Twynham hut: Difference between revisions
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A Royal Pioneers lieutenant-colonel likened the huts to a Meccano set.<ref>{{cite journal |title=A Military Gypsy 1945-1978 |journal=The Pioneer |date=October 2010 |page=41 |url=http://www.royalpioneercorps.co.uk/rpc/newsletters/2010_Oct_Newsletter.pdf}}</ref> |
A Royal Pioneers lieutenant-colonel likened the huts to a Meccano set.<ref>{{cite journal |title=A Military Gypsy 1945-1978 |journal=The Pioneer |date=October 2010 |page=41 |url=http://www.royalpioneercorps.co.uk/rpc/newsletters/2010_Oct_Newsletter.pdf}}</ref> |
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They were still in use in 1982 when the formed part of the aircrew accomodation at Wideawake airfield during the Falklands War.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Southby-Tailyour |first1=Ewen |title=Exocet Falklands: The Untold Story of Special Forces Operations |date=2014 |publisher=Pen and Sword |location=Barnsley, South Yorkshire |isbn=978-1-78346-387-9 |page=124 |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Exocet_Falklands/q4vPBQAAQBAJ |language=en}}</ref> |
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== References == |
== References == |
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Revision as of 11:09, 11 December 2020
A Twynham hut
Developed by the War Office in 1959. IUntended as a temporary structure to be used in field conditions and emergency situations. Developed for use by all three services (army, navy, air force) by the Military Engineering Experimental Establishment. Internal furnishing were provided by the Ministry of Works.[1]
Standard hut was 64ft long but half and quarter units (32ft and 16ft) were also possible and in most installation larger units of 96ft and 128ft were installed. Used for living and office accomodation and could be fitted with air conditioning in these uses. [2]
In office and accomodation use a false ceiling was fited. Those used as store huts did not receive air conditioning and could be fitted with internal partitions and doors. [3]
p122: Air conditioning units weighed one ton each.[4]
The huts were trialled by 12 Pioneers on Cyprus in 1960 during the withdrawal of British forces to the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia, in the lead up independence. It was a replacement for the Nissen hut and was made of aluminium and gavanised steel. Indetended to be transported by men and erected by a team of 10. Despite doubts over the eae of erection more than 400 were constructed in Cyprus, ending the use of tented encampments.[5]
In Aden a unit of the pioneers carried out a speed deontration in which they erected a 18ft Twynham hut in four minutes. The huts could be readily dismantled and reused as was done in 1966 with the end of the British deployment in Aden.[6]
By 1966 the estimated cost of each hut was £5.47 per square foot.[7]
By one account from a Royal Engineers officer the Twynhams were more suited to dismantling and re-erection than the Nissen hut. Made of 8ft bays.[8]
8ft bays were quite short compared to other huts and allowed for high snow and wind loading to the roof of the structure and low bearing capacity of soils for use in the field. Huts could be foudned directly onto the soil.[9]
A Royal Pioneers lieutenant-colonel likened the huts to a Meccano set.[10]
They were still in use in 1982 when the formed part of the aircrew accomodation at Wideawake airfield during the Falklands War.[11]
References
- ^ "Twynham Hut - Tuesday 15 December 1959". Hansard - UK Parliament Written Answers. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
- ^ The Royal Engineers Journal, Volume 81, issues 1-2. Institution of Royal Engineers. 1967. p. 113.
- ^ The Royal Engineers Journal, Volume 81, issues 1-2. Institution of Royal Engineers. 1967. p. 116.
- ^ The Royal Engineers Journal, Volume 81, issues 1-2. Institution of Royal Engineers. 1967. p. 122.
- ^ "The Pioneer". Newsletter of the Royal Pioneer Corps Association: 26. April 2016.
- ^ "The Pioneer". Newsletter of the Royal Pioneer Corps Association: 29. April 2016.
- ^ "Specialist Team Re (Construction) in Aden - 1966" (PDF). The Royal Engineers Journal. 81 (3): 236. September 1967.
- ^ "The Institution of Structural Engineers Joint Meeting with the Institution of Royal Engineers" (PDF). The Royal Engineers Journal. 76 (1): 92. March 1962.
- ^ "The Institution of Structural Engineers Joint Meeting with the Institution of Royal Engineers" (PDF). The Royal Engineers Journal. 76 (1): 94. March 1962.
- ^ "A Military Gypsy 1945-1978" (PDF). The Pioneer: 41. October 2010.
- ^ Southby-Tailyour, Ewen (2014). Exocet Falklands: The Untold Story of Special Forces Operations. Barnsley, South Yorkshire: Pen and Sword. p. 124. ISBN 978-1-78346-387-9.