Airfield structure identification

[Wise1]

LAA? Possible, but assuming Gnomeys map shows the same thing they all seem at points randomly placed with no real defensive use.

[adrian roberts]

Could they have been the turntables for calibrating the aircraft compasses? You needed to align the whole aircraft, not take the compass out, as the metal affected it, and the turnatables would need to be away from metal hangars etc. Three on Kitty's airfield could be a reasonable number for this purpose, but the number on Gnomey's drawing seems a lot - maybe they were different.
But this is only my wild guess.

Adrian

[plant-pilot]

The table tennis bat like features shown on the map are aircraft dispersal points and are not the same as they are very common hard standing circles with access tracks, all in concrete or other 'hard'. They are distributed in a random pattern in order to distribute the aircraft (hence the name!) for their protection.

The feature we are looking at here has a 'soft' centre, which would make them useless as aircraft dispersals.

As for the idea of compass calibration turn tables, no mention has been made of any fixtures or fittings in the centre of the circle which would point in that direction, but it is always a possibility.

[spidge]

This may sound a bit daft, as taking photos of installations was frowned upon but as there are no photos of Raf Cranage to speak of, there may be actual photos of others that could have emerged and may show something similar.

Just a thought!

[spidge]

Could it possibly have been a "well" of some description? ie something underground?

[Kitty]

I honestly don't know. The centre of the circle was so boggy and full of detritus and weeds (including a very flourishing tree sapling) that we couldn't tell.
As I say I have an inkling of where the small map is and I'll scan it in today.

[Kitty]

Okay, i think I've attached the plans of the airfield. I've also circled the four structures in red. They seem to be around the runways, so probably they are for LAA, but as you can see compared to Gnomey's plans they are somewhat smaller and totally isolated from everything else.
As to them being found at another airfield I don't know. Cranage seems to be pretty unique with it's own design of airraid shelters and control tower as well. A very odd place.

Attachment 85

KEY
CRANAGE CHESHIRE

As at February 1945
53° 13’ N 02° 24’ W

Runways:
10/28 3,860 ft
05/23 3,240 ft
16/34 3,000ft
All Sommerfeld tracking on grass

Hangars:
A - H Bellmans
I, J, K, O & P Single Blisters
L, M & N Double Blisters


For some reason the Command Centre with it’s adjoining machine gun nest and the airfield pill boxes are not marked.

[Kitty]

Double post cos it worked! WOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOO!

[plant-pilot]

Right, having looked at the map, and noted the lack of any other form of dispersal and that the runway is Somerfield tracking on grass, here's my theory.

Somerfield Tracking was notorious for curling at the edges when layed on grass, this being accentuated at points that were heavily loaded. If you decided to place a few dispursal sites around the airfield that had access from metalled roads, they would suffer from damage as the aircraft rolled on and off the matting to access the airfield. Laying a circle of concrete to support the edges of the matting while allowing the matting to cover the centre would be a quick and efficient method of creating an all weather firm area for an aircraft dispersal. Areas of the field could be used for most of the year, but in winter or after heavy rain these could have been used as aircraft dispersals to leave some aircraft ready for scramble. It would also leave the feature seen in the photo.

Only a theory, but we'd have to find some first hand information as to wheather they were used as dispersals or AA sites.

[the_historian]

Plant,
I've just looked at my AM plans of Findo Gask airfield in Perthshire, which also had Sommerfeld Tracking runways. There's nothing remotely like the structures at Cranage, that I can see anyway.
The aircraft compass at Findo Gask lies on grass between the technical area & the runways, and has no road of any kind leading to it. Am I right in saying that they used metal (steel?) stakes to pin down the matting? I know they used a similar method to fix chicken wire groundplanes around the radar sets on AA gunsites.