NISSEN HUT - A home for the collection
The second hut acquired by the collection, above left, was once part of the Station Sick Quarters Site, of the former USAAF Maghaberry airfield, AAF Station 239, the airfield, of which, was once home to the 27th Air Transport Group's 321st Air Transport Squadron & the 311th and 312th Ferrying Squadrons. Both huts were in a condemned state, the first partially collapsed and the second, had all but collapsed, with the exception of the end walls. What was recovered from both huts, were the curved T frames, consisting of three sections each, to make a partial arc, as can be seen from the photographs to the right, substantial work was required to repair these frames to a usable condition. The remains of the two huts were kindly donated to the curator by the owners of the land in which they were one situated.
The collection is temporarily housed in what were two original Nissen Huts which have a strong link to USAAF-US Navy activities in Northern Ireland during the war. These have now been fully restored and combined to make one complete building. The first hut acquired, was once part of the Naval Air Transport Service NATS, Flying Boat base, which was located at Sandy Bay, take-offs and landings were performed on Lough Neagh. NATS provided a number of daily flights to the U.S. from Lough Neagh, using Consolidated Coronado Flying Boats.
THE COLLECTION - Large Exhibits
The exhibits contained within the Hut vary vastly, some of the larger items, which were very recently kindly donated to the curator, consist of a Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Twin Wasp Radial Engine, which was the power-plant used on a variety of American produced military aircraft during the war, in particular, the 4 engined B-24 Liberator and C-47 Skytrain, both types of which were common visitors to Langford Lodge Air Depot.
Another recently donated item, was a 1940 dated War Department 110 Volt Generator, which was once used to power American produced equipment, this particular generator was used in the Air Depot, very likely installed in one of the workshops or Hangar lean-to's. In the post-war years, it was sold through a number of government auctions which were held on the airfield, surplus to government requirements, it was procured by the Crumlin Picture House, some 3 miles distant, before finally being acquired by a farming family from nearby Maghaberry, the Spence family kindly donated the generator to the collection very recently.
One of the larger mobile items the collection has access to, is a WWII Willys Jeep, this particular example was restored by the curator over a period of 7 years and named "Langford Lou", it currently carries the markings of the Air Depots later designation as the 3rd Base Air Depot. This vehicle is a part of the "Motor Pool" section display, which is dedicated to the 1694th Ordnance and Maintenance Company. The 1694th was stationed at the Air Depot, to service the depots vehicles. Personnel of the 1694th often worked on Willys Jeeps, Dodge Weapons Carriers, GMC CCKW's, C-2 Wreckers and many other types of wheeled automotive equipment.
Static reproductions of various areas or buildings that no longer exist have been faithfully partially constructed. One such building, is the Army SECO Hut, which was the preferred Hutment of choice to house Lockheed Technicians and U.S. Army Personnel at 4 of the 5 hostel sites on the station. The orignals were 20x60 ft in size and consisted of prefabricated modular sections, constructed of timber, with Asbestos sheet coverings for the interior and exterior. The roof interior was asbestos clad, with a mastic-paper roof.
The collections SECO, has been faithfully reproduced from original plans, using modern materials. Unfortunately, no original SECO Huts that were once part of the Air Depot have survived, the majority of the more than 100 huts, between the four living sites were sold in the post-war government held auctions on the airfield. The collections SECO, is likely the only SECO, albeit a reproduction, still in existence in the country, it has the sign "YE OLDE B-I-O-Y-A LODGE" above the door, as per an orignal photograph of a Site 2 Hut, note the 1930's era Bicycle, this particular Bicycle dates from the 1930's and was produced by "Royal Enfield", it was a common mode of transport on the Air Depot during the war, of which, many appear in photographs, set agaisnt huts, as per the photograph of our reproduction, below.
THE COLLECTION - Original Uniforms
Military uniforms form a large part of the collections exhibits, both Officer and Enlisted ranks representing various branches of the army, as well as Lockheed Overseas Corporation issued uniform and U.S. Civil Service uniforms. As can be seen to the left, as per an orignal photograph within the collection, is the enlisted uniform of an MP, this uniform forms part of a larger exhibit dedicated to the stations Military Police Companies, in particular, the 894th, 984th and 1145th Military Police Companies, of which, the curators Great Uncle, was assigned to the 894th and 984th, at Langford, from 1943 to 1945.
THE COLLECTION - Buildings
