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The German Rheinmetall RH 202 twin-gun 20mm anti-aircraft system came into service in 1972 to meet the requirements of low a-level air defence. In addition it can also be used against ground targets.
Mounted on a wheeled carriage it consists of twin 20mm guns, their ammunition, a Wankel 8 hp engine for power and optical sights, which include a design to prevent firing on friendly targets. Single barrel guns have also been mounted on vehicles and remain in service.
The anti-aircraft system was used by the German and Portuguese Air Force until 1992 and was also used by the Argentina during the Falklands conflict in 1982. This weapon was captured by the British Forces from Goose Green and gifted to the Museum. It has rifle damage, sustained when it was captured.
Specifications -
▪︎Tactical Range: 1,600 metres (5,000ft)
▪︎Rate of Fire: 1,000 per minute
▪︎Elevation: -5 to + 83°
▪︎Traverse: 360°
▪︎Weight: 2,100kgs (2.3 tons)
▪︎Crew: 3 - Gunner / Layer + 2
▪︎Towing Vehicle: Mercedes Benz 4x4 Truck.
Information from The Muckleburgh Military Collection.
The Kelvedon Nuclear Bunker
Hidden in a wood off the A128 Ongar - Brentwood Road, is a small bungalow which hides a big secret. Behind it lies a three floored bunker complex in which 600 people would have been confined behind blast proof doors in the event of a nuclear war.
The deep, 125 foot, bunker was built in 1952/3 as part of Rotor, an urgent government building programme to improve Britain's air defence network. The bunker was the Sector Operations Command for the RAF Fighter Command. Known as SOC - R4, it was to provide command and control of the London Sector of Fighter Command.
Once into the bungalow, it leads to a 100 yard tunnel before you are in the bunker itself. Above you are two more floors, the 'hill' which covers it, and a radio mast, one of two, which would have been vital for communications.
The reason for the bunker was to take on a far more potentially catastrophic role in the 1960's. Because of the threat of nuclear war the bunker became the regional government bunker for London. The aim of the bunker was that it was to be one of the government administration centres communicating with the many other smaller bunkers situated throughout the country, organising the country after a nuclear attack.
STERILE AREA –
RAF Barnham Nuclear Weapons Storage Facility was heavily secured and at the time was probably one of the most secure locations in the United Kingdom. The security element was the responsibility of the RAF Police (RAFP). Personnel from differing operating periods at RAF Barnham have stated that there were up to three varieties of RAF Police specialisations working at the site: 'Provost' 'Station' and 'Qualified Police Dog' (dog handlers).
As well as a standard outer fence and main gate picket post, the facility included an inner perimeter fence and within that an inner concrete wall with another picket post. The area between these two latter perimeters was classed as ''sterile'', with trip wires and flares in the gap between them and atop the wall, to alert the guard force to intruders. Pole-mounted lighting was positioned at regular intervals within the sterile area and halfway between the towers was a V-shaped bulge in the fence to allow patrolling guards the ability to look up and down the fence line from a small path that ran within the area. A telephone post was located at these bulges.
Two electric sliding gates at the outer and inner fence and a traditional style split middle wire gate acted as ''vehicle traps'' for any vehicle driving in or out. At the front sliding gate was a personnel turnstile controlled by the RAFP guardroom. At the rear sliding gate was personnel access to the inner picket where flammables and other contraband (matches, cigarettes, lighters etc) were surrendered before entering the ''Danger Area''.
RAFP Dog Handlers patrolled the site and the RAFP station staff manned the watch towers and pickets. The area between the outer and middle fence was patrolled by the Dog Handlers, with elements of the outer perimeter reportedly just spools of barbed wire.
Five Watch Towers, one at each point of the pentagonal fence, were located on the inside of the middle fencing when the site was decommissioned. These were accessible along the path within the sterile area near the fence line, some elements of which are still visible under the moss and foliage. A 6th vantage point was located on the maintenance building towards the centre of the compound. Each tower could see the others at the time of operational use (trees get in the way now) and were fitted with searchlights at a third of the way up and right at the top, possibly similar to those used on ships. It has been reported that the angle of the lights had to be limited as the Officer Commanding RAF Lakenheath had made complaints that his pilots were getting dazzled by RAF Barnham's watch towers.
