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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.
No. 20 Group ROC Headquarters was built in 1961 and was part of a nationwide network of monitoring stations as a result of the Cold War. The bunker was maintained in a high state of readiness until stand-down in 1991. It wasn't a shelter to ride out the end of the world; it was for early warning and monitoring, and could accommodate a staff of 60 and be self-sufficient for only 30 days. The Operations Room was where all the work was done. The locations of any blasts would be triangulated using directions shared between the local monitoring stations, and used to keep the authorities and public informed.
The Rotor programme was developed to advance the wartime radar technology in detecting and locating fast-flying jets. It was approved by the Air Council in June 1950. The first stage of the programme, Rotor 1, was to technically restore existing Chain Home, centrimetric early warning, Chain Home Extra Low and Ground Controlled Interception Stations and put them under the control of RAF Fighter Command. There were three main components to the Rotor Stations: the technical site, including the radars, operation blocks and other installations; the domestic site, where personnel were accommodated; and the stand-by set house, a reserve power supply. The technical site for RAF Neatishead Rotor Station was located at TG 346 184. Crew were accommodated at RAF Coltishall and the stand-by set house was located at TG 342 200.
The two main constructions at Rotor stations were the operations block and guardhouse. Operations blocks were the largest structures built at Rotor stations. They were constructed of reinforced concrete and designed to withstand 2,000lb bombs. The outer walls and roof of the Rotor operations blocks were 9ft 10in thick and the internal walls between 5.9in to 1ft 11in metres wide. The exterior was coated with an asphalt damp course and surrounded by a 5.9in brick wall. The roof was usually flush with the ground surface and up to 14 ft 2in of earth was mounded on top. The operations blocks, identified by a 'R' prefix, contained technical equipment, domestic facilities, workshops and a plant for air conditioning and gas filtration, all within a single complex.
Four of the blocks (R1-R4) were underground constructions designed for the more vulnerable sites on the east and south-east coasts. Others were semi-submerged (R6) or above ground (R5, R7-R11) heavily protected structures built to withstand 1,000lb bombs. The guardhouses were designed to resemble ''bungalows''. They were single-storey buildings capped with a flat, concrete roof, above which a pitched roof contained water tanks. They were generally constructed of brick, but were built to blend in with the local architectural style. The guard rooms also contained an armoury, store, rest room and lavatories. Those associated with underground operations blocks featured a projecting rear annex that housed a stairwell leading down to an access tunnel.
Aerial photography from 1965 shows the R3 operations bunker at the site, as well as a Type 13, a Type 7 and four Type 14 radar plinths. A range of ancillary buildings survive. The area is part of an active base and museum. In March 1947 the station was established as a Sector Operations Centre. Between 1961 to 1963 the station was reduced to care and maintenance and was then reopened as a Master Radar Station. A fire in 1966 destroyed the underground operations complex and the station was closed until 1974 with a new data-handling system occupying the original Happidrome. In 1994 the Air Defence Radar Museum opened at the site, which also continues to serve as an operational base.
Personal experience of working at Neatishead communicated by email states ''I was posted there as a sgt in 1973 and it was fully operational, T85, T84, HF200 and more all working. Furthermore, the other half of my Locking entry was posted there in 1971 and all worked on the operational radars, txs and rxs. I left in 1976 and visited again in 1977. T85, stuff of legends, 60Mw with all 12 Txs running''. Detailed history of the 50 years of the founding of RAF Neatishead 1941-1991. R30 operations room, R12 Radar equipment building and R3 underground operations block; Listed. For the designation records of this site please see The National Heritage List for England. Decommissioned 2006 and sold. Feb 2013, 25 acres of the site were again sold. The Air Defence Radar Museum was not part of the sale.
Information sourced from — www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?ui...
Bunk beds that may have been used in a nuclear shelter.
50 years after the Cuban Missile Crisis, the National Museum of Flight will take you back in time to experience what life was like in the middle of the Cold War.
Find out more about the Cold War Experience here.
The Rotor programme was developed to advance the wartime radar technology in detecting and locating fast-flying jets. It was approved by the Air Council in June 1950. The first stage of the programme, Rotor 1, was to technically restore existing Chain Home, centrimetric early warning, Chain Home Extra Low and Ground Controlled Interception Stations and put them under the control of RAF Fighter Command. There were three main components to the Rotor Stations: the technical site, including the radars, operation blocks and other installations; the domestic site, where personnel were accommodated; and the stand-by set house, a reserve power supply. The technical site for RAF Neatishead Rotor Station was located at TG 346 184. Crew were accommodated at RAF Coltishall and the stand-by set house was located at TG 342 200.
The two main constructions at Rotor stations were the operations block and guardhouse. Operations blocks were the largest structures built at Rotor stations. They were constructed of reinforced concrete and designed to withstand 2,000lb bombs. The outer walls and roof of the Rotor operations blocks were 9ft 10in thick and the internal walls between 5.9in to 1ft 11in metres wide. The exterior was coated with an asphalt damp course and surrounded by a 5.9in brick wall. The roof was usually flush with the ground surface and up to 14 ft 2in of earth was mounded on top. The operations blocks, identified by a 'R' prefix, contained technical equipment, domestic facilities, workshops and a plant for air conditioning and gas filtration, all within a single complex.
