More buildings on the Virtual Workbench

Institute and NAAFI Staff Quarters as used during the making of the film 'Memphis belle'
I have the paper details and phots of the building and it was quite close to the WAAF blocks and behind the NAFFI.
I intend at some point in the future to draw the multi-view plans for this building.
Do you know the building Number please ?? (669/41 (Is this the same for each site ???)

@ P. Bellamy
The one in the second picuture looks like the Officer's Mess Type 101 on Riccall's second communal site Drg. No. 12952/41. Yours looks just like the Gmax model I made based on a GoogleEarth look at the base (all that's left on site)

Well done, soneone finally answered correctly.

It is indeed the base model for the Nissen Officers' Mess, AM Drawing Numbers differ depending on the intended number of officers to be accommodated.

65: 12877/41
80: 14413/41
101: 12952/41

I've been using a number of existing examples visible in Google Earth to identify the different variants, the only difference appears to be the length of the longest of the three parallel huts.

Examples include:
Ludford Magna: 108'
Ridgewell: 108'
Davidstow Moor: 108'
Riccall: 114' (may have been shortened)
Desborough: 138'
Shepherds Grove: 162'

The 12877/41 at Deenethorpe had an annexe for another 100 officers added, with it's own drawing number DEEN/86A.

Can anyone confirm the span of these Messes?
GE measurements indicate both 24' and 30' examples, but that may be down to mapping errors.
The annexe at Deenethorpe can be seen to be noticeably higher than the main sections in one wartime photo, and if the largest Nissen with dormer windows was the 30' span, then the main huts should logically be 24'.

All the best,
PB

I have just got out the details of the example at Binbrook and i have this down as a 24' span.

Many thanks Ian,

I've just been comparing some wartime internal photos of the Deenethorpe Mess with the current MOD drawings and they do indicate 24' for the main mess and 30' for the annexe.

Now to try to piece together the internal layout not covered by the photos.....

All the best,
PB

I've been working on this one this week for my Desborough model 12775/41 4 Bay MT shed, still at lot of detail and tweaking to do yet.

I noticed on your buildings that you have the kitchens in place, these were used in the film, Memphis Belle, and you then walked through to the larger Nissen , 90degrees to that and this was fittted out as a dinning room. Above on the face of the wall i think there was a sign stating 'Enlisted Men' and perhaps the other wing was for NCO's?

Maybe it was just for the film but the technical advisor was 'Roger Freeman'

Another Nissen in the complex was used for the scene where the photographer took pictures of the crew with the fireplace in the background. this looked original and may well have been a 'relax area'?

Hope this helps in some way

4 -bay MT shed; i have seen examples of the first bay on the left with a pit in it and other all with basic concrete floors, which are you going with or is it a direct build of the Desborough example ?

I'd like it to be a direct copy of the Desborough one the drawing shows an inspection pit in that bay but I can't tell from the photo of Desborough's MT shed if it had one or not.

The 12775/41 4 Bay MT Shed still standing at Bury St Edmunds has an inspection pit in one bay (I can't recall whether it's the first or the third bay), the other three have concrete tyre strips with wheel-stops at the ends.
Although they have since been filled up with concrete, I believe the rest of each of these three bays was left as a soak-away.
The concrete blocks out the front are now gone, but their outlines can still be easily seen.

I'll have to get some photo's next time I visit, the original paintwork is still there internally and externally, including the signs over each bay doorway.
In the meantime there's a photo of the Bury shed on REF's website, showing a different paint height in bay 3 so that might be the one with the pit.

All the best,
PB