RAF Oakington Volume 2 - The Airfield Research Group

oute around the operations block. The annexe has been built to a similar standard to the
original block, including the protected roof, and was completed at the same time.
The structure rises to 1.5 storey height but the accommodation is only single-storey with a thicksection
roof, followed by a void and then a thin-section upper roof. The void is filled with a layer
2 ft 6 in (0762) of sand and gravel, and on top of this is another 2 ft (0609) of just gravel. This
arrangement, along with the traverse blast walls, offered personnel inside the block a fair
amount of protection against incendiary bombs and near miss bomb blast.
2.7.5 Construction
Exterior walls are vented cavity 15 inch brick; internal walls are either 9 inch brick or 13.5 inch
brick (lateral corridor serving the operations block). Floors and roof are reinforced concrete
supported by cased steel beams.
2.7.6 Immigration Centre
Building 14 functioned as an administration and control centre.
2.7.7 Status, March 2011
Most SHQs have had a third storey constructed for the Met Officer so it is unusual to see an
SHQ without one. The building retains its flat roof, and its internal room arrangement is largely
as-built, but it has lost its original windows. Outside the blast wall that once protected the
operations block has been removed (apart from a small section) and has been replaced on the
SE elevation by the kitchen and AA operations room annexes. Inside the operations room
complex, there has been some remodelling of rooms. The most obvious is the light well being
converted into a useable room (G32), and the operations room itself (G36) has been made
smaller with the addition of a new corridor (G37).
Footprint dimensions:
SHQ – 149.74 ft by 35.54 ft (45.64 m by 10.83 m), maximum width 68.95 ft (20.94 m).
Ops – 86.17 ft by 42.20 ft (26.26 m by 12.86 m).
Plate 21: Station headquarters (14)
March 2011
23