View allAll Photos Tagged storagefacility
30ft ENCLOSED WATCH TOWER –
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).
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.
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.
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.
Oil field storage tanks on Kansas countryside taken on a sunny winter day
** ( Stock Image ) **
Copyright © Donald D Deck. All rights reserved.
For more Oil and Gas photos please visit My Oil, Gas, and Electric Collection
Additional information and hi-res originals may be found by viisiting D Deck Photography.
Please contact me if you have any questions. (or) visit
for more information about us.
Thank you for visiting.
Oil field storage tanks on Kansas countryside taken on a sunny winter day
** ( Stock Image ) **
Copyright © Donald D Deck. All rights reserved.
For more Oil and Gas photos please visit My Oil, Gas, and Electric Collection
Additional information and hi-res originals may be found by viisiting D Deck Photography.
Please contact me if you have any questions. (or) visit
for more information about us.
Thank you for visiting.
30ft ENCLOSED WATCH TOWER –
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).
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.
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.
Information sourced from – rafbarnham-nss.weebly.com/security.html
NON-NUCLEAR COMPONENT STORES BUILDING 61 –
Building 61 (Drg No. 1245/53) is a Non-Nuclear Component Stores with attached concrete gantry on four columns projecting over the road to the front (west). Reasons for Designation Building 61 is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
▪︎RARITY – A rare building on a unique site designed to accommodate and service Britain's first nuclear weapon, the ''Blue Danube''. It is the only such surviving facility in the country.
▪︎HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION – The building has outstanding national and international interest for its historical associations with the development of the earliest British nuclear weapons technology during the Cold War, which helped shape Britain's post-war history.
▪︎GROUP VALUE – The building has strong group value with other buildings at RAF Barnham, and was part of the national deployment of nuclear weapons.
▪︎INTACTNESS – Building 61 is largely intact.
Non-nuclear component stores buildings 60 and 61, held the high explosive part of the bomb and its outer casing. The central section of the casing held the high explosive lenses assembled into a large ball with forward sections containing electronics and radars. Owing to the weight and size of ''Blue Danube'', the gantry at the entrance was required to manoeuvre the bomb onto a trolley for storage. Building 61 is currently used as small work units and has blockwork partitioning which is reversible.
▪︎MATERIALS – A reinforced concrete frame and blockwork walls, and a flat concrete roof. ▪︎PLAN – Rectangular, aligned approximately east-west.
▪︎EXTERIOR – Building 61 is surrounded by substantial earth bunds. It has a central recessed entrance flanked by two projecting two storey, flat roofed plant and switch rooms which originally contained plant to maintain a stable environment. The original steel doors remain. The rear elevation has a central door and there are crittall windows to the rear and sides.
▪︎INTERIOR – Originally sub-divided internally into compartments of 11ft x 3ft bays allowing the storage of up to 66 bombs, Building 61 has been partitioned internally to create smaller work units.
Although the site was in use for storage of Mustard Gas and explosives during World War II, it was not until after the end of hostilities that the depot was constructed in its current form. In the early 1950's, the Air Ministry had a continuing need for high explosive bombs and storage facilities for them and was looking ahead to a ''future war in which atomic and thermo-nuclear weapons would be used by both sides''. It is within this historic context that the Special Storage Unit at RAF Barnham was constructed following the issuing of ''Blue Danube'', Britain's first nuclear bomb, to the RAF in November 1953.
The bombs were held in clutches in V-bomber airfields such as RAF Scampton and RAF Wittering and the purpose of the store at RAF Barnham, and the almost identical site at RAF Faldingwoth in Lincolnshire, was to provide maintenance and refurbishment to support the airfields and hold spare warheads. The Air Ministry plan for the Store is dated May 1953, although planning for the facility almost certainly had started before this, and it was fully operational by July 1954. In the first phase of works, the fences, earthworks, fissile core storage hutches, inspection buildings and gantries were built by August 1955.
