question Nissen Hut?

This Hut is in a field near me,

Is it a Nissen Hut?

What was it used for, rumour has it was used during the war for Polish airmen based at Zeals Airfield as their sleeping quarters. Also that there were more than one of them

Bottom curves in a bit - so not a Quonset , or Romney . IIRC a Iris was a smaller Romney. I suppose the main positive ID is size.

Does seem a standard Nissen. I knew a Scout hut & Village hall , understood to be Nissen , but re-planted post WW2 on brick raised foundations & side windows fitted.

Thanks Ruxy

That's a genuine British built 16' wide Nissen hut.

Whether it was used for accommodation or not depends on how original that front end is. I cannot remember whether all workshops had windows or not. What you need is some kind of map of the airfield as they mark the locations of the accommodation sites and such.

A fine thing, everyone should have one to store their vehicles in!

trevor

All the huts I've come across which were erected specifically for accommodation had prefabricated timber ends (I think in 3 sections) with small doors. About 4 years ago I found a great big pile of said ends in a yard being cleared which had been well sheltered from the elements by a huge bramble patch.

If the large end doors are original, I'd guess that the intended purpose of this hut when erected was for storage. That's not to say it would not have been used as accommodation - who can say for sure?

Edit: You beat me to it, Trevor!!

If you can give an indication of where it is in relation, I can try and let you know what it was used for.

Whether it was used for accommodation or not depends on how original that front end is. I cannot remember whether all workshops had windows or not. What you need is some kind of map of the airfield as they mark the locations of the accommodation sites and such.

 

A fine thing, everyone should have one to store their vehicles in!

 

trevor

Its about 3 miles from the Airfield Trevor,

I Was told there used to be 3 of them

Cant get my K9 In there:-|

Well that's ideal all I need now is a Nissen hut some land to put it on oh and a vehicle to put in it.

They get really cold in winter.

Went on a bridging excercise at Chesil Beach one february around 1981.

We were given 2 of these huts as accomodation.

Stove blazing and flue glowing, Blankets laid on floor as a carpet, also hanging behind beds to try and create an insulated space.

Still froze over.

Couldn't spot anything on Google Maps that matched the plan of the airfield, but without a rough location it's a bit hard.

here is a picture of Zeals Airfield, note the original control tower at the bottom of field and runway running through the fields

Zeals Airfield circled and where the nissen huts are is the cross,

Would they have had people sleeping that far from the Airfield.

Thanks for all your comments

John

The main accommodation area for Hawkinge airfield was about half a mile from the airfield itself, I am not sure how that distance compares with your hut. As well as accommodation there were lots of other outlying settlements for defences and stuff, yours could be related to something like that - or perhaps they just wanted to keep the Poles away from the women

trevor

They get really cold in winter.

Went on a bridging excercise at Chesil Beach one february around 1981.

We were given 2 of these huts as accomodation.

Stove blazing and flue glowing, Blankets laid on floor as a carpet, also hanging behind beds to try and create an insulated space.

Still froze over.

Yes, quite so.....

That reminds me that some accommodation / POW camps were used after the war to house people who had lost their homes. Nissen huts were not really ideal for the purpose, it is recorded, as they had poor ventilation and everything would get damp. I suppose they were OK for servicemen who should be out doing stuff for most of the day, but families tend to have people inside for most of the day.

I would still like one, though

trevor

Nissen Hut is about 3 miles from Airfield Geepig,

and there is a window at the other end to door

Not related to the airfield as far as I can see.

Or rather, it may once have been on one of the domestic sites to south of the airfield and moved after the RAF no longer needed it by a farmer who did.