Summary
Combined Physiological Support Division (PSD) and 17th Reconnaissance Wing Squadron operations building (Building Number 199), built in 1989 for the United States Air Force. It was designed by Mott, Hay and Anderson, structural engineers, with the architects Briffa Phillips responsible for the chemical and biological cell. It was constructed by Peter Birse Limited.
Reasons for Designation
The Combined Physiological Support Division (PSD) and 17th Reconnaissance Wing (RW) Squadron Operations Building (Building Number 199) built in 1989 as part of the redevelopment of RAF Alconbury to accommodate TR-1A reconnaissance aircraft, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
Historic interest:
* as one of a group of buildings at RAF Alconbury specifically constructed as part of the USAF redevelopment of the base to accommodate TR-1A reconnaissance aircraft: a key component of NATO’s strategy to gather intelligence on the Warsaw Pact countries and the only base in Europe to be associated with the use of these extraordinary aircraft;
* it embodies the strong political ties and co-operation that existed between the United Kingdom and United States (‘the special relationship’) throughout the Cold War.
Architectural interest:
* an important building of an internationally significant Cold War airbase, whose design reflects NATO’s concerns in the 1980s to harden its bases against first attack;
* it survives well and retains significant external and internal features, including plenum chambers with blast valves, a job control display board, control panels, airlock doors, oxygen valves, and the pilots lounge with its back projection screen and auditorium.
Group value:
* it forms an important group with contemporaneous inter-related infrastructure erected to support the deployment of TR-1A reconnaissance aircraft, all of which reflect one of the key themes of the Cold War, the worldwide surveillance and gathering of intelligence by the superpowers, which was Alconbury’s principal role during this period.
History
AIRFIELD
RAF Alconbury began life in early 1938 when the Air Ministry acquired 150 acres of farmland on Alconbury Hill to test its viability as a satellite airfield. After a successful test in May by the Fairey Battles of Number 63 Squadron from nearby RAF Upwood, Little Stukeley landing ground, as it was probably known at the time, was provisionally accepted as Britain’s first satellite airfield on 2 June. Although Battles arrived again on 1 September 1939 with Number 52 Squadron, they left again just six days later, and Alconbury quickly became a satellite airfield to RAF Wyton, Cambridgeshire. The facilities at this time were rudimentary, consisting of a briefing room and bomb stores. However, this changed in 1941, when three runways were laid out, and a watch tower and operations room (listed Grade II) were added, along with around 26 additional aircraft hardstandings and two T2-Type hangars for aircraft maintenance. Numerous pre-fabricated buildings were also erected for accommodation and specialist technical purposes along a unit headquarters.
Alconbury’s long association with the United States Army Air Force (USAAF) commenced in 1942 with the arrival of the 8th Air Forces 93rd Bomb Group with their Consolidated B-24 Liberators. The airfield subsequently filled a variety of roles under the 8th Air Force, including the activation of the 482nd Bomb Group (Pathfinder) on 10 August 1943, the only USAAF group to be activated outside the United States, with a specific role in developing radar and other electronic navigational devices for ‘blind bombing’ and ‘bombing through cloud’.
On the 1 March 1944, Station 547, the Abbots Ripton Strategic Air Depot, built immediately to the east of the airfield, became operational. It consisted of four T2 hangars, technical shops and additional hard standings. A taxi-way was also laid out across the Abbots Ripton road to allow aircraft to pass between the airfield and the depot.
In November 1945, the airfield was handed back to the RAF and taken over by Number 264 Maintenance Unit. On 28 March 1949 Abbots Ripton was placed in care and maintenance, and in 1954 it was administratively combined with RAF Alconbury.
On 1 June 1953, with heightened international tension following several major crises, including the Berlin Blockade (1948-1949) and the Korean War (1950-1953), the airfield was reactivated under the United States Air Force in Europe (USAFE) as one of the bases for the US 3rd Air Force. Major construction work subsequently took place in 1954, including a new 9,000ft runway, a new control tower and numerous other infrastructure, including hangars and bomb stores for both nuclear and conventional weapons.
From 1959 Alconbury assumed what was to be its principal Cold War role as the home to various reconnaissance squadrons, with the 10th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing with their Douglas RB-66b Destroyer aircraft being the first to arrive in August. The airfield was substantially remodelled between 1977 and 1980, being provided with a new set of bomb proof, hardened structures. Most notable was the construction of 28 Hardened Aircraft Shelters (HAS), built to a standard NATO design, and intended to hold, initially, reconnaissance Phantom aircraft. A series of Squadron Operations and Command Centres were also built along with ‘Hush Houses’.