The small arms and pyrotechnics store, barrack accommodation, gymnasium, telephone exchange, meat preparation store and dog compound were erected shortly after to strengthen security. By mid 1955 the double fence was in place, later augmented by the current observation towers erected in early 1959 replacing smaller structures. The Special Storage Unit remained the main holding place for the Mk. 1 Atomic Bomb, under control of Bomber Command until November 1956 when an independent Unit (95 Commanding Maintenance Unit) was formed. During the operational life of the site, second and third generation British nuclear weapons such as ''Red Beard'' and ''Yellow Sun'' were introduced on the site.
By 1962, the site was in decline and the maintenance unit ceased to exist on 31st July 1963. The closure of the station is probably linked to the operational deployment of ''Blue Steel'' from late 1962. The site was sold to the current owners in 1966 and let out for light industrial use. Some of the buildings have been altered and most significantly, one of the non-nuclear stores burnt down in the 1980’s, but there has been an on-going maintenance and repair programme agreed with English Heritage resulting in the preservation of the site.
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 BLUE DANUBE ATOMIC BOMB –
The ''Blue Danube'' was a very large weapon, 24ft in length and weighing 10,000 lb. For storage it was broken down into three main sections, the nose, the central section containing a 5ft diameter sphere of explosives, weighing nearly 2½ tons, and the tail section. For safety reasons the Plutonium Fissile Cores were kept separately. The sites pentagonal structure consists of three giant stores for storing the bomb and four plantations of small sheds in which Fissile Cores were stored.
One of the giant stores was destroyed by a fire. To assemble the bomb the core would be picked up on a hand trolley and taken to a central assembly building to be matched with its body. Whenever a fission trigger was moved, a klaxon would sound, and everyone on the site would have to freeze motionless. The storage of Nuclear Weapons probably ceased at RAF Barnham in spring 1963. In 1965 the site was offered for Public sale. (taken from site information board).
The first Blue Danube was delivered to RAF Wittering in November 1953 although there were no aircraft equipped to carry it until the following year. No. 1321 Flight RAF was established at RAF Wittering in April 1954 as a Vickers Valiant unit to introduce the Blue Danube nuclear weapon into RAF service. Declassified archives show that 58 were produced, before production shifted in 1958 to the smaller and more capable ''Red Beard'' weapon, which could accept the Blue Danube core and be carried by smaller aircraft than the V-bomber fleet. Blue Danube was retired from service in 1962.
Blue Danube was the first operational British nuclear weapon, the RAF V-bomber Force was meant to use Blue Danube at a time when the first hydrogen bomb had not yet been detonated, and the British military planners still believed that an atomic war could be fought and won using atomic bombs of a similar yield to the Hiroshima bomb dropped by the U.S. to end the Second World War. For that reason the stockpile originally planned was for up to 800 bombs with yields of approximately 10-12 kilotons.
V-bomber bomb bays were sized to carry Blue Danube, the smallest-size nuclear bomb that was possible to be designed given the technology of the day (1947) when their plans were formulated. Initial designs for the Blue Danube warhead were based on research derived from ''Hurricane'', the first British fission device (which was not designed nor employed as a weapon) tested in 1952. The actual Blue Danube warhead was proof-tested at the Marcoo (surface) and Kite (air-drop) nuclear trials sites in Maralinga, Australia, by a team of Australian, British and Canadian scientists in late 1956.
Blue Danube added a ballistically shaped casing to the existing Hurricane physics package, with four flip-fins to ensure a stable ballistic trajectory from the planned release height of 50,000ft. The flip fins were needed to allow it to fit in the carrying aircraft's bomb bay. It initially used a plutonium core, but all service versions were modified to use a composite plutonium/ U-235 core. A version was also tested with a uranium-only core. The service chiefs insisted on a yield of between 10-12 kT for 2 reasons. Firstly to minimise usage of scarce and expensive fissile material; and secondly to minimise the risk of predetonation, a phenomenon then little understood and the primary reason for using a composite core of concentric shells of plutonium and U-235.
Major deficiencies with Blue Danube included the use of unreliable lead-acid accumulators to supply power to the firing circuits and radar altimeters. Later weapons used the more reliable ram-air turbine-generators or thermal batteries. Blue Danube was not engineered as a weapon equipped to withstand the rigours of service life. It was really a scientific experiment on a gigantic scale, which needed to be re-engineered to meet service requirements. That re-engineered weapon became Red Beard. A similar account could be written of the first U.S. atomic bomb, ''Fat Man'', which was quickly re-engineered after World War II.