The existing tall metal towers were believed to have been installed in late 1959/early 1960. Prior to this there were wooden ones, described as being pretty basic and about 15ft high, with a base around 6ft square with a large searchlight mounted in the centre which could be swung almost 360° in either direction. Access was reportedly by a wooden ladder and there was a single railing round about waist height. There was a field telephone at the top of the ladder and ''special'' binoculars were issued. The platforms were in roughly the same positions of the new towers but on the inside of the concrete path. It has been reported by another source that when the new towers were built, the fences had to be modified to accommodate them, via a U-shaped cut-out, visible on the site today.
A former RAFP Dog Handler stated that before being posted to Barnham, you and more importantly your dog had to gain at least 90% in exams/tests, meaning they had some of the best personnel and animals in the trade. In comparison, the RAFP Station staff stated that they received no special training as such for the role. They did get sent on a special security course, but that it was of little relevance or use to RAF Barnham. They simply classed it as another security related job. Some have stated that they spent a lot of time on the range, with many of the Police being marksmen. It has been reported that the RAFP were issued automatic 9mm pistols towards the end of the site's operational period, replacing the Smith and Wesson .38 that had been in common use.
The shift pattern recalled by most RAFP personnel spoken to consisted of 9 consecutive shifts comprising 3 evenings (1500-2300), 3 midnights (2300-0700) and 3 days (0700-1500) which would then be followed by 2 days off. Approximately 14 Station staff were on shift, comprising of one Sergeant shift controller, one Corporal deputy shift controller and 12 others, some made up of National Service personnel. Therefore, with an off duty shift, this meant a guard force of around 56, plus all of the ''X'' flight staff (the term used for those involved with the weapon convoys), which had around 14 personnel. It was usually an hour on and an hour off on the old wooden watch towers. The Dog Handler shift patterns were (1800-0000) and (0000-0600), with no day patrols, around 8 dogs were on site at a time.
This and other RAFP sources have said that the security personnel knew very little about the goings on inside, even with the vantage points of the towers. It is reported that all movements were specially screened to be hidden from view, with even the large bombs themselves sheeted. One RAFP officer had even reported as quipping to a convoy commander about ''another glider'' coming in, making reference to the similarity between the ''Blue Danube'' pantechnicon and a glider trailer.
Information sourced from – rafbarnham-nss.weebly.com/security.html
FISSILE CORE STORAGE –
The fissile cores were stored in small buildings arranged around the large non-nuclear component stores. In total there are 57 of these buildings, which are divided into 48 Type 'A' and 9 Type 'B' stores. The fissile core stores are organised in four uneven groups around the non-nuclear stores. The two southerly groups of stores are arranged symmetrically to the south of the large non-nuclear stores, each group having sixteen small store buildings. The north-eastern group contains eleven stores and the north-west group fourteen. All but the south-east group contained a mixture of Type 'A' and Type 'B' stores.
The store buildings are linked together by pedestrian width walkways, fenced by tubular steel pipes 37in tall with strands of white between the horizontal members. The area was lit by pre-cast concrete lamp-posts, each of which had a red panic button at chest height. The Type 'A' storage buildings 1-48 are small kiosk-like structures. In plan they measure 8ft 4in by 7ft 10in and stand 9ft above ground level. The foundations of the building are constructed of 3ft thick mass concrete. The walls are of cavity wall construction and are formed of solid concrete blocks, while the roof is a flat over-hanging reinforced concrete slab with a drip mould, and is covered with bituminous felt. The design drawing (Drg. No. 3563B/52) shows a variety of irregular roof plans designed to disguise the structures from the air. These were never built, all the roofs being rectangular in plan.
