Tag archives: winch it in

Cold Overton ROC Post 10 (Master – Bedford 10 Cluster)

Explored with Winch It In

Opened – April 1959
Closed – September 1991


This ROC Post has declined steadlily over the years, the top of the vents have been off for a long while and some time ago an attempt to chop away at the concrete on top of the hatch has left a nasty mess.

Below ground many items seem to have been stolen, even since April of this year, sadly there will be nothing left in this post soon. We visited this post as part of an objective to take in all three of the Bedford 10 Cluster with Sutton Bassett 11 and Clipston 12 making up the rest of the cluster.

As suggested by the cluster name this ROC Post came under ROC Group HQ No 7 Bedford

Sutton Bassett ROC Post 11 (Bedford 10 Cluster) – Part 2

Here are the underground shots that were taken on a second visit to this ROC Post – Explored with Winch It In.

 

RAF Market Harborough Battle HQ

Explored with Winch It In

This wasn’t the main objective of the day (a list of ROC Posts were) and I’m not big on WW2 Defences but it would have been rude to drive past this so we stopped for a quick nosey.

Site: RAF Market Harborough.

Opened – 1943
Closed – 1947

Units stationed at RAF Market Harborough:

No 1683 (Bomber) Defence Training Flt (3 Feb – 1 Aug  1944)
No 92 Group (1944)
No 26 Air Crew Holding Unit (21 Aug 1945 – 18 Sep 1946)
No 113 Storage Sub-site, No 273 Maintenance Unit (Feb 1946 – 5 Oct 1949)

RAF Market Harborough was mainly used as an Operational Training Unit throughout it’s active days with No. 14 OTU flying Vickers Wellingtons, Airspeed AS.10 Oxfords, Hawker Hurricanes and some Curtiss P-40 Tomahawks from No.1683 Bomber Defence Training Flight.

Today very little of the main airfield survives as a lot of the site has now been demolished to make way for a Business Park.

The control tower and all of the technical site was demolished to make way for HMP Gartree which opened in 1965.

The Battle Headquarters is a TYPE 11008/41, the room layout is pretty much the same
in all of these and this has the usual OP, Main Office, PBX Room, Messenger Room and Toilet.

Some internal fittings remain and despite the farmers attempt at burying the HQ all rooms are still accessible, as are the hatches, albeit with some ‘interesting’ floor levels. The main Escape Hatch still has an intact ladder with a clear entry to the main rooms and the other escape hatch is also still open but partially buried. The wooden door to the Elsan Chemical toilet is still in place too.

Despite evidence of some flooding the entire Battle HQ was damp but free of standing water.