RAF Oakington Volume 2 - The Airfield Research Group

2.11.2 Air-Raid Shelter Provision
Another characteristic of the new design was that the earlier versions included a basement
emergency refuge located below the hall and one of the NCO’s bedrooms. The shelter is built of
9 inch thick concrete and has a series of four 3 inch diameter steel columns along the centre
giving additional support to the roof. The seating area has an internal width of 11 ft and a length
of 20 ft (6096). Along the side walls were seats for ten personnel and along the centre was
another seating nine (a total of 40 personnel); a cubicle for a chemical toilet was also provided.
Gas-tight metal doors and a narrow escape passage having a minimum length of 25 ft (7620)
with air-lock led to a point clear of the building. This internal facility however was not included
within the blocks at Oakington and Waterbeach. Instead detached Stanton segment type airraid
shelters were provided at a short running distance from each block, and in all cases the
shelters are aligned on the centre-line (corridor) of the barrack block. The reason for this
omission may have either been because of the high water table or that the stations were being
built under war-time conditions, or maybe a combination of both. Another characteristic of the
earlier blocks is the front elevation has rounded artificial stone columns supporting a weather
canopy over the entrance. At Oakington this has been omitted and both entrances feature brick
ends instead.
2.11.3 Construction
The eight buildings erected at Oakington are flat roofed and they still retain these, while at the
majority of stations pitched roofs have been added over the originals. The Oakington buildings
are arranged in a symmetrical grid like layout based around the intended central parade
ground, which was never actually built.
Exterior walls are vented cavity 15 inch brick with 9 inch internal walls. Windows were originally
four, nine, ten and 16 light steel casements with continuous reconstructed stone sills, main
doors were four-panel timber double units, but windows and doors have since been replaced.
The first floor and roof are constructed of reinforced concrete slab corresponding to the
protected roof design, the perimeter of which over hangs by 12 inches (0304).
2.11.4 Change of Use
Around 1948, building 22 had briefly became the No.2 officers’ mess, but it was then handed
over to the sergeants for their new mess as their own mess had been requisitioned by officers
as their new mess annexe. The open plan nature of the ground floor barrack rooms was
retained and these became the public rooms (anteroom, billiard room, anteroom / bar / lounge
and mess room respectively). A single-storey 11 inch brick kitchen and yard extension was built
in the space between the NW – SE wings which contained a servery, mess man’s bedroom,
wash up, kitchen, two food preparation rooms, larders and a staff dining room. Outside in the
kitchen yard is a two bay outhouse. Upstairs, each open plan barrack room was converted into
six bedrooms which including the former NCO’s bedrooms, making a total of 24 bedrooms for
officers. Around January 1970 another extension 40 ft by 14 ft (12192 by 4267) was built in 11
inch cavity brick against the NE wing (anteroom) and then another similar one on the other side
but the details of these are unknown.
Around 1951, the barrack rooms of Building 21 were converted into small single rooms and
these were used as overflow accommodation for the sergeants’ mess: firstly on the ground
floor, then in the late 1960s to include the top floor.
By April 1969 the remaining six barrack blocks had not been converted, although only three
(Buildings 20, 26 and 30) were actually used to accommodate airmen. Building 19 was in use
by the Education Section and Building 39 was used as the AFTS Ground Instruction School.
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