Fittings on the walls indicate that they were all originally protected by copper earthing straps. On the front of many of the stores a stencilled notice records ''Date of last lightning conductor test April - 63''. Internally the walls are finished in unpainted, smooth gritless plaster. The side and rear walls are ventilated by four small controllable ventilators, two at the base of the wall and two at the top. In the floor of each of the Type 'A' stores is a single keyhole shaped cavity. Each hole is 1ft 5in in diameter and 1ft 9in deep. The shaft of the hole measures 10in wide and is 8in long and is shallower than the main hole at 3½in. A scar around the hole suggests it originally contained a vessel with the asphalt brought up around its lip. This is confirmed by the survival of the surrounding lip in similar stores at RAF Faldingworth, Lincolnshire, and by the rare survival of a number of stainless steel vessels at the bomb store at RAF Gaydon, Warwickshire.
The electrical system of each store was contained within small bore metal pipes; circular junction boxes led to other electrical fittings, which have in most cases been removed. In a number of the stores 'Walsall' Type 1174X flameproof switch boxes remained. On their covers is cast ''5 Amp 250 Volt Flameproof switchbox type Walsall 1174BX Group 2 FLP 302 Group 3 Test P60 Isolate supply elsewhere before removing this cover''. A small formica sign confirmed that ''The electrical installation in this building is standard 'A' in accordance with AP 2608A''. All the stores originally had external fuse boxes to the left of their doors.
The doors are wooden and open outwards, their outer faces being protected by a steel sheet. They are secured by a combination lock and internal vertical locking bar operated by an external handle. A metal fitting in the path allowed the door to be secured half ajar. Above the door, and attached to its frame, is a spring-loaded electrical contact, which probably recorded on the control board in building 63 whether or not the door was open or closed. Externally and internally the doors are painted light blue. On the door of building No. 1 is a 1ft diameter radiation symbol in yellow and out-lined in black, below it is a 11½in yellow square with a black star at its centre.
The Type 'B' store buildings 49-57 are slightly larger than the Type 'A' measuring 9ft 7in by 7ft 10n. Otherwise the details of the stores are identical to the smaller stores. The principle difference between the two types of structures is that the Type 'B ' had two storage holes in their floors. Each of these buildings was also equipped with a small wooden counter adjacent to the doors; the counters measure 2ft 6in by 1ft 6in and standing 4ft tall. They have been removed from stores 53 and 55. At some point during the operational life of the station the holes in the floors of all the Type 'B' stores were filled and covered by gritless asphalt. The asphalt surfaces in the stores are continuous, often with a slight depression marking the position of the holes, which implies that the original floor was lifted and new floors laid. The holes in store 52 have been reopened, as indicated by fragments of the asphalt surface thrown back into the holes. This is in contrast to RAF Faldingworth where the holes have been left open.
In total there were enough holes to store 66 fissile cores. One source states that the single hole stores contained plutonium cores, while the double-hole stores were, used for cobalt cores. Currently available documentation does not reveal if one fissile core may be equated with one bomb, or if a bomb contained more than one fissile core. Recent research has shown that Britain probably produced no more than twenty Blue Danube warheads, with this number on the active stockpile between 1957 and 1961. It is therefore likely that no more than a handful of weapons were stored at RAF Barnham at anyone time.
The significance of the filling of the holes in the Type 'B' stores is also unclear. It may coincide with the withdrawal of the first generation nuclear weapon, ''Blue Danube'', and the deployment second generation atomic bomb, ''Red Beard'' (from 1961), or it may be related to the introduction of first British hydrogen bomb, ''Yellow Sun'' (from 1958). Given the number of available nuclear warheads in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s, it is unlikely that the RAF Barnham store was ever full. Part of RAF Barnham's function, along with other bomb stores, was to convince the Soviet Union that Britain had more nuclear weapons at her disposal than was in fact the case.
Information sourced from English Heritage.
The surrounding area is currently a building site, so no access was available.
The Mistley Anti Aircraft Operations Room was built in 1951 for the Royal Artillery (War Office), it is built to the standard design with one floor and both entrances above ground and the other floor below ground.
The 'Furze Hills' Bunker was sold to Essex County Council in 1963 for £5250 (It had cost £500,000 to build in 1951) and it became one of 4 sub-controls (the others were at Harlow, Chelmsford and Billericay) reporting to the County Control at Chelmsford. This was located in the basement of the new County Hall extension which opened in 1961 and before that in the basement of the old County Hall where it had been located in World War Two.