On 22 February 1983 Alconbury received a pair of Lockheed TR-1A Dragon Lady reconnaissance aircraft, an upgraded version of the very high altitude and long-range surveillance aircraft which was better known as the U-2 ‘spy plane’. The primary function of these aircraft, with their ultra-high technology equipment, was to fill a serious gap in the collection of intelligence, particularly from the Warsaw Pact countries. To manage TR-1A operations, Strategic Air Command (SAC) had activated the 17th Reconnaissance Wing (RW) on 1 October 1982, with the 95th Reconnaissance Squadron (RS) its flying component. It became operational five months later when three more TR1-As arrived out of an eventual dozen. To accommodate aircraft with 103-foot (31m) wingspans, thirteen extra-wide hardened aircraft shelters (Building Numbers 4100 to 4112) were built in the northern section of the airfield at an estimated total cost of some $42,980,900, with a further £13,610,000 spent on new taxiways, engine run-up areas and concrete aprons. To service the electronic components of the reconnaissance aircraft and process the data received, an Avionics and Photography Interpretation Centre (Building Number 210), which is listed Grade II*, was built at a cost of around $18 million, while three combined buildings housing the Physiological Support Division (PSD) and 17th RW Squadron Operations (Building Numbers 199, 200, and 201) were constructed at a total cost of around $12,470,000. Most of the TR-1A project at Alconbury was financed through NATO funding and is believed to have exceeded $134,000,000 when it was completed in 1990. In the same year TR-1A aircraft from Alconbury participated in operation Desert Shield after Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, and Desert Storm to liberate Kuwait.
The supposed end of the Cold War saw the beginning of the end of flying at Alconbury. The TR-1As left in September 1993 and all flying ceased in early 1995, although part of the airfield remained in use by the Americans for communications duties, while other parts were adapted for commercial use as well as a police training centre for Cambridge Constabulary. Alconbury finally closed as a USAFE base in 2022.
The majority of the airfield is currently being developed as Alconbury Weald, a new settlement of around 6,500 homes, with supporting infrastructure and facilities, including shops, schools, health and leisure facilities.
COMBINED PHYSIOLOGICAL SUPPORT DIVISION AND 17th RECONNAISSANCE WING OPERATIONS BUILDING (BUILIDNG NUMBER 199)
The Combined Physiological Support Division (PSD) and 17th Reconnaissance Wing operations facility (Building Number 199) was built 1989 to the designs of Mott, Hay and Anderson, structural engineers, with the architects Biffra Phillips, who were responsible for the chemical and biological protection cell, and constructed by Peter Birse Limited. It was the last of three structures to be built around the PSD and the headquarters of the 17th RW, the other two being building Numbers 200 and 201, both built in 1987, and all connected by a link corridor. The difference between the three is that Building Number 199 was classified as a semi-hard structure for use during wartime, whereas Building Numbers 200 and 201 were classified as soft.
Building Number 199, along with Building Number 200, was built to accommodate the 17th Reconnaissance Wing’s Physiological Support Division, who were responsible for providing the necessary specialist medical and technical support to allow TR-1A aircrews to successfully operate at extremely high altitudes. The main areas of expertise that the PSD provided were: training and indoctrination to pilots on the physiological hazards associated with high altitude flight; training and indoctrination in the use and function of pressure suits, ejection seats, parachutes, and related survival, rescue, and protective life support equipment; training in emergency ground/in-flight egress as outlined in the TR-1A aircraft flight manual; training on survival procedures and hostile force evasion. The PSD also transported the aircrew to the aircraft and assisted with aircrew positioning, strapping in, and connecting to all cockpit requirements, and standing by until the aircraft had launched. On landing, the PSD personnel assisted the pilot with making the cockpit safe, also disconnecting him from the cockpit before returning to the PSD facility for a post flight health check and debrief. In addition to the PSD function, the 17th RW also used Building Number 199 as an operations building, for which rooms for lectures, mission planning, plan storage, computing, wing intelligence, and navigation/communications were provided.
Details
Combined Physiological Support Division (PSD) and 17th Reconnaissance Wing Squadron operations building (Building Number 199), built in 1989 for the United States Air Force. It was designed by Mott, Hay and Anderson, structural engineers, with the architects Briffa Phillips responsible for the chemical and biological cell. It was constructed by Peter Birse Limited.
MATERIALS: of reinforced concrete.
PLAN: the building is rectangular on plan, aligned north-east to south-west.
EXTERIOR: the building's external form is of a two-storey monolithic concrete box with a flat roof surmounted by a large blast valve penthouse, also with a flat roof. The lower ground floor is underground, and part of the ground floor is concealed behind a grass-covered earthen berm which has been reinforced with steel mesh. The concrete walling above the berm has recessed parallel bands running around all four sides of the building. At the centre of the south-east side there is a projecting entrance/exit block for pilots and ground crew, flanked on each side by two emergency exits stairwells with mono-pitched roofs and personnel hatches. An identical emergency exit is placed on the north-east side. The penthouse consists of two parallel plenum chambers, each with two rows of blast valves that were part of the air-handling and ventilation system in normal situations, allowing the free passage of air, but would automatically close and prevent over or under pressure from damaging the interior of the building due to the detonation of a nuclear weapon in the vicinity.
INTERIOR: although the lower ground floor was not inspected at the time of survey due to flooding, it still retains, along with the ground floor, its original layout of windowless rooms. The main entrance/exit along with the emergency exits still retain their original air-lock blast doors, although some have been damaged. Some of the internal spaces have also been damaged, but most rooms still retain their Steeltone acoustic wall and ceiling linings. On the ground floor, the pilots lounge still has its back projector with faux wood panelling to the walls, while the job control/radio/pilot interrogation room still retains its job control board and personnel desk.
The link corridor connecting the building to the Physiological Support Division (PSD) Building (Building Number 200) and the 17th Reconnaissance Wing Squadron Operations Building (Building Number 201) is excluded from the listing.