Information sourced from – rafbarnham-nss.weebly.com/blue-danube.html
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
June 1972, Guam --- The Andersen Air Force Base on Guam Island from where the B-52 Stratofortress planes take off for Vietnam. 750lb (pound) bomb prime detonator. --- Image by © JP Laffont/Sygma/Corbis
06/13/10 - A gasoline storage tank burns in Greensboro early Sunday morning after a lightning storm ignited the tank. The facility runs along I-40 which has been closed in both directions until officials can extinguish the flames. (AP Photo/Brad Coville, Burlington Times-News)
NON-NUCLEAR COMPONENT STORES BUILDING 61 –
Building 61 (Drg No. 1245/53) is a Non-Nuclear Component Stores with attached concrete gantry on four columns projecting over the road to the front (west). Reasons for Designation Building 61 is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
▪︎RARITY – A rare building on a unique site designed to accommodate and service Britain's first nuclear weapon, the ''Blue Danube''. It is the only such surviving facility in the country.
▪︎HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION – The building has outstanding national and international interest for its historical associations with the development of the earliest British nuclear weapons technology during the Cold War, which helped shape Britain's post-war history.
▪︎GROUP VALUE – The building has strong group value with other buildings at RAF Barnham, and was part of the national deployment of nuclear weapons.
▪︎INTACTNESS – Building 61 is largely intact.
Non-nuclear component stores buildings 60 and 61, held the high explosive part of the bomb and its outer casing. The central section of the casing held the high explosive lenses assembled into a large ball with forward sections containing electronics and radars. Owing to the weight and size of ''Blue Danube'', the gantry at the entrance was required to manoeuvre the bomb onto a trolley for storage. Building 61 is currently used as small work units and has blockwork partitioning which is reversible.
▪︎MATERIALS – A reinforced concrete frame and blockwork walls, and a flat concrete roof. ▪︎PLAN – Rectangular, aligned approximately east-west.
▪︎EXTERIOR – Building 61 is surrounded by substantial earth bunds. It has a central recessed entrance flanked by two projecting two storey, flat roofed plant and switch rooms which originally contained plant to maintain a stable environment. The original steel doors remain. The rear elevation has a central door and there are crittall windows to the rear and sides.
▪︎INTERIOR – Originally sub-divided internally into compartments of 11ft x 3ft bays allowing the storage of up to 66 bombs, Building 61 has been partitioned internally to create smaller work units.
Although the site was in use for storage of Mustard Gas and explosives during World War II, it was not until after the end of hostilities that the depot was constructed in its current form. In the early 1950's, the Air Ministry had a continuing need for high explosive bombs and storage facilities for them and was looking ahead to a ''future war in which atomic and thermo-nuclear weapons would be used by both sides''. It is within this historic context that the Special Storage Unit at RAF Barnham was constructed following the issuing of ''Blue Danube'', Britain's first nuclear bomb, to the RAF in November 1953.
The bombs were held in clutches in V-bomber airfields such as RAF Scampton and RAF Wittering and the purpose of the store at RAF Barnham, and the almost identical site at RAF Faldingwoth in Lincolnshire, was to provide maintenance and refurbishment to support the airfields and hold spare warheads. The Air Ministry plan for the Store is dated May 1953, although planning for the facility almost certainly had started before this, and it was fully operational by July 1954. In the first phase of works, the fences, earthworks, fissile core storage hutches, inspection buildings and gantries were built by August 1955.
The small arms and pyrotechnics store, barrack accommodation, gymnasium, telephone exchange, meat preparation store and dog compound were erected shortly after to strengthen security. By mid 1955 the double fence was in place, later augmented by the current observation towers erected in early 1959 replacing smaller structures. The Special Storage Unit remained the main holding place for the Mk. 1 Atomic Bomb, under control of Bomber Command until November 1956 when an independent Unit (95 Commanding Maintenance Unit) was formed. During the operational life of the site, second and third generation British nuclear weapons such as ''Red Beard'' and ''Yellow Sun'' were introduced on the site.