The 1965 Essex war plan records Mistley as being the NE Essex Sub County Control (AK) reporting to County Control 42A at County Hall. By 1966 Mistley became the main HQ for the County as the proposed Chelmsford HQ had not been built. From 1968 until the early 1980’s Mistley was placed on care and maintenance an in 1984 it finally became the county standby when the county opened the long overdue new control centre in County Hall. (another part of the new extension basement) The Bunker remained fully operational until 1993 when it was de-commissioned at the end of the ‘Cold War’.
In 1995 the building was leased to the Bunker Preservation Trust, the same team that had helped set up the WWII war rooms (Hellfire Corner) at Dover Castle, Liverpool’s ‘Western Approaches’, the Battle of the Atlantic War Room and Scotland’s Secret Nuclear Bunker at Anstruther. Mistley was renovated and refurbished and opened to the public in Easter 1996 and after 6 successful years closed its doors for the last time after a free public open day on 1st December 2002.
All the plant is still in place including the standby diesel generator (a 1980’s replacement), ventilation and filtration plant and the boiler. The 1950’s army camp to the rear of the bunker has been gradually removed over the years and replaced by playing fields, a car park and a new village hall although some faint traces of the camp are still visible.
Property developers are queuing up to buy a Cold War Nuclear Bunker for £1.1million because it can be turned into 28 homes and three plush apartments. Nestled in rural Essex, the concrete centre was used to protect regional government in the event of a deadly Soviet strike, but it will soon be turned against a very different foe - the south-east's housing crisis. The bunker was converted into a much-loved museum after the Cold War but it closed in 2002 and will go under the hammer today at a property auction.
Information sourced from - www.subbrit.org.uk/sites/mistley-aaor/
Color slide of a photograph looking out at the Inland Waterway through Camp Lejeune, NC, in 1958. Photograph taken while U.S. Navy Lt. Donald C. Gonder was stationed at the Base Dispensary at Camp Lejeune (1958).
From Donald C. Gonder Navy Slides, CLDW 83, Cold War Papers, Military Collection, State Archives of North Carolina, Raleigh, N.C.
Merci à qui sait de prêter ses jouets !
Je cherche le pendant ricain ; il devrait être plus simple à débusquer.
The Kelvedon Nuclear Bunker
Hidden in a wood off the A128 Ongar - Brentwood Road, is a small bungalow which hides a big secret. Behind it lies a three floored bunker complex in which 600 people would have been confined behind blast proof doors in the event of a nuclear war.
The deep, 125 foot, bunker was built in 1952/3 as part of Rotor, an urgent government building programme to improve Britain's air defence network. The bunker was the Sector Operations Command for the RAF Fighter Command. Known as SOC - R4, it was to provide command and control of the London Sector of Fighter Command.
Once into the bungalow, it leads to a 100 yard tunnel before you are in the bunker itself. Above you are two more floors, the 'hill' which covers it, and a radio mast, one of two, which would have been vital for communications.
The reason for the bunker was to take on a far more potentially catastrophic role in the 1960's. Because of the threat of nuclear war the bunker became the regional government bunker for London. The aim of the bunker was that it was to be one of the government administration centres communicating with the many other smaller bunkers situated throughout the country, organising the country after a nuclear attack.
On October 4 2009 we attended SALT "Red Oktober", which was a grand day out for all enthusiasts of Cold-War era vehicles. We visited East Anglia, and finished as guests of the Triumph Car Day at the Imperial War Museum, Duxford, where our Coldwar vehicles were outnumbered by hundreds of Stags, Heralds, Spitfires, TRs etc.
Croatian War of Independence Museum, Karlovac (2015) - Croatia
Mikoyan MiG-21bis, 126 Croatian Air Force
Photo selection
Color slide of a photograph of the Raymond Gonder family home at 127 North 27th Street in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania around 1958. Photograph taken during a visit by U.S. Navy Lt. Donald C. Gonder and his family to his childhood home, while he was stationed at Camp Lejeune, NC [circa 1958].
From Donald C. Gonder Navy Slides, CLDW 83, Cold War Papers, Military Collection, State Archives of North Carolina, Raleigh, N.C.