I can’t begin to explain what this site was for. Wikipedia says the following…
The Rudloe Site was formerly RAF Rudloe Manor, which was established during the Second World War as a non-flying station for administrative and command & control purposes. It was home to HQ Number 10 Fighter Group, RAF Regional Command, Headquarters RAF Police & Security Services, No 1 Signals Unit, Controller Defence Communications Network and 1001 Signals Unit. By 1998 it had become mostly administrative, housing the RAF Provost and Security Services, which dealt with security and criminal investigation services, the Defence Communication Services Agency, while the detachment of 1001 Signals Unit of the RAF remained. It closed as an operational site in about 2000.
The base has two main buildings – a manor house and a purpose-built operations building. There are several smaller, newer buildings scattered around the site too.
Manor House
The manor house looked lovely from the outside but was sadly inaccessible. It is thought that this was used as accomodation for the officers.
Operations Block
A short distance away from the manor house is the operations block.
The block housed two operations rooms – although one has been turned into a squash court in recent years.
The operations block has deteriorated pretty badly since closure. Wires have been stripped out and windows have been smashed up. In some places, moss is growing in the corridors.
Other buildings
These buildings may be covered on a re-visit. Stay tuned!
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I served as a Fighter Plotter in the Ops Room at RAF Box,which was part of RAF Rudloe Manor,although about a mile from the actual Monor House,which in fact was the officers mess and quarters.
We Airmen were billeted at RAF Hawthorn and The Underground Ops room was known as RAF Box.
Our billets were a short walk from the Ops room which was underground and reached through a lift entered through a gaurdroom contained in a hut in the middle of a field.
I have many memories of this place,I was there from March 1952 to demob in Sep 1953.
I kept a diary every day of the time I was there. I f any one is interested I have many details of the ramifications on the underground workings there,as my pals Pete Young and Brian Mac spent hours undergound wandering about. Jerry
Ex SAC 2533201.
I am trying to obtain some records of my service at Rudloe Manor as WRAAF (Auxillary) Plotter from 1950-1952.. Anyone any ideas where I might start.
Thanhs a lot ???
This was a very interesting find. I was in the RAF from 1955-1957, and after a brief tour of duty at the Bletchley signals group north of London, was posted to RAF Box. My home was in Bristol, so Box was very handy to visit home. My stay at Box was again brief, as they needed personal in the middle East and I was shipped to Cyprus. I now live in Atlanta Georgia. U.S.A.
Are there any ladies out there who were plotters at Rudloe Manor Box during 1950-1952.
I was an LAC with the Womens’ Royal Auxilliary Air Force. Would love to hear from you.
At last maybe these pictures will prove all those conspiracy nuts that we are NOT keeping UFOs and aliens there. But of course, they will argue its all a smokescreen… Nice pics mate
I was a plotter at Box 1953-1955 approx.Have many happy memories of life at Hawthorn which I would like to share with anyone who knew me. There were some lovely WAAF’s and NAFFI girls as well as good friends.
I agree there were no strange UFO or the like. We did have some strange very fast plots come up which were not accounted for.
see comment re Royal Arthur. Ame writing history of RAF Rudloe manor, the house from its earliest beginnings.
Secretary in Education Office 1951=1953. Friends would gather at Park Hotel in Bletchley and visited Oxford frequently. Anyone familiar with that period of time?
the Manor was NOT accom for officers, but working offices. compulsory purchased by Air Min as owners the Rabens vanished to Denmark 1939-40. Plenty of info at TNA not secret until Turnstile. Ive been down lots of the tunnels when was an RAF station. The then station commander could tell a lot, sadly he’s dead. We held our association reunions there.
at raf box 1956-57 a flight billeted rudloe block n
I was stationed at RAF Hawthorn in 1951/52 and worked underground as a teleprinter operator. Would be pleased to be in touch with anyone who worked there with me
Do you remember do any of you RAF lads remember CAD Corsham, I was stationed there 1955-57 with the RAOC I had a couple of friends from RAF Rudloe
I joined No 3507 FCU (RAuxAF) and we spent our weekend duties at RAF Box from 1953 to 1955 when I transferred to No 3604 Sqdn. I remember well marching from the billets to the hole in mid winter!
I’ve read some crackpot theories about Rudloe. It was just a communications section – albeit, quite a large one for it’s time. I have quite fond memories of the place and surrounding area – particularly Bath. The NAAFI was was a real “period piece” straight out of the 1940′s with the addition of a TV set – that is, TV set singular. It was my first posting after technical training and the mess was a culture shock after Cosford with all that white linen and separate tea pots. Happy days!