By 1962, the site was in decline and the maintenance unit ceased to exist on 31st July 1963. The closure of the station is probably linked to the operational deployment of ''Blue Steel'' from late 1962. The site was sold to the current owners in 1966 and let out for light industrial use. Some of the buildings have been altered and most significantly, one of the non-nuclear stores burnt down in the 1980’s, but there has been an on-going maintenance and repair programme agreed with English Heritage resulting in the preservation of the site.
TELEPHONE EXCHANGE BUILDING 78 –
The is small prefabricated Seco bulding (W.A.Drg) is a prefabricated building system first devised by Utii-Seco Structures Limited in 1942. Buildings were formed from pre-fabricated hollow plywood beams, columns, and eave pieces. Wall and roof units were formed of timber frames covered with flat asbestos sheets, the cavity between the facing sheets filled with a mixture of cement and wood wool. Door and window units, in this case a Crittall type, were also supplied. (English Heritage).
RAF Barnham (also known as Barnham Camp) is a Royal Air Force station situated in Suffolk two miles south of Thetford, it is located to the north of the village of Barnham on Thetford Heaths, the camp is a satellite station of RAF Honington. During the 1950's and 1960's a part of RAF Barnham Station was set aside as high-security storage facility for Nuclear Weapons, this area of the site is now a scheduled monument. Earlier than that, RAF Barnham had been used as a Chemical Weapons Store and Filling Station from the 22nd August 1939. In the early 1960's, the Nuclear Weapons Storage facility was put up for sale, and now forms the privately owned Gorse Industrial Estate.
The Chemical Weapon Store and former Chemical Weapon Filling Station are situated down the dead-end Station Road. The present main gate of RAF Barnham can be found directly off the Bury Road A134 between Barnham village and Thetford, the entrance to the former Nuclear Weapons Store (now Gorse Industrial Estate) can be found on the Elveden Road between Barnham village and the old A11.
Military facilities have existed at Barnham since the First World War, and during the Second World War Barnham had been a Chemical Weapons Storage and Filling Station for Mustard Gas. During 1953 and 1954 construction began on a high-security RAF Bomb Store on the Thetford Heath. The site was to become known as RAF Barnham and construction was completed in 1955 with the site operational from September 1956. RAF Barnham was constructed as a sister-site to a similar facility constructed a few years before at RAF Faldingworth. Both sites were built to store and maintain Free-Fall Nuclear Bombs and RAF Barnham was able to supply the Bomber Squadrons at RAF Honington, RAF Marham, RAF Watton, RAF Wyton, RAF Upwood and RAF Bassingbourn, RAF Barnham came under the control of the RAF's No. 94 Maintenance Unit.
The operational life of RAF Barnham was relatively short, by the early 1960's this type of Storage Facility became obsolete as Free-Fall Nuclear Bombs were superseded as the weapon of choice, for the British Nuclear Deterrent, by the Blue Steel Stand-Off Missile. The storage and maintenance of Nuclear Weapons moved to the V Bomber Airfields. The last Nuclear Weapons were probably removed from the site by April 1963, the site was sold in 1966, and since that date it has been used as a light industrial estate.
The site was built specifically to store and maintain Free-Fall Nuclear Bombs, such as 'Blue Danube' this specific purpose was reflected in the facility's layout, the site was roughly pentagonal in shape, it consisted of three large Non-Nuclear Component Stores, surrounded by earthwork banking and a number of smaller Storage Buildings to hold the Fissile Cores, the Cores were held in Stainless Steel Containers sunk into the ground, with the larger buildings stored the Bomb Casings and the High-Explosive elements of the weapons.
The smaller Stores known as ''Hutches'' were constructed to hold the Fissile Core of the weapons, these Hutches were further divided into type 'A' and 'B'. The 'A' Type hutches having a single borehole for the storage of Plutonium Cores and the 'B' Type Hutches having a double borehole for storing the Cobalt cores. In total, there were 55 Hutches giving enough capacity to store 64 Fissile Cores. RAF Barnham had sufficient storage capacity for 132 Fissile Cores although it's likely that only a small number were ever stored there as only 25 Blue Danube Bombs were ever built at a cost of £1M per bomb !