Four of the blocks (R1-R4) were underground constructions designed for the more vulnerable sites on the east and south-east coasts. Others were semi-submerged (R6) or above ground (R5, R7-R11) heavily protected structures built to withstand 1,000lb bombs. The guardhouses were designed to resemble ''bungalows''. They were single-storey buildings capped with a flat, concrete roof, above which a pitched roof contained water tanks. They were generally constructed of brick, but were built to blend in with the local architectural style. The guard rooms also contained an armoury, store, rest room and lavatories. Those associated with underground operations blocks featured a projecting rear annex that housed a stairwell leading down to an access tunnel.
Aerial photography from 1965 shows the R3 operations bunker at the site, as well as a Type 13, a Type 7 and four Type 14 radar plinths. A range of ancillary buildings survive. The area is part of an active base and museum. In March 1947 the station was established as a Sector Operations Centre. Between 1961 to 1963 the station was reduced to care and maintenance and was then reopened as a Master Radar Station. A fire in 1966 destroyed the underground operations complex and the station was closed until 1974 with a new data-handling system occupying the original Happidrome. In 1994 the Air Defence Radar Museum opened at the site, which also continues to serve as an operational base.
Personal experience of working at Neatishead communicated by email states ''I was posted there as a sgt in 1973 and it was fully operational, T85, T84, HF200 and more all working. Furthermore, the other half of my Locking entry was posted there in 1971 and all worked on the operational radars, txs and rxs. I left in 1976 and visited again in 1977. T85, stuff of legends, 60Mw with all 12 Txs running''. Detailed history of the 50 years of the founding of RAF Neatishead 1941-1991. R30 operations room, R12 Radar equipment building and R3 underground operations block; Listed. For the designation records of this site please see The National Heritage List for England. Decommissioned 2006 and sold. Feb 2013, 25 acres of the site were again sold. The Air Defence Radar Museum was not part of the sale.
Information sourced from — www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?ui...
No. 20 Group ROC Headquarters was built in 1961 and was part of a nationwide network of monitoring stations as a result of the Cold War. The bunker was maintained in a high state of readiness until stand-down in 1991. It wasn't a shelter to ride out the end of the world; it was for early warning and monitoring, and could accommodate a staff of 60 and be self-sufficient for only 30 days. The canteen is, unsurprisingly, adjacent to the kitchen, and was where the staff would have spent their time when neither sleeping nor on their active duty shift. For the purposes of the tour, it's the location of a short field giving an overview of the Cold War.
Casper Mather's description of the totem pole he carved:
"This totem I carve to show how the world is now. At the bottom of the pole is the world. The long zigzag crack shows how it is divided into two parts. The Russian bear crouches on top of the world and growls. He think it belong to him. Big Chief Stalin is in top of the world. He is fierce, warlike chief. He want whole world to do as he say. The British Lion is above Stalin. he roars and show teeth. He always ready to fight enemies. Big Chief Winston Churchill is on top of British Lion. He lead people in big fight. He all time smoke big cigar. American Eagle above Churchill. Eagle very powerful and swift on wing. He come to help England win big war. Big American Chief, Harry Truman, look very stern. He hate war; wants peace. He says all peoples must be free. I hope some day there will be no cracks in the world."
The Angel Flight Annual BBQ occurs in June every year at the Byron Airport in California to benefit the organization. This year it was hosted by Randy Howell in the Patriots Jet Team’s hangar where participants were able to get up close and personal with the aircraft and talk to the team members about their role in the organization.
More information for both organizations can be found at www.angelflightwest.org and patriotsjetteam.com which as their scheduled appearances.
During one of my explores I came across a very well built and solid structure with blast doors. Apparently it was used as a listing post for soviet planes during the cold war.
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.
No. 20 Group ROC Headquarters was built in 1961 and was part of a nationwide network of monitoring stations as a result of the Cold War. The bunker was maintained in a high state of readiness until stand-down in 1991. It wasn't a shelter to ride out the end of the world; it was for early warning and monitoring, and could accommodate a staff of 60 and be self-sufficient for only 30 days. The canteen is, unsurprisingly, adjacent to the kitchen, and was where the staff would have spent their time when neither sleeping nor on their active duty shift. For the purposes of the tour, it's the location of a short field giving an overview of the Cold War.
The BTR-40 is a 4-wheel drive vehicle that entered production in the Soviet Union in 1951 to meet their requirement for the role of a personnel carrier. This role had hitherto been filled by using the U.S White Scout Car which has come similarities.
Variants of the BTW-40 included the BTR-40V with a central tyre pressure system; the BTR-40A fitted with a turret equipped with twin 14.5mm machine guns; the BTR-40B with overhead armour protection; the BTR-40KH a chemical reconnaissance vehicle and the BTR-40ZHD with steel wheels for running on railway lines.
This particular vehicle was supplied to the Syrian Forces from whom it was captured by the Israelis in 1978 at the ''Battle of Golan Heights''. The Israelis continued to use it until eventually it was disabled and burnt out. It was later restored by the Museum.
Specifications -
▪︎Weight: 4.8 tons
▪︎Crew: 2 - driver and commander plus 8 soldiers
▪︎Armament: 1 x central 7.62mm machine gun and 2 more on side pintles
▪︎Armour: 8mm of welded steel
▪︎Range: 180 miles
▪︎Speed: 50mph.
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.
Avro 698 Vulcan B2 XM598 inside the Cold War Hangar at Cosford. Taken on 13 June 2010 during the annual airshow.
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.