- Joined
- Jun 3, 2014
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2016 turned out to be the year of RAF sites for me. I visited six and failed at one other. This place was my fave. A big and spread out site with some lovely decay and lots to see. Had a relaxed few hours around here and really enjoyed it. A brilliant place, well worth a look. Visited with non member Paul.
HISTORY
RAF West Raynham was built between 1938 and 1939 about 2 miles west of the village of West Raynham in Norfolk, seeing action for the first time on 4th July 1940. During WW2 the base was provided with a control tower for very heavy bomber stations, this was one of only four ever built. RAF Scunthorpe and RAF Great Massingham were both built as sattelite bases for West Ryanham but eventually grew to house their own squadrons.
The Site was used post-war for training and in the mid-1960s the East Side was developed as a SAM (surface to air missile) site and equipped with radars and a Bristol Bloodhound Mk2. Between 1963 and 1982 RAF West Ryanham hosted annual summer training camps for the Royal Observer Corps. The camps lasted for 8 weeks and had up to 500 observers attending technical training sessions. The base was officially closed in 1994 and kept untill the Ministry of Defence decided it would be of no further use in 2004.
Thanks for Looking
More pics on my Flickr page - https://www.flickr.com/photos/135648593@N02/albums/72157671928551706/with/28669743242/
HISTORY
RAF West Raynham was built between 1938 and 1939 about 2 miles west of the village of West Raynham in Norfolk, seeing action for the first time on 4th July 1940. During WW2 the base was provided with a control tower for very heavy bomber stations, this was one of only four ever built. RAF Scunthorpe and RAF Great Massingham were both built as sattelite bases for West Ryanham but eventually grew to house their own squadrons.
The Site was used post-war for training and in the mid-1960s the East Side was developed as a SAM (surface to air missile) site and equipped with radars and a Bristol Bloodhound Mk2. Between 1963 and 1982 RAF West Ryanham hosted annual summer training camps for the Royal Observer Corps. The camps lasted for 8 weeks and had up to 500 observers attending technical training sessions. The base was officially closed in 1994 and kept untill the Ministry of Defence decided it would be of no further use in 2004.
Thanks for Looking
More pics on my Flickr page - https://www.flickr.com/photos/135648593@N02/albums/72157671928551706/with/28669743242/
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