RAF 'Y' Stations etc. Discussion Thread

Bishop's Waltham was an Army Y Station (Main Interpreting function) in Southern Command.

This article gives its location: www.hampshirechronicle.co.uk/news/157808...oved-after-70-years/
The station was HERE

The hut can be seen in Street View at the entrance to the farm. TNA record for 1941 gave the location as U996398 which was correct. The station also had a D/F Wing, and the equipment was 'Special GPO MF D/F Pattern'

By 1944 the location had been 'corrected' to L996398 which places it in St Georges Channel 20 miles off the south-east Irish coast !

Note that the earlier 'reliable' information I had for the site stated Bishops Waltham, Hants (Int/DF) (17 sets) (at Kerley Downs to monitor low power MF transmissions in France and Low Countries. Stated to have been requested Jan 1943 and soon operational on 15 April 1944) The dates are incorrect and Kerley Downs is in Cornwall south of Perranporth.

Sutton Valence definitely had three sites, RAF, Army and RN/RM. Maidstone Garrison's War Diaries for 1942 contain a 'Garrison Defence Plan' which includes instructions for dispatching a mobile column to defend the sites in the event of a German invasion.

The 1946 aerial image clearly shows the three sites identified from the map refs in the War Diaries

cliveh wrote:

Sutton Valence definitely had three sites, RAF, Army and RN/RM...
The 1946 aerial image clearly shows the three sites identified from the map refs in the War Diaries

TNA HW41/401 List of Y Stations gives four locations for sites. All were DF facilities.
There's been so much development in the area that precise location is not easy, and Cassini references were often not terribly accurate.

wtp2.appspot.com/wheresthepath.htm?lat=5...<=OSM&rt=satellite

Army R231685 was at Chart Sutton. It was the 'Twin' for Army R256683 at Sutton Valence

RAF Sutton Valence RSP 1950:

Where do you find plans of such small places? Is there a stash somewhere?

Ossington_2008 wrote:

Where do you find plans of such small places? Is there a stash somewhere?

The RAF Museum can supply copies of many (but not all) RAF RSPs. There's a thread on here somewhere that lists the plans they hold

cliveh

Re: Marston Montgomergy Y Station

The location is here: SK 14492 37758

I have attached a small piece of the 1:25000 map, 1920 with 1949 revisions.

I am looking further into the site at Marston Montgomery, which was an intercept and "fingerprinting" location serving Bletchley Park.

The site had four masts, in the same way as shown in the drawing for Sutton Valence in the post dated June 20. Some of the concrete blocks that anchored the mast support cables are still visible.

My question is, please, how many cable per mast?

Hi gents, late coming on this one I know. Does the image of a five mast station look anything like the things you have been looking at?