In addition to the storage buildings, the site consisted of a number of other buildings including a Fire Station, RAF Police Flight, Administration Block, Mess block, Mechanical Transport Section, Kennels and Workshops. The Perimeter of the Site was protected by a double system of Chain Link Fencing and an Inner Concrete Panel Wall, all of which were topped with Barbed Wire. In 1959 security was enhanced by the building of Watch Towers around the Perimeter.
The former Nuclear Bomb Storage facilities are designated as a scheduled monument by English Heritage with several buildings on the site having listed building status. RAF Barnham is a Satellite Station for RAF Honington and is used by the RAF Regiment for training, It is used as an accommodation and training venue for the Potential Gunners Acquaintance Course (PGAC) The adjacent MoD Training Area remains the property of the Ministry of Defence and is still used by the RAF Regiment, as well as the Air Training Corps and Combined Cadet Force for training.
In January 2016, it was announced that RAF Barnham would close, A 'Better Defence Estate' published in November 2016, indicates that the Ministry of Defence will dispose of the site by 2020, domestic accommodation will be relocated to RAF Honington, with access to Barnham Training Area maintained, this was later extended to 2022.
Information sourced from – en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Barnham
NON-NUCLEAR COMPONENT STORES BUILDING 61 –
Building 61 (Drg No. 1245/53) is a Non-Nuclear Component Stores with attached concrete gantry on four columns projecting over the road to the front (west). Reasons for Designation Building 61 is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
▪︎RARITY – A rare building on a unique site designed to accommodate and service Britain's first nuclear weapon, the ''Blue Danube''. It is the only such surviving facility in the country.
▪︎HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION – The building has outstanding national and international interest for its historical associations with the development of the earliest British nuclear weapons technology during the Cold War, which helped shape Britain's post-war history.
▪︎GROUP VALUE – The building has strong group value with other buildings at RAF Barnham, and was part of the national deployment of nuclear weapons.
▪︎INTACTNESS – Building 61 is largely intact.
Non-nuclear component stores buildings 60 and 61, held the high explosive part of the bomb and its outer casing. The central section of the casing held the high explosive lenses assembled into a large ball with forward sections containing electronics and radars. Owing to the weight and size of ''Blue Danube'', the gantry at the entrance was required to manoeuvre the bomb onto a trolley for storage. Building 61 is currently used as small work units and has blockwork partitioning which is reversible.
▪︎MATERIALS – A reinforced concrete frame and blockwork walls, and a flat concrete roof. ▪︎PLAN – Rectangular, aligned approximately east-west.
▪︎EXTERIOR – Building 61 is surrounded by substantial earth bunds. It has a central recessed entrance flanked by two projecting two storey, flat roofed plant and switch rooms which originally contained plant to maintain a stable environment. The original steel doors remain. The rear elevation has a central door and there are crittall windows to the rear and sides.
▪︎INTERIOR – Originally sub-divided internally into compartments of 11ft x 3ft bays allowing the storage of up to 66 bombs, Building 61 has been partitioned internally to create smaller work units.
Although the site was in use for storage of Mustard Gas and explosives during World War II, it was not until after the end of hostilities that the depot was constructed in its current form. In the early 1950's, the Air Ministry had a continuing need for high explosive bombs and storage facilities for them and was looking ahead to a ''future war in which atomic and thermo-nuclear weapons would be used by both sides''. It is within this historic context that the Special Storage Unit at RAF Barnham was constructed following the issuing of ''Blue Danube'', Britain's first nuclear bomb, to the RAF in November 1953.
The bombs were held in clutches in V-bomber airfields such as RAF Scampton and RAF Wittering and the purpose of the store at RAF Barnham, and the almost identical site at RAF Faldingwoth in Lincolnshire, was to provide maintenance and refurbishment to support the airfields and hold spare warheads. The Air Ministry plan for the Store is dated May 1953, although planning for the facility almost certainly had started before this, and it was fully operational by July 1954. In the first phase of works, the fences, earthworks, fissile core storage hutches, inspection buildings and gantries were built by August 1955.
