RAF Ramridge Park, 1939 - 1955

[Ramraider]

RAF Ramridge Park was an RAF unit from 1939 until 1957, centred on a Georgean mansion, Ramridge House, set in park land 3 miles west of Andover. During the war it was a Group HQ in Maintenance Command and after the war it was the RAF Officer Selection Centre up to 1955.I am researching the history of the RAF time there and, in particular, seeking any information on the only legacy now remaining of the RAF’s ownership of the house. This is a very fine mural of a Spitfire, painted on the wall of a room in the lower ground floor which may have been the Officers’ Mess bar. A matching mural of a Sunderland flying boat was on another wall but this has long disappeared due to damp penetrating the wall and destroying the painting. The murals were signed “W R Orr, Fg Off, 1944”. I have been unable to discover anything about this officer and wondered if any of the more venerable members of PPrune may know something of him and his career. I would be curious to know whether he painted similar murals, or any similar paintings, in other messes where he served, or are the Ramridge ones his sole legacy to posterity. He was certainly a gifted artist and it would be surprising if he had not left similar works elsewhere within the RAF estate.

If any PPruners have knowledge of Fg Off W R Orr and his work, I would be most grateful to hear from them. Equally, I would be pleased to hear from any readers with knowledge of the RAF Officer Selection Centre when it was based at Ramridge House.

[OUAQUKGF Ops]

Is there any chance that you have transposed the initials of the artist and it might be R.W.Orr who was a professional artist ? Lancaster rear Gunner WW11. I know it is a long shot but when you mention 'Mural' .................. Sorry folks disregard this I've had a look at the Spitfire Mural on Savill's website and it is definitely W.R. Orr. Forget I stirred from my hibernation.

[brakedwell]

I remember Ramridge Park from my childhood days around 1948. My mother was the Head Teacher of the Weyhill Village School, where we lived and which was just up the road from the RAF Ramridge, which we children thought was a secret place. I had a friend who lived there, but I remember it most because of my pet Jackdaw, which I lost when he was two years old. I had him at Prep School in Weyhill during term time and took him home in my bicycle saddlebag for school holidays etc. When he was about two years old he started to visit a row of farm cottages nearby and one day the village policeman turned up at our door to tell us my Jackdaw had been stealing shiny things from one of the cottage bedrooms. He told me to get rid of the Jackdaw before it stole something valuable, or he would get rid of it, so I put him in my saddlebag and cycled about five miles then got him out and made him fly away. The next day he flew into our School House and perched on a chair! I tried the same procedure the next day and he did not come back. A few days later my friend from Ramridge told me about a Jackdaw, which had been perched on a pram with a baby in it and was playing with a hanging tassle, that had been shot by the baby's father with a twelve bore. Not really relevent, but something I will always remember.

[SLXOwft]

I can't help with details but The Gazette lists a Fg Off(war subs) W. R. Orr (50920) of the General Duties Branch as promoted to Flt Lt (war subs) 13th Sept. 1944

I presume yours is the help wanted post on another forum, where it is stated he has probably a navigator?

[Chugalug2]

Cheap at half the price...

Ramridge Park, Andover, Hampshire, SP11 9BY | Property for sale | Savills (https://search.savills.com/ie/en/property-detail/gbwbrscli229865)

[Brian 48nav]

I have an old Retired List which shows ;- Orr W R born 21/8/13 Comm'd 13/9/42 Flt Lt 13/3/46 Ret'd Eng 1/1/54.

Action Stations Volume 9 has a lot of detail about Andover airfield - if this is the same place?

[Ramraider]

I have an old Retired List which shows ;- Orr W R born 21/8/13 Comm'd 13/9/42 Flt Lt 13/3/46 Ret'd Eng 1/1/54.

Action Stations Volume 9 has a lot of detail about Andover airfield - if this is the same place?
Thank you for your prompt reply and interesting response.
Your candidate, born William R Orr in 1913 and a Flt Lt Engineer in 1946, is a promising candidate but I would want more corroborating evidence before I could put him in the frame.
Andover airfield is now a Business PArk and major distribution centre for the Co-Op and is located 1.6 miles South-east from Ramridge House.

[Ramraider]

Brakewell,
Fascinating! There are still Jackdaws around Ramridge Park and the village school has remained a school but in the private sector now as a nursery school.

[Ramraider]

SIXOwft,
Yes, that is my enquiry that you have spotted elsewhere aand I have already got the information for the RAF List on that W R Orr who was in the GD Branch and promoted to Flt Lt in 1944, hence the suggestion that he may have been a Navigator. Thank you, anyway, for your input.