Nedge Hill, Stirchley - RAF wartime HFDF Station (1)

Image: © Mrs Bess Edwards Taken: Unknown

This is the first of a series of photos of an RAF direction finding station taken during the Second World War between 1942 and 1945. Also included are later photos of the remains of the DF tower and ancillary buildings, taken in January 1999. There are many photos on the Geograph website of these structures, none as far as I know show the 30 ft wooden tower within the octagonal blast wall. It is only the latter that normally survives, so these photos are not only rare, but also an important record of a unique wartime structure, particularly as the site no longer exists. All photos reproduced by kind permission of Mrs Bess Edwards (nee Harris), and the Shropshire Star newspaper. The photo is believed to show Don Allmay who was an artist, who painted pictures of Walt Disney characters on the interior walls of the tower. As a young child, Bess Edwards used to take tea in a basket to the airmen on duty in the tower. Airmen based at the fixer station were billeted at nearby Sunnymede Farm (where Bess Edward's parents farmed). Note the wooden props (8 in all) on the sides of the octagonal tower, giving it added stability. It was wooden (to avoid magnetic interference) and double skinned, with the void filled with gravel giving it stability, and also some protection to the occupants against strafing enemy aircraft. Image

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