Located seven miles-south west of Chatteris and south of Warboys village, RAF Warboys airfield was constructed to the west of the A141 Huntingdon to Chatteris road in 1941-42. In 1942, Wellingtons from Alconbury were moved in, leaving Alconbury free for the USAAF. Warboys was one of the original squadrons of the new Pathfinder Force. No. 156 and converted to Lancasters in January 1943. The Lancs remained until March 1944 when the pathfinder group was moved to Upwood. After the war, the site became home to Bloodhound missiles from 1960-64 and then the base was sold off into private ownership.
I visited the site mainly to look at the old DF station and mushroom shaped pillbox, but had a load of other points of interest marked on a map to look at. I half expected it to turn out to be a bit of a disappointment, but actually found a whole wealth of interesting old bits still standing. I ended up with about 180 photos, including some really interesting undocumented WW2 stuff and a huge shed full of early 20th century horse drawn carts, which I'll post separately.
Distance Finding Station
1.Exterior
2.Blast doors
3.Massive walls a good foot thick protect the main building.
4. Less defended building inside the main walls
5. Inside is pretty well trashed, but the actual building is not badly preserved given its age.
6.Water tank for generator?
7.Old boiler
Battle HQ and Pillbox
8.Mushroom shaped pillbox
9.Roof sits on a central brick pillar
10.Design gives great visibility, but I wouldn't want to come under attack whilst inside!
11.Battle HQ bunkers are accessible.
12.But interior is flooded.
13.Another (extremely stingy!) bunker.
14.Looks to be a den for local kids. Exploring solo, I didn't fancy using the frail looking rope to descend in case I managed to get myself stuck.
15. So I hung the camera down for a quick shot.
In addition to the above, I also found a number of old airfield buildings, packed with old Ferguson tractors and 1930s horse drawn farm carts, plus another very covert looking remote site. As this is my first full report, I'll save the rest of the pics for another thread
I visited the site mainly to look at the old DF station and mushroom shaped pillbox, but had a load of other points of interest marked on a map to look at. I half expected it to turn out to be a bit of a disappointment, but actually found a whole wealth of interesting old bits still standing. I ended up with about 180 photos, including some really interesting undocumented WW2 stuff and a huge shed full of early 20th century horse drawn carts, which I'll post separately.
Distance Finding Station
1.Exterior
2.Blast doors
3.Massive walls a good foot thick protect the main building.
4. Less defended building inside the main walls
5. Inside is pretty well trashed, but the actual building is not badly preserved given its age.
6.Water tank for generator?
7.Old boiler
Battle HQ and Pillbox
8.Mushroom shaped pillbox
9.Roof sits on a central brick pillar
10.Design gives great visibility, but I wouldn't want to come under attack whilst inside!
11.Battle HQ bunkers are accessible.
12.But interior is flooded.
13.Another (extremely stingy!) bunker.
14.Looks to be a den for local kids. Exploring solo, I didn't fancy using the frail looking rope to descend in case I managed to get myself stuck.
15. So I hung the camera down for a quick shot.
In addition to the above, I also found a number of old airfield buildings, packed with old Ferguson tractors and 1930s horse drawn farm carts, plus another very covert looking remote site. As this is my first full report, I'll save the rest of the pics for another thread
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