhombic masts of CSOS Culmheadc 1960 (Reproduced with permission of SWAHT and the Upottery Heritage Centre) Figure 10 The building and circular enclosure at CSOS Culmhead in 2000 (extract Millennium Map™ © Getmapping plc. Source Devon County Council, 2015) Figure 11 CSOS Culmhead: the fence is a legacy of the Cold War years (Hazel Riley) Figure 12 Trickey Warren before the airfield (OS 1st edition 1:10560 map Devonshire 37.SW1889. Source nls.uk. Licensed under creative commons.org/licences/by-nc-sa/4.0) Figure 13 Air photograph showing RAF Culmhead on 25 June 1942 (RAF/FNO/16 V 6015) (Historic England RAF Photography) Figure 14 Extract from the AM Airfield RSP (4997/45) for RAF Culmhead (Reproduced with permission from the Trustees of the Royal Air Force Museum) Figure 15 Air photograph showing RAF Culmhead on 9 August 1943 (US/7PH/GP/ LOC14 6040) (Historic England USAAF Photography) Figure 16 Extract from 1943 AP showing the northern technical area (US/7PH/GP/ LOC14 5041) (Historic England USAAF Photography) Figure 17 The old watch office in the northern technical area in 2015 (Hazel Riley) Figure 18 The south side of the old watch office (Hazel Riley) Figure 19 The pyrotechnics cupboard inside the old watch office (Hazel Riley) Figure 20 The watch office in the control tower (Hazel Riley) Figure 21 The control room (Hazel Riley) Figure 22 The control tower balcony (Hazel Riley) Figure 23 A mobile Chance light by the main runway at B58/Melsbroek, Belgium. The aircraft is a Gloster F Mark III of 616 Squadron (© IWM C5658) Figure 24 The night-flying equipment store (Hazel Riley) Figure 25 Detail of the door (Hazel Riley) Figure 26 Floodlight tractor and trailer shed 1997(Paul Francis for Somerset County Council ) Figure 27 Wren’s packing parachutes in the Fleet Air Arm’s parachute packing room, Lee-on-Solent 1943 (© IWM A19289) Figure 28 The parachute store showing the two-stage roof and lobby (Hazel Riley) Culmhead HEP Figure 29 The interior of the parachute store (Hazel Riley) Figure 30 An airman wearing gas clothing, by a Hurricane, during a gas attack practice in NW France (© IWM C1154) Figure 31 The old gas clothing and respirator store 1997(Paul Francis for Somerset County Council) Figure 32 The gas clothing store and the gas chamber (Hazel Riley) Figure 33 One of the wooden doors in the gas clothing store (Hazel Riley) Figure 34 The base of the gas defence centre with the gas chamber and gas clothing store in the background (Hazel Riley) Figure 35 The motor transport shed and inspection ramps. The building on the left is the latrine block for the parachute store (Hazel Riley) Figure 36 The base of W/T transmitter building, as recorded on AM RSP (Hazel Riley) Figure 37 Perimeter track on the east side of the airfield (Hazel Riley) Figure 38 Spitfire DU-7 in fighter pen, probably at RAF Culmhead, c June 1943 (Reproduced with permission of the Flying Heritage Collection) Figure 39 Extract from AP showing eastern perimeter fighter pens (US/7PH/GP/LOC14 5041) (Historic England USAAF Photography) Figure 40 The latrine block for the NE dispersal area Figure 41 Extract from Lidar data (© Forest Research) Figure 42 Extract from the 1943 APs showing fighter pens in SW dispersal area sited on edge of hillside (US/7PH/GP/LOC14 5036) (Historic England USAAF Photography) Figure 43 Access to the Stanton air raid shelter at the back of fighter pen 227 Figure 44 Defended wall at the end of the central traverse, fighter pen 227 Figure 45 Flight accommodation building for the SW dispersal area Figure 46 The squadron office in 2004 (Alan Graham) Figure 47 Extract from AP showing the western dispersal area, with aviation petrol installation, three defended fighter pens containing aircraft, T-shaped flight office and the large Nissen hut housing one of the squadron offices (US/7PH/GP/LOC14 5040) (Historic England USAAF Photography) Figure 48 Defended wall on the Stanton air raid shelter, fighter pen 229 (Hazel Riley) Figure 49 Defended wall on the south side of fighter pen 231 (Hazel Riley) Figure 50 The flight office for the western dispersal area (Hazel Riley) Figure 51 Servicing Spitfire IX in a blister hangar RAF Fairlop 1942 (© IWM TR514) Figure 52 The blister hangar at the SW dispersal area, RAF Culmhead (Hazel Riley) Figure 53 Detail of the steelwork on the NW end of the blister hangar, RAF Culmhead Figure 54 The battle headquarters c 1960 (Reproduced with permission of SWAHT and the Upottery Heritage Centre) Figure 55 Seven-sided pillbox on north side of airfield (Hazel Riley) Figure 56 Heavy machine gun loophole with metal shutter in situ (Hazel Riley) Figure 57 The gunpit by fighter pen 231 (Hazel Riley) Figure 58 Base for Laing hut, part of barrack blocks for defence unit stationed at RAF Culmhead (Hazel Riley) Figure 59 Trickey Warren Lane and pillbox/quadrant post for practice bombing range (Hazel Riley) Figure 60 No. 306 Squadron pilots at RAF Church Stanton1942 (© IWM CH 4792) Figure 61 F/Lts Czerwinski and Skalski with 306 Squadron crest and Supermarine Spitfire, RAF Church Stanton 1942 (© IWM CH 4793) Culmhead HEP ABSTRACT This study of the surviving structures and the history of the former RAF fighter station at Culmhead sets out the history of the airfield and its buildings; the significance of the airfield, regionally and nationally, and puts forward recommendations for the conservation, management and further recording work of these structures. The study has collated the source material relating to the men and women who served at the airfield during the Second World War, including an official photographic record of the Polish squadrons when stationed at the airfield in January 1942. One of the Spitfires which was based on the airfield with a Czech squadron is still flying and is based at an aviation