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Report - - RAF Tilstock, Whitchurch - Sept 2015 | Military Sites | 28DaysLater.co.uk

Report - RAF Tilstock, Whitchurch - Sept 2015

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paulpowers

Massive Member
Regular User
Whitchurch is possibly the dullest town in Britain.

I finished my job just in time for a break and decided to have a look at what goes on in Whitchurch, nothing goes on in Whitchurch!

There's a few derps in the town but nothing that looks really interesting.

I decided to pop down to the airfield because no one has done a report on it for a while, the bunker is quite nice.

Opened in 1915 as a training base for the British Army, it had a capacity for 30,000 men for training in trench warfare. It additionally acted later as a store for supplies, with its own railway depot feed by a 1 mile (1.6 km) branch line from the LNWR's Crewe and Shrewsbury Railway. As casualties mounted, it became a hospital with a fully fledged barracks.

The scale and size of the camp brought about the appointment of the first female police officers in the Shropshire Constabulary, to manage and restrain local women from heading to the camp.[3]

After the war ended, the facilities were downgraded, with the British Government keeping ownership of the site for Army training purposes

At the outbreak of World War II in 1939, the site became an internment camp for screening Austrian and German refugees, with capacity added for holding 2,000 men by the erection of a large tented village. Later converted to a prisoner of war camp, it closed 4 Oct 1941

Construction of an airfield was completed by mid 1942, the airfield opening on 1 August that year, with a classic three concrete runway RAF "star" arrangement. The name 'Whitchurch Heath' being used until 1 June 1943, when RAF Tilstock was adopted. Between 1 September 1942 and 21 January 1946, the airfield was used by No. 81 Operational Training Unit and No. 1665 Heavy Conversion Unit Royal Air Force for the training of pilots and crews in the operation of Whitley, Stirling and Halifax heavy bombers. During the 1950s, Auster AOP.6 and Auster T.7 'spotter' aircraft of No. 663 (AOP) Squadron RAF used the facilities of the otherwise non-operational airfield during weekends for liaison flights with Royal Artillery units on training exercises

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The Bunker

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Bertie Bollockbrains

There is no pain
Regular User
Whitchurch is possibly the dullest town in Britain.

I disagree, look at all these exciting days out in Whitchurch and last weekend was the 8th annual Whitchurch Blackberry Festival celebrating all things fruity and blackberry related. Was planning to take the kids myself but sadly all tickets sold out - I'm sure it would had been worth the 3 hour drive. Maybe better luck next year for me.
 

dweeb

28DL Regular User
Regular User
I finished my job just in time for a break and decided to have a look at what goes on in Whitchurch, nothing goes on in Whitchurch!

lol!!! There are not many towns I have not at least passed through in England, but Whitchurch is uncharted territory! I would definitely have taken a photo of "Enquires" though, so that's a nice find :)
 

Sneaky_d

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
There is a swimming pool I gained my Shropshire Star swimming badge from a few years back....Nice shots Paul, have I seen one you took of that great looking motor while it still had wheels a few years ago too?
 
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