The small arms and pyrotechnics store, barrack accommodation, gymnasium, telephone exchange, meat preparation store and dog compound were erected shortly after to strengthen security. By mid 1955 the double fence was in place, later augmented by the current observation towers erected in early 1959 replacing smaller structures. The Special Storage Unit remained the main holding place for the Mk. 1 Atomic Bomb, under control of Bomber Command until November 1956 when an independent Unit (95 Commanding Maintenance Unit) was formed. During the operational life of the site, second and third generation British nuclear weapons such as ''Red Beard'' and ''Yellow Sun'' were introduced on the site.
By 1962, the site was in decline and the maintenance unit ceased to exist on 31st July 1963. The closure of the station is probably linked to the operational deployment of ''Blue Steel'' from late 1962. The site was sold to the current owners in 1966 and let out for light industrial use. Some of the buildings have been altered and most significantly, one of the non-nuclear stores burnt down in the 1980’s, but there has been an on-going maintenance and repair programme agreed with English Heritage resulting in the preservation of the site.
June 1972, Guam --- The Andersen Air Force Base on Guam Island from where the B-52 Stratofortress planes take off for Vietnam. 700lb (pound) bombs are loaded into the hold of a B-52. --- Image by © JP Laffont/Sygma/Corbis
06/13/10 - A firefighter sits in his SUV as a massive fire in a gasoline storage facility burns early Sunday morning in Greensboro. Officials received a call at 12:45 A.M. after a driver on I-40 called 911 reporting the blaze. The Greensboro Fire Department called in assistance from other agencies as they attempt to extinguish the flames. Interstate 40 has been closed in both directions until the fire is brought under control. (AP Photo/Brad Coville, Burlington Times-News)
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.
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 BLUE DANUBE ATOMIC BOMB –
The ''Blue Danube'' was a very large weapon, 24ft in length and weighing 10,000 lb. For storage it was broken down into three main sections, the nose, the central section containing a 5ft diameter sphere of explosives, weighing nearly 2½ tons, and the tail section. For safety reasons the Plutonium Fissile Cores were kept separately. The sites pentagonal structure consists of three giant stores for storing the bomb and four plantations of small sheds in which Fissile Cores were stored.
One of the giant stores was destroyed by a fire. To assemble the bomb the core would be picked up on a hand trolley and taken to a central assembly building to be matched with its body. Whenever a fission trigger was moved, a klaxon would sound, and everyone on the site would have to freeze motionless. The storage of Nuclear Weapons probably ceased at RAF Barnham in spring 1963. In 1965 the site was offered for Public sale. (taken from site information board).
The first Blue Danube was delivered to RAF Wittering in November 1953 although there were no aircraft equipped to carry it until the following year. No. 1321 Flight RAF was established at RAF Wittering in April 1954 as a Vickers Valiant unit to introduce the Blue Danube nuclear weapon into RAF service. Declassified archives show that 58 were produced, before production shifted in 1958 to the smaller and more capable ''Red Beard'' weapon, which could accept the Blue Danube core and be carried by smaller aircraft than the V-bomber fleet. Blue Danube was retired from service in 1962.
Blue Danube was the first operational British nuclear weapon, the RAF V-bomber Force was meant to use Blue Danube at a time when the first hydrogen bomb had not yet been detonated, and the British military planners still believed that an atomic war could be fought and won using atomic bombs of a similar yield to the Hiroshima bomb dropped by the U.S. to end the Second World War. For that reason the stockpile originally planned was for up to 800 bombs with yields of approximately 10-12 kilotons.
V-bomber bomb bays were sized to carry Blue Danube, the smallest-size nuclear bomb that was possible to be designed given the technology of the day (1947) when their plans were formulated. Initial designs for the Blue Danube warhead were based on research derived from ''Hurricane'', the first British fission device (which was not designed nor employed as a weapon) tested in 1952. The actual Blue Danube warhead was proof-tested at the Marcoo (surface) and Kite (air-drop) nuclear trials sites in Maralinga, Australia, by a team of Australian, British and Canadian scientists in late 1956.
Blue Danube added a ballistically shaped casing to the existing Hurricane physics package, with four flip-fins to ensure a stable ballistic trajectory from the planned release height of 50,000ft. The flip fins were needed to allow it to fit in the carrying aircraft's bomb bay. It initially used a plutonium core, but all service versions were modified to use a composite plutonium/ U-235 core. A version was also tested with a uranium-only core. The service chiefs insisted on a yield of between 10-12 kT for 2 reasons. Firstly to minimise usage of scarce and expensive fissile material; and secondly to minimise the risk of predetonation, a phenomenon then little understood and the primary reason for using a composite core of concentric shells of plutonium and U-235.
