WWII USAAF Building Numbers?

thanks very much for the stencil info , thatll save me much head scratching ! . i run a window cleaning firm and want to stencil the firms name neatly onto all the aluminium ladders

List of damage costs following the 23 Jan 1945 crash into Site 2 at Kimbolton.
Note the building numbers follow the pattern seen in previous photos:





Could the leading number indicate the type or purpose of the building perhaps, i.e. 132 = barracks?

How thoughtful of them to also mark the piles of bovine manure (BS)

Another clue pointing toward them being building type/purpose numbers...



US-33-1-T on end wall of Crew Rest, Locker and Drying Rooms (used as briefing rooms), Alconbury.

Seen in background of late 1943 401BG photo:
US-33-1-T on door of Crew Rest, Locker and Drying Rooms (used as briefing rooms), Deenethorpe.

Could the last character in REF's photo of the Link Trainer Building at Kimbolton in the first post in this thread be a T or a 4?
The Photo Lab at Thurleigh was marked US-48-1-T, so if the T indicates a Technical Site building then Kimbolton's Link Trainer would be US-30-1-T.

More data needed to get a better spread of info methinks!

If someone has the RSP for Thurleigh and could let me know the building number of the Photo Lab on there it would be appreciated.
Wartime photos indicate the door also had the number 30 painted on it below the US identifier.

All the best,
PB

The "132 = barracks" theory seems to be correct, examples of US-132-xxx-x having been noted at Grafton Underwood, Kimbolton and Thurleigh.

With that in mind, here's the identifiers so far:

30 = Link Trainer Building. (Examples seen at Kimbolton and possibly at Hethel)
33 = Crew Rest, Locker and Drying Rooms (Seen at Alconbury and Deenethorpe)
40 = Guardhouse (Seen at Molesworth)
48 = Photo Lab (Seen at Grafton Underwood and Thurleigh )
121 = Not yet known (Listed on living site at Kimbolton)
132 = Barracks (Seen at Alconbury, Grafton Underwood and Thurleigh, listed on living site at Kimbolton)
136 = Not yet known (Listed on living site at Kimbolton)
137 = Not yet known (Listed on living site at Kimbolton)
141 = Not yet known (Listed on living site at Kimbolton)
143 = Not yet known, possibly Ablutions Block (Listed on living site at Kimbolton)
149 = Not yet known (Seen at Thurleigh)

Well chaps, it's no longer a theory, but it was indeed the USAAF Numbering System for Station Buildings, introduced in 1943.
It's also a lot more comprehensive that first thought.

I only have a partial list of the system at present, but I'll get what I do have typed up and posted shortly.

It's amazing what you can find in 1700 pages of general correspondence papers, if you can remember what you were looking for...

USAAF Numbering System for Station Buildings

It's a very simple system:

Block 1: US
Block 2: Building type
Block 3: Sequential number of building of that type on station
Block 4: Living Quarters subtype, if applicable
Final Block: Location on station by site

Numbers were to be 3" high, applied in yellow paint, located on the main door or doors of the building or otherwise in a position clearly visible from the nearest road or path. Should one single building contain areas for two different building types, both numbers were to be applied, one above the other.

Type Designation numbers (Directory of Technical Buildings and Facilities)

16	Main Workshop
30	Link Trainer
31	Squadron Offices
33	Crew Rest, Locker & Drying Rooms
40	Flight Offices
48	Photo Lab
132	Living Quarters
132-A	16' Nissen Hut, 1 room
132-B	16' Nissen Hut, 2 rooms
132-C	16' Nissen Hut, 3 rooms
132-D	16' Nissen Hut, 4 rooms
132-E	Laing Hut, 1 room
132-F	Laing Hut, 2 rooms
132-G	Laing Hut, 4 rooms
132-H	Laing Hut, 6 rooms
132-I	Laing Hut, 7 rooms
132-J	Janes Hut (Standard), 1 room
132-K	Janes Hut (Standard), 2 rooms
132-L	Janes Hut (Standard), 4 rooms
132-M	Janes Hut (Standard), 6 rooms
132-N	Janes Hut (Standard), 7 rooms
132-O	Janes Hut (Large), 1 room
132-P	Thorne Hut, 1 room
132-Q	Thorne Hut, 2 rooms
132-R	Thorne Hut, 4 rooms
132-S	Thorne Hut, 6 rooms
132-T	Thorne Hut, 7 rooms
132-U	Tarran Hut (Plywood), 1 room
132-V	Requisitioned Living Quarters, any size
135	Officers Latrine
136	Sgts Latrine
137	E/Ms Latrine
138	Officers Showers
139	Sgts Showers
140	E/Ms Showers
141	Officers Ablutions
142	Sgts Ablutions
143	E/Ms Ablutions
144	Officers Mess
145	Sgts Mess
146	E/Ms Mess
147	WAAF Sites: Off Mess, Qtrs & Bath
148	WAAF Sites: Sgts Qtrs
149	WAAF Sites: A/Ws Quarters
150	WAAF Sites: Dining Room & Sgts Mess
151	WAAF Sites: Institute & Sgts Rec Room
152	WAAF Sites: Sick Quarters
153	WAAF Sites: Sgts & A/Ws Bath & Decon
154	WAAF Sites: Sgts & A/Ws Ablutions, Latrine & Laundry
155	WAAF Sites: Sgts & A/Ws Ablutions, Latrine & Drying Room.
156	WAAF Sites: Fuel Compound

Site Location Designators

T	Technical Site
1	Living Site No.1
2	Living Site No.2
3	Living Site No.3
C1	Communal Site No.1
C2	Communal Site No.2
WC	WAAF Communal Site

So with all that in mind, here are some real-life examples:

US-132-16-F-2 formerly at Alconbury was the sixteenth 2-room Laing living hut on the station, located on Barracks Site No.2.
US-40-2-T formerly at Alconbury was the second set of Flight Offices on the station, located on the Technical Site. This particular building was used as the 812BS CO's Office.
US-149-3-WC at Thurleigh was the third A/Ws Quarters hut, located on the WAAF Communal Site.

See, easy...

An intriguing possible variation or shortened style of marking has turned up.
In a wartime official photo of the control tower at Podington the front wall has the simple stencil "T-19" in the right proportions to be the same size as the regular markings.

We don't have a building type designation listed for 19 as yet, but it's something to keep an eye out for in the future.

This is from King's Cliffe. Not sure if it is another example or not?

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