At the outbreak of World War II, the British military developed a series of prefabricated huts to supplement the World-War-I-era Nissen hut. The Iris hut was one of these, a medium-scale hut of 35 feet (11 m) span and from 60 feet (18 m) to 96 feet (29 m) in length, with bays of 4 feet (1.2 m) sectional length able to be added as required. However, the Iris hut had a major design flaw: it was unable to resist the weight of snow lying on the roof and had a tendency to collapse after snowfalls. For this reason, it was superseded by the Romney hut by 1941.^[1]

Both the Iris hut and the Romney hut were constructed of a clamped tubular steel frame with a central entrance.^[2] The hut was used to accommodate facilities for which abnormal roof spans were required.^[3] On some airfields, two or more Romney or Iris huts would be erected to accommodate large stores and workshops, or occasionally used as aircraft hangars.^[4]

It was invented by Lt Col Edgar Frank Brawn of the Royal Engineers.^[5]

History

See also

References