Major deficiencies with Blue Danube included the use of unreliable lead-acid accumulators to supply power to the firing circuits and radar altimeters. Later weapons used the more reliable ram-air turbine-generators or thermal batteries. Blue Danube was not engineered as a weapon equipped to withstand the rigours of service life. It was really a scientific experiment on a gigantic scale, which needed to be re-engineered to meet service requirements. That re-engineered weapon became Red Beard. A similar account could be written of the first U.S. atomic bomb, ''Fat Man'', which was quickly re-engineered after World War II.
Information sourced from – rafbarnham-nss.weebly.com/blue-danube.html
NON-NUCLEAR COMPONENT STORES BUILDING 60 –
The function of the non-nuclear component stores was to hold the high explosive part of the bomb and its outer casing. The casing could probably be split into two units, the tail and forward part containing the high explosive and electronics. The bombs, minus their fissile components, were housed in three almost identical stores buildings 59-61, known as Storage Building Type 'D-D'. These are arranged in an arrowhead pattern, and are accessed from the internal loop road, and are all surrounded by 14ft 6in high earth traverses, revetted by a reinforced concrete retaining wall against the roadway.
The western store, building 59 was gutted by a fire during the 1980's and has subsequently been demolished. Its floor plan remains visible on the remaining concrete floor slab. The two remaining stores, buildings 60 and 61 are rectangular in plan, and are constructed from reinforced concrete columns and beams. Internally there are two rows of columns, 13in², which support the roof beams, 2ft by 9in, which carry the 9in thick reinforced concrete roof slab which is covered with bituminous felt. The rainwater gutters and down pipes are cast asbestos.
The wall sections are filled with 18in by 9in by 9in precast concrete blocks, internally the main storage area measures 190ft 2½in by 60ft. It is divided longitudinally into eleven 17ft by 3ft bays and cross ways into three bays the outer bays measure 17ft 6in and the central bay is 25ft wide. The maximum clear internal height was 12ft from the floor to the underside of the roof beams. The floor is surfaced with a hard gritless asphalt with the patent name 'Ironite'. The walls are painted pale green colour and the ceiling cream. in store building 61 the bay letters 0, N, M, and L are visible on the rear columns on the eastern side, suggesting the store was divided into 22 bays along the outer walls.
Abutting on to the front of the stores, and flanking the entrances, are plant and switch rooms, which originally contained heating and air conditioning plant to maintain a stable environment within the stores. A raised air extract duct is placed asymmetrically on the roofs of the stores. Entry into the stores is through a 10ft wide door opening with 12ft high doors. In the rear wall of the stores is a single door width, outward opening emergency exit. The first nuclear weapon the store was designed to hold was relatively large, a ''Blue Danube'' bomb measured 24ft in length and weighed 10,000lbs.
The problems of handling such large objects are reflected in the provision of substantial lifting gantries at the entrance to each store. Two variants are found, the simplest, exemplified by the middle store building 60 comprises a straight gantry. Over the roadway the gantry is supported by four 24in by 18in reinforced concrete columns, which support two 51in by 24in reinforced concrete beams. The upper beams of the gantry taper towards the entrance to the store where they are suppurted by two reinforced concrete columns. On the underside of the gantry is attached a 20in by 6½in rolled steel joist runway beam which runs to the entrance to the building. This was originally fitted with a 10 ton hoist. The gantry is covered by asbestos sheeting to provide a dry working area.
On the eastern and western stores the gantries were set at 30° to the front of the stores. In this variant an extra set of columns was placed at the 30° dogleg. Internally there is no evidence for a runway beam, so it presumed the bombs were lifted off a road transporter and loaded onto a bomb trolley for storage. It is not known how many bombs were kept in each store, or if the tail units were separated from the front part of the bomb for storage. Subsequent to the site being relinquished by the RAF a central corridor has been created in the stores by the insertion of breeze block walls. Doors in these walls give access to workshops along either side of the buildings. External windows have also been inserted in some of the bays.
