# Raf upwood and station commanders house november 2012



## urban phantom (Dec 9, 2012)

This is our second visit to upwood mainly to see the station commanders house as we seen to have missed this first time . The camp had changed a lot since our last visit for the worse and a big gate has now been installed and many of the buildings have had fires in them and station HQ had been badly hit 
Now for some history 


Originally used as a night-landing ground, by 1918 five hangars had been built and the centre became a training station. With the end of World War I the airfield was cleared. 1934 saw RAF Upwood reactivated and expanded to deal with the increasing threat posed by Nazi Germany.

The new base became operational in February 1937, housing two flying units. These original squadrons were reassigned in 1939 and replaced by No.90 and No.35 Squadron. Neither squadron saw combat and they were merged as No.17 Training Unit. When this unit departed Upwood in 1943, the grassed runways were replaced with three concrete runways.

The base re-opened in October 1943 and between 1944 and 1945 was used by No.139 and No.156 Squadrons. Their Mosquitos and Lancasters saw action in Germany, dropping target indicators over Berlin and bombing Stuttgart. After the end of the war they delivered food to the starving people of Holland and returned repatriated former Prisoners of War. In addition to housing several bomber units during the 1940s and 1950s, some of which took part in the Suez crisis, RAF Upwood was used as a location in the Dirk Bogard film 'Appointment in London'.

In 1961 Upwood was transferred to RAF Strike Command and by 1981 the base was almost dormant. Control was passed to the United States Air Force and Upwood became a satellite base of RAF Alconbury, providing housing and support for personnel. In 1986 a multi-million dollar medical facility was opened, delivering outpatient services to American military members in the area. The end of the Cold War saw a phased rundown of RAF Alconbury. The site was acquired by Strawsons in 1999 and in 2005 the last USAF family moved out of the Upwood housing

the Pics

Station commanders house




upwood part 2 002 by urban phantom, on Flickr





upwood part 2 012 by urban phantom, on Flickr




upwood part 2 020 by urban phantom, on Flickr




upwood part 2 014 by urban phantom, on Flickr




upwood part 2 022 by urban phantom, on Flickr

Main site 




upwood part 2 056 by urban phantom, on Flickr





upwood part 2 059 by urban phantom, on Flickr




upwood part 2 057 by urban phantom, on Flickr




upwood part 2 087 by urban phantom, on Flickr




upwood part 2 095 by urban phantom, on Flickr




upwood part 2 097 by 
urban phantom, on Flickr




upwood part 2 108 by urban phantom, on Flickr




upwood part 2 103 by urban phantom, on Flickr





upwood part 2 125 by urban phantom, on Flickr




upwood part 2 128 by urban phantom, on Flickr




upwood part 2 119 by urban phantom, on Flickr





upwood part 2 138 by urban phantom, on Flickr






upwood part 2 142 by urban phantom, on Flickr





upwood part 2 147 by urban phantom, on Flickr





upwood part 2 131 by urban phantom, on Flickr





upwood part 2 162 by urban phantom, on Flickr


Thanks for looking all comments welcome


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## whitelaw (Dec 9, 2012)

The attention of the chavs aside, these places are heavy with history. Our RAF stations are becoming fewer and fewer, and more are merely now abandoned. 

Thank you for this excellent explore.


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## urban phantom (Dec 9, 2012)

whitelaw said:


> The attention of the chavs aside, these places are heavy with history. Our RAF stations are becoming fewer and fewer, and more are merely now abandoned.
> 
> Thank you for this excellent explore.



Thanks mate i think this base will be gone soon as well planning notices have gone up again its a shame the officers mess couldn't be saved but im sure it wont be


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## perjury saint (Dec 9, 2012)

*Crackin staircase in there eh...*


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## urban phantom (Dec 9, 2012)

perjury saint said:


> *Crackin staircase in there eh...*



thanks mate


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## Mike L (Dec 9, 2012)

I always hate seeing (or hearing) of substantial, solid and historic buildings such as the Station Commanders House, Officers Mess etc being demolished to make way for modern matchbox houses. Do these ones have preservation orders? If not why not?
I can't see anything that could not be retained, albeit with rewiring, re-plumbing and possibly even a new roof.
There are features that no new characterlesshouse would hope to imitate.


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## urban phantom (Dec 10, 2012)

Mike L said:


> I always hate seeing (or hearing) of substantial, solid and historic buildings such as the Station Commanders House, Officers Mess etc being demolished to make way for modern matchbox houses. Do these ones have preservation orders? If not why not?
> I can't see anything that could not be retained, albeit with rewiring, re-plumbing and possibly even a new roof.
> There are features that no new characterlesshouse would hope to imitate.



Im not sure mike i dont think there listed there is an upwood re generation web site il try and post the link later thanks for looking mate


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## steve2109 (Dec 10, 2012)

Thanks for posting, been to Upwood twice now but still yet to see the tank, whenever I go there are loads of people playing Modern Warfare 3 !!


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## UrbanX (Dec 10, 2012)

Nice pics and write up, cheers for sharing!


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## flyboys90 (Dec 10, 2012)

It seems to be more wrecked than last the post,great pics thanks for sharing.


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## Mars Lander (Dec 10, 2012)

Wowsers!! great job on that, i too hope one day to get a pikky of a flash bang , just awesome


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## urban phantom (Dec 10, 2012)

steve2109 said:


> Thanks for posting, been to Upwood twice now but still yet to see the tank, whenever I go there are loads of people playing Modern Warfare 3 !!



thanks mate sunday's the day to go no paint ball then


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## urban phantom (Dec 10, 2012)

UrbanX said:


> Nice pics and write up, cheers for sharing!



thanks mate


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## urban phantom (Dec 10, 2012)

flyboys90 said:


> It seems to be more wrecked than last the post,great pics thanks for sharing.



thanks mate its very trashed now


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## urban phantom (Dec 10, 2012)

AltDayOut said:


> Wowsers!! great job on that, i too hope one day to get a pikky of a flash bang , just awesome



thanks mate


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## Farmerboy (Dec 14, 2012)

That big gate is always shut on a Sunday when I go now! Is Upwood possibly the biggest derelict site in the UK now? Especially in terms of buildings. Been twice and still not got to where the bar was in the Mess!


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## urban phantom (Dec 14, 2012)

Farmerboy said:


> That big gate is always shut on a Sunday when I go now! Is Upwood possibly the biggest derelict site in the UK now? Especially in terms of buildings. Been twice and still not got to where the bar was in the Mess!



We must of been lucky should be another way in we looked incase thay locked us in raf west rayham is bigger than this its deserted but not all derilict and good mootch


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