Has any one got pictures of the entrance to RAF box where the lifts were and the guardroom.I was a dog handler there in 1953/4 I was posted from there to RAF Folly Roch Haverfordwest
Then to RAF Bawdsey.I had a good time at box I met a Cpl PI Enderby whilst there and she was a good looker JohnT
i served as a fire fighter until may 1998 had a great time there with wiggy jase martin mogs kenny p and taff whiting our crew commander was ‘redgie perrin’
A message for Violet Dew, my mother served as a Plotter with the WRAAF around the early 50′s and met my father at Box. Mum was Jessie Sharley and Dad was Thomas (Paddy) O’Donoghue.
I was a WAAF Telephonist at RAF Rudloe from 1946-47 (then Doreen Cartwright). Rudloe Manor was set apart from the entrance to the Op’s block, which was in a field. The only thing that could be seen was a brick building in the field – this was the lift down to the Op’s room. We had to walk down Leafy Lane to get to and from work.
I am not a lady, but I was a plotter at RAF Box from December 1950 until October 1952.Lots of memories and made good friends. The NAAFI was a god send after the mess. Anyone out there who remebers me?
An interesting place.I was a Firefighter with the RAAF,1978-93.We had a couple of odd bases with supposed skeletons in cupboards too.
I was posted to Rudloe Manor in 1977 and spent 3 happy years there First living at quarters at RAF colerne and commuting every day then later qtrs on the site.As fire fighters we had to know every tunnel and part of the signals unit by heart, and also two other underground sites neartby underground is vast.
I was at Rudloe Manor SW filter room in the summer of 1946, while I was waiting for my demob after war-time service as a pilot. As I didn’t want to stay in the RAF, I was grounded, asked what I’d like to do while I was waiting my turn for first-in/first-out demob, and chose to find out a bit about how hostile aircraft were intercepted during the war- so I was sent to Bawdsey Manor for an introduction to Radar, (train to Felixtowe, car into the dark, swing a lighted paraffin-lamp to bring a boat across the estuary, then a walk in the dark up a long drive to a spooky doorway and a hallway with an organ playing. inside…) Then posted to Rudloe Manor as a Filter Officer in the filter room, which was still active on a very reduced scale. I slept in in one of a row of huts on the grassy slope at the side of the Manor, with a lovely view across the valley to Colerne airfield. There were a number of people there like me waiting for demob, including one or two of the WAAF officers who had worked there. We did three-hour watches, ten-minutes on, twenty minutes rest, around the clock. Went down into the filter room by a lift inside an innocent-looking hut on the slope. I clearly remember the pleasure of coming out of the lift after a night underground, into a glorious sunny dawn, and imagined what it would have been like for those on duty during the war-time bomber raids.
I served at RAF Rudloe Manor first as an ACW plotter and later as a Filterer Officer in the underground Filter Room and was on duty during the Baedeker Raids on Bath. I have written my story “Not and Ordinary Life” about this time. See my website eyounghusband.com
I was a trainee telephonist at RAF Hawthorne from 1952 and reamined on the switchibf centre there until seconded in 1953 to join the RAF contingent lining the Cornoation route in the Haymarket in 1953 (Some interesting memories of life under canvas in Hyde Park!).
On returning to Hawthorn, I found myself posted to RAF Clee Hills – quite a contrast.
Going underground at Hawthorn was like going down a mineshaft, but once there, it was quite a little city, complete with full catering facilities.
I have a feeling there was also a Post Office (now BT) resaerch unit on the site, experimenting with fibre optics.
I was attached to Rudlow, 9/3/1959 for training at Bristol Aircraft, Filton on the embyo Bloodhound Mk 1 SAM so only used the place to sleep and mess commuting each day to Filton. Weekends were interesting because of the suroundings and a bus trip around the area which involved a certain district provoked a K.E.Y.N.S.H.A.M. from us all. We thought the place was ‘odd’, new to the RAF we imagined that there MUST be a runway somewhere. The walk of an evening down to the cinema, not sure if it was an ‘Astra’ was entertaining because we met sailors, not sure where from, but a novelty. We were there 8 weeks and although a pain to get home on a 48 nice place to be posted to. Alan (whack)
I served in the RAF at Rudloe Manor roughly between 1974 and 1976 it was then
an underground communications centre and it was accessed via a lift in a field
we knew it as Southwest Switching centre I was a telegraphist and used to do shift work in the relay centre . My father also knew it during world 2 as a munitions dump
which he said then that it was accessed via steps which were considerable the tunnels were dug to facilitate the building of the nearby town of bath Iaggree coming up after a night shift into the daylight was a welcome site since then I have never liked flourescent lighting as the whole comms centre was lit this way