Information sourced from English Heritage.
NUCLEAR WEAPON STORAGE FACILITY –
RAF Barnham (also known as Barnham Camp) is a Royal Air Force station situated in Suffolk two miles south of Thetford, it is located to the north of the village of Barnham on Thetford Heaths, the camp is a satellite station of RAF Honington. During the 1950's and 1960's a part of RAF Barnham Station was set aside as high-security storage facility for Nuclear Weapons, this area of the site is now a scheduled monument. Earlier than that, RAF Barnham had been used as a Chemical Weapons Store and Filling Station from the 22nd August 1939. In the early 1960's, the Nuclear Weapons Storage facility was put up for sale, and now forms the privately owned Gorse Industrial Estate.
The Chemical Weapon Store and former Chemical Weapon Filling Station are situated down the dead-end Station Road. The present main gate of RAF Barnham can be found directly off the Bury Road A134 between Barnham village and Thetford, the entrance to the former Nuclear Weapons Store (now Gorse Industrial Estate) can be found on the Elveden Road between Barnham village and the old A11.
Military facilities have existed at Barnham since the First World War, and during the Second World War Barnham had been a Chemical Weapons Storage and Filling Station for Mustard Gas. During 1953 and 1954 construction began on a high-security RAF Bomb Store on the Thetford Heath. The site was to become known as RAF Barnham and construction was completed in 1955 with the site operational from September 1956. RAF Barnham was constructed as a sister-site to a similar facility constructed a few years before at RAF Faldingworth. Both sites were built to store and maintain Free-Fall Nuclear Bombs and RAF Barnham was able to supply the Bomber Squadrons at RAF Honington, RAF Marham, RAF Watton, RAF Wyton, RAF Upwood and RAF Bassingbourn, RAF Barnham came under the control of the RAF's No. 94 Maintenance Unit.
The operational life of RAF Barnham was relatively short, by the early 1960's this type of Storage Facility became obsolete as Free-Fall Nuclear Bombs were superseded as the weapon of choice, for the British Nuclear Deterrent, by the Blue Steel Stand-Off Missile. The storage and maintenance of Nuclear Weapons moved to the V Bomber Airfields. The last Nuclear Weapons were probably removed from the site by April 1963, the site was sold in 1966, and since that date it has been used as a light industrial estate.
The site was built specifically to store and maintain Free-Fall Nuclear Bombs, such as 'Blue Danube' this specific purpose was reflected in the facility's layout, the site was roughly pentagonal in shape, it consisted of three large Non-Nuclear Component Stores, surrounded by earthwork banking and a number of smaller Storage Buildings to hold the Fissile Cores, the Cores were held in Stainless Steel Containers sunk into the ground, with the larger buildings stored the Bomb Casings and the High-Explosive elements of the weapons.
The smaller Stores known as ''Hutches'' were constructed to hold the Fissile Core of the weapons, these Hutches were further divided into type 'A' and 'B'. The 'A' Type hutches having a single borehole for the storage of Plutonium Cores and the 'B' Type Hutches having a double borehole for storing the Cobalt cores. In total, there were 55 Hutches giving enough capacity to store 64 Fissile Cores. RAF Barnham had sufficient storage capacity for 132 Fissile Cores although it's likely that only a small number were ever stored there as only 25 Blue Danube Bombs were ever built at a cost of £1M per bomb !
In addition to the storage buildings, the site consisted of a number of other buildings including a Fire Station, RAF Police Flight, Administration Block, Mess block, Mechanical Transport Section, Kennels and Workshops. The Perimeter of the Site was protected by a double system of Chain Link Fencing and an Inner Concrete Panel Wall, all of which were topped with Barbed Wire. In 1959 security was enhanced by the building of Watch Towers around the Perimeter.
The former Nuclear Bomb Storage facilities are designated as a scheduled monument by English Heritage with several buildings on the site having listed building status. RAF Barnham is a Satellite Station for RAF Honington and is used by the RAF Regiment for training, It is used as an accommodation and training venue for the Potential Gunners Acquaintance Course (PGAC) The adjacent MoD Training Area remains the property of the Ministry of Defence and is still used by the RAF Regiment, as well