RAF Northolt Ops Room
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RAF Northolt Ops Room
I'm researching the original 1920s sector Operations Room at RAF Northolt (same type as the one at Duxford) and I'm wondering if anyone knows to what extent it was used during the Battle of Britain. I know Northolt was an important link in the Defensive network but I have read suggestions that by the time of the Battle of Britain the Ops Room had been moved outside the airfield and away from this building (for safety reasons) to a shop close to Ruislip tube station. It might be a long shot but can anyone confirm this?
Thank you.
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RAF Northolt Ops
Johnathan,
Probably you will have read my RAF Antarctic thing here and note the RAF Hendon connection. In 1949, Northolt was satellite to Hendon. It doesn't help you directly but I can tell you that as a member of RAF 31 Squadron Association that Air Commodore Jerry Witts DSO RAF(Retired) wrote up RAF Northolt whilst he was CO. Jerry was 31's Boss.
This means that you should contact the Press people at Northolt to see what is printed and what else is archived. My copy went to 31's archives!
Probably you will have read my RAF Antarctic thing here and note the RAF Hendon connection. In 1949, Northolt was satellite to Hendon. It doesn't help you directly but I can tell you that as a member of RAF 31 Squadron Association that Air Commodore Jerry Witts DSO RAF(Retired) wrote up RAF Northolt whilst he was CO. Jerry was 31's Boss.
This means that you should contact the Press people at Northolt to see what is printed and what else is archived. My copy went to 31's archives!
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RAF Northolt Sector Ops Room
The RAF Northolt Sector Ops Room was built around 1928 as the prototype Sector Ops Room for the RAF. It was the building which was used (along with HQ Fighter Cmd and HQ 11Gp) to develop the whole air defence system used in the BoB. However, by the start of the war the building was not used and they had moved to the hardened building just behind and then later out to dispersed locations in Ruislip during the BoB itself.
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There is more information regarding the dispersal of the Ops room of Northolt on p243 of "The Battle of Britain, Then and Now" (1980 edition, published by After The Battle), with photographs of the buildings in question. These are a small shop in Ruislip manor and a large country house, Eastcote Place.
As I type this, I'm looking at Eastcote Place through my window. Apart from the dispersal of the Ops room, Eastcote Place was also requisitioned for use during the preparations for D-Day. It is mentioned in Lawrence Wright's book "The Wooden Sword", the story of the Glider Pilot Regiment during WW2. He was an architect and member of the London Gliding Club, who was impressed into service at the beginning of the war to help set up the GP Regiment. He helped produce a model of the landing zone at Pegasus Bridge for briefing the glider pilots. Behind me is the site of RAF Pembroke Park, which was one of the outstations of Bletchley Park, where were sited a number of the Bombes used for decoding the Enigma messages. After the war it became the first site of GCHQ, before it moved to Cheltenham. The site is currently being redeveloped as a housing estate.
As I type this, I'm looking at Eastcote Place through my window. Apart from the dispersal of the Ops room, Eastcote Place was also requisitioned for use during the preparations for D-Day. It is mentioned in Lawrence Wright's book "The Wooden Sword", the story of the Glider Pilot Regiment during WW2. He was an architect and member of the London Gliding Club, who was impressed into service at the beginning of the war to help set up the GP Regiment. He helped produce a model of the landing zone at Pegasus Bridge for briefing the glider pilots. Behind me is the site of RAF Pembroke Park, which was one of the outstations of Bletchley Park, where were sited a number of the Bombes used for decoding the Enigma messages. After the war it became the first site of GCHQ, before it moved to Cheltenham. The site is currently being redeveloped as a housing estate.
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The Northolt Sector Operations building (or building27 as it was known) is currently under restoration to return it to its 1939 condition to compliment the Uxbridge 11 Group Bunker. It is now called the Sir Keith Park Building and group visits can be arranged to see the work in progress. It became a grade II listed building in Nov 2010 due to its historical importance.
Brought up in Eastcote from 1944, and when the Bletchley story started to come out amazed to find what we knew as RAF Eastcote was part of it. Drove past last week on a visit to UK and as said above now a large housing development. Had no idea the site was that big. By a strange coincidence have seen a fair bit in the last 15 years of the guy who took the Enigma machine and code books from U-110. Such a modest man too.
I was privileged to be shown around the Northolt ops room a couple of weeks ago. Its restoration is very much a work in progress. It is under the control of the curator of the 11 gp bunker. The chap in charge of the restoration is extremely knowledgable and keen, and there is a great drive for authenticity: e.g. the wall colours will be as was - dark and light green (in the war the RAF used aircraft camouflage paint), and not the magnolia incorrectly used in the restoration at Duxford.
I recall the restorer saying that the ops room was at one stage relocated to a bank in Ruislip, but this was soon found to be inadequate. Northolt was of course the prototype ops room, created pre-war by Dowding. One point that I had overlooked was that the GPO were intimately involved in all this, as being vital in creating a C2C infrastructure, and what bthey were doing for Dowding was very much at the leading edge of teleoms technology of the time.
I recall the restorer saying that the ops room was at one stage relocated to a bank in Ruislip, but this was soon found to be inadequate. Northolt was of course the prototype ops room, created pre-war by Dowding. One point that I had overlooked was that the GPO were intimately involved in all this, as being vital in creating a C2C infrastructure, and what bthey were doing for Dowding was very much at the leading edge of teleoms technology of the time.
