The interior of an officer’s Nissen hut
Photograph of the interior of an officer’s Nissen hut at the RAF station on Tiree in World War II.
Courtesy of Mr Mike Hughes
This photograph shows the inside of an officer’s Nissen hut on Tiree during World War II. The Reef, the central area of the island, was requisitioned by the Ministry of War in 1940 to build the RAF Station which became operational in 1941.
Some four thousand RAF personnel were housed in hundreds of Nissen huts around Crossapol and Hough. The Nissen hut was designed in 1916 by Peter Nissen, a Canadian mining engineer, and was used extensively by the Allies in World War II in the construction of new facilities.
The hut consisted of sheets of corrugated steel bent into half a cylinder and closed at the ends with semi-circular masonry or wooden walls. Because the curved sheets stacked easily together, one hut could be packed on to a three ton truck. Six men could assemble one in four hours, although the record time was 1 hour 27 minutes.
Black and white photograph of the inside of Nissen hut during World War II.
The inside of an officer`s Nissen hut on Tiree during World War II. (Photograph from Mike Hughes in Filing Cabinet 2 drawer 1)