Studying Ridgewell - any good sources of info please?

Hi all,

Wondering if you seasoned experts could point a newbie in the right direction please?!

I've been looking for site layout drawings, high-res wartime aerial photos and other clear photos of the various Ridgewell sites. I'll also be looking for architectural drawings or at least key dimensions of the various structures.

I've been in touch with the Hendon staff and it sounds like they might have the the site plans but you have to visit in person these days. Won't get down there any time soon.
They have a few building design documents but not too many. They didn't think they had any aerial shots. They suggested the imperial war museum but no luck so far.

The 381st.org site looked to be a fantastic resource but has been down since last year.
The 381st Bomb Group Historical Photos CD by Frank Slomzenski looked very promising too but nobody got back to me.

What I have found are some very nice wartime photos (most sourced from the above CD I think), the makings of a site plan without any building references and a few aerial shots that are a bit too low resolution to make out the details that matter. Just stumbled across your site today and I'm impressed with the depth of knowledge shown in these threads. Do you think my expectations are too high in terms of achieving a complete picture of the wartime base? If anyone knows what is and isn't possible then I'm sure the answer lies somewhere on this fine site.

Thanks for any advice you can offer.

Dave

The US archive FOLD3 has images of Ridgewell:

www.fold3.com/

Click on WW2

Click n US Air Force Photographs (free)

Type 'Ridgewell' in the Search line

Separately, using the Bomb Group number in the Search line may produce other hits.

Ridgewell was one of my first RAF Bomb Disposal jobs out of Debden in the mid-60s and it had some odd features.

Thanks Jeff, I think membership would be a good step. Is the archive accessible online or would I need to visit in person?

Thanks also for the museum link. I've sent Paul an email.

Cheers,

Dave

Thanks Peter, that looks like an amazing resource. War diaries too. Will sign up tonight.

Interesting to hear you worked at Ridgewell in the early days. Was everything still intact in the 60s or had they started to pull things down even then?
Looking at aerial photos, I find it strange that they left many of the hedges intact across the airfield. In fact I think I can see a hedged lane crossing the north east corner, only breaking where it crosses the dispersal pans! What odd features do you remember?

Dave

Thanks for the links Peter, it feels like Christmas has come early I've been hunting for those site plans all over - the key to everything really. Lovely and clear too.

I wonder if English Heritage or the American Air Museum can supply really high definition aerial images on request?

Appreciate the help, I'd have missed those plans without the search working.

Dave

Great stuff, thanks for the info Kevin. Looking forward to getting stuck into that archive, looks brilliant.

Dave