Hello all and help please

Hello all.
My first post as a new member.
My name is Jon and WW2 air warfare is my favourite history topic.
I live in the small village of Chedburgh Suffolk that was little more than a hamlet until the RAF moved in in 1942 when the population expanded from several hundred to several thousand until the field closed in 1946.
I have several outbuildings on my property which I am certain are military and date back to WW2. I am pretty sure that one building was a latrine and the other I believe is a Laing-type temporary hut.
Both buildings are in a poor state (Laing huts were only designed to last 10 years!) and both have been modified.
For some reason most people don't find latrines and old sheds very interesting and not a great deal is written about them. My research so far was nearing a dead end and then I discovered the ARG.
I had hoped to visit the ARG archive but I see that it is now closed for relocation (good luck with that).

I would really like to restore the buildings and perhaps make them the home for the RAF memorabilia (mainly Short Stirling and Lancaster) that I have collected.

I would like to start off by determining the following:

1. Confirmation of the types of buildings I have.
2. What this Laing hut (if it is such) was actually used for (I'm pretty sure I know what the other building was for!).
3. Find out as much as possible about construction / building materials / paint colours etc to plan restoration.
4. Look at the most detailed maps available of RAF Chedburgh for the areas outside of the immediate vicinity of the runway / hangers / control tower and in particular my property.
5. See what other RAF buildings may have been on my property (there are pieces of old concrete and metal sticking out of the ground everywhere).
6. Look at old photos of RAF Chedburgh in general and specifically it's outbuildings.
7. Look at old and recent photos of other latrines and Laing huts / temporary huts.
8. Find out where the best surviving examples of the types of buildings that I have are so I can make enquiries to visit.
9. Speak to an expert who can guide me on further research on RAF Chedburgh particularly it's history and it's buildings and restoring my huts.

Any advice gratefully received.

Would also appreciate if someone could point me in the right direction of forum topics already published on this subject - the number of topics / messages available to search through is huge!

Best wishes.

Jon

Hi Jon,

Welcome aboard.

If you can post a couple of photos of your buildings we should be able to identify them pretty quickly.
I've been involved in the restoration of wartime Laing huts before and they aren't too difficult to repair as long as the main framework is sound.

If we don't have a copy of the Chedburgh Record Site Plan in the Archive you can order a copy from the RAF Museum at Hendon.
This will quickly identify the type and intended purpose of your buildings and others that were in the area.

All the best,
Paul

This should get you started:

www.airfieldresearchgroup.org.uk/forum/b...-farm?start=10#10813

Welcome Jon

I have an RSP for the airfield site but sadly not for the dispersed sites at Chedburgh, I am still trying to find one.

The guys have put you in the direction of the Chedburgh thread and there is some interesting stuff on there.

I am fairly local (about 40 mins away) and if I can help out hen I am more than happy to head down to help ID some of the buildings there

Cheers

Richard

Peter wrote:

Was this included in the After The Battle collection of RSPs from Hendon? A shame this series wasn't pursued, although I dare say it didn't make much money.

Peter they told me Hendon withdrew their permission to publish.

Peter wrote:

Was this included in the After The Battle collection of RSPs from Hendon? A shame this series wasn't pursued, although I dare say it didn't make much money.

The RSP for the airfield site that I has is an ATB print. No idea why they didn't do the dispersed sites, or even if DORIS has a copy of the RSP for the dispersed sites.

Just found Paul's original list of RAFM Hendon plans (which is no longer available on the forum)

It gives:

1045/49 (airfield), 1047/49 (airfield), and 1048/49 (dispersed sites) for Chedburgh

Hello Jon,

Welcome to the forum.

Would you post the location of your property please using a convenient locator such as FlashEarth, Where's the Path. Google Earth or similar. Are your buildings visible in Street View on Google Earth. Better still, would you post a photograph of each on this thread?