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 ???
I was at RAF Hawthorn ( I dunno if that was splet with an E or not) And,as I remember, we came out past the guardroom and turned right, putting the Post office on our left, then down the road we turned left up a lane for short distance and into a small brick building on our right. The lifts to the place I worked were in there and down below there was a largish teleprinter room and a teleprinter switchboard room with a W/T position in it. I never saw anything else down there except a small NAAFI and a games room. I never went to Rudloe Manor though it wasn’t far away and, it appears, there was an underground section there also – I didn’t know about it though.
I was only there from autumn 1950 to autumn 1951.
I don’t know if any of that info is any use to you?!? I see you were in the Australian WAAF’s and I live in Western Australia now in a place called Dongara.
Okay?
Okay? Bri
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.
Eunice,
I have a few anecdotes about Rudloe if you’d care to swap notes ?
Ian
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.
Hello, not sure whether your email is still up and running. Saw a blog posting you made back in 2009 about Rudloe Manor. My grand-father was CO at Rudloe Manor. His name was Francis George William Perry. Known as Bill.
Is this the Station Commander you knew and refer to? Would love to hear more.
Sarah Perry
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
I was also there over the same period. Cannot remember the watch I was on but left there for Aden in 1951`/52. Was courting girl call Dot Symms at the time. Good to hear from you altho I cannot recall you.
We may have passed ‘like ships in the night’ at RAF Hawthorne. I left there about the middle of 1951 for Ismailia in the Suez Canal area. I mostly worked on the teleprinters too and sometimes on the W/T in the teleprinter switchboard room. The W/T was mostly used for practice as I remember becaause everything passed could also go by teleprinter or by telephone.
Having another recall: there was another WAAF I remember that my mate Alexander had a crush on. I’ve left a couple of other things on this website that might jog your memory too.
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 was working in Bristol and joined 3507 as a WRAuxAF fighter plotter. We went by coach to Box regularly at weekends, and the unit also had a beautiful Georgian house built across a river in Bath, where we had happy times on special occasions. (I wish I could remember the name of the house).
I think of the queue we made as the coachload waited for turns to go down in the lift. That was a daunting experience until we were used to it – a much longer trip than in a 1950′s block of flats!
Our unit had summer camps for training, too. I remember being in a tent at RAF Coltishall during night-flying nights, and another time at Sandwich.
I joined 3507 during a recruiting drive in Bristol in ’56 I was 17.
I do remember the house in Bath and the canal underneath although we were there only a couple of times. The unit bought a house in Bristol on Redcliff Parade. I went to Box on the coach I think every other weekend. Then things changed we started going to Sopley near Bournemouth to learn how to use a type 64
radar console. I went to RAF Anstruther in Fife and also to RAF Sandwich as you did. I did my National Service in Germany. I have two 3507 unit pics one taken at Redcliff in Bristol and the other at Sandwich if you also have the same pics we can possibly see each other.
I hope you get the chance to reply.
Regards…Mike Ross (SAC 2694721)
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