TF9941 : Artefacts found in the WW2 Battle Headquarters
taken 10 years ago, near to Langham, Norfolk, England
Langham Airfield opened during 1940 as a satellite airfield for Bircham Newton. The airfield has a complex and somewhat confused history, as aircraft from RAF Bircham Newton initially dispersed at Langham, while the No. 1 Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Unit was also based on the field until towards the end of 1942, providing target-towing facilities for the Army firing camps at Stiffkey. In July 1942 became an independent RAF station but was put into Care & Maintenance in November, when it received three concrete runways and a number of other facilities.
When the airfield reopened in February 1944, the 455th and 489th squadrons formed a strike wing to mount anti-shipping operations over the North Sea, flying Bristol Beaufighters. 524th and 612th squadrons were also based on the field, flying Vickers Wellingtons.
The airfield closed in May 1946 but continued to be used by a Technical Training School for the Royal Netherlands Air Force, before being put into Care & Maintenance again in September 1947. From March 1953 until November 1958 the airfield was used by the No. 2 Civilian Anti-Aircraft Cooperation Unit, assisting Army firing camps by towing drogues for gunners to aim at.
In October 1961, after serving as a very basic Emergency Landing Ground for Sculthorpe, the airfield was eventually sold. It was Bernard Matthews Farms Ltd for use as a turkey farm.
See also: Link
In 1939 the defence of airfields had been confined to a limited number of light machine-gun posts for anti-aircraft use to protect against enemy attack. Some operational stations had the use of additional guns of a higher calibre, such as two-pounders and three-inch guns. With the increased threat of an invasion, pillboxes, rifle pits and Dannert wire entanglements were also constructed in 1940, but owing to variations and topography there was no standard procedure for the defence of an airfield and the task of planning the defences usually fell to the local military authority. Their designs and drawings for the structural work were then sent to the Air Ministry Works Area Headquarters for the preparation of detailed drawings to be used by the contractors who were to carry out the work.
When the threat of invasion lessened in 1941, the location of airfield defences was considered a priority second only to the runway layout and above the requirements for accommodation and emphasis was placed on all-round defence, with priority given to establishing defended localities to protect key elements of the airfield. In July 1941, a General Defence Strategy was agreed which placed all airfields in one of three classes depending on location and importance, from Class 1 with the greatest provision for pillboxes, modified buildings, rifle pits etc, to Class 3, which frequently ended up with only rifles points and Dannert wire (coiled barbed wire which could be extended concertina-like to form a barrier to impede the movement of hostile troops).
Many if not most of the airfields constructed from now on were equipped with a Battle headquarters (referred to as "Emergency Control Bunkers" by the US Army Air Forces) from which the defence of the aerodrome could be co-ordinated. BHQs were frequently built on high ground, at times concealed in a hedge or close to farm buildings; some were built in the vicinity of the Watch Office (control tower). Like other types of defence work, BHQs were not always included in the airfield site plans as they were sited in agreement with the local Army authority, taking into account terrain and camouflage.
Several variants existed, with the most common having been the type constructed to the Air Ministry drawing number 11008/41. It comprised an underground structure consisting of the defence officer's room, a runners' room (a member of the personnel who would have acted as a messenger in case the telephone communication was cut), a toilet, and an observation room (measuring 1.80 x 1.80 metres), the floor level of which was raised to about 0.90m (3ft) above the other rooms and accessible via a few concrete steps. The only part of the structure visible from aboveground was the observation room's bombproof concrete cupola which had observation apertures all the way around. The whole building was approximately seven metres (20ft) long and 2.50 metres (8ft) wide, with a flight of brick steps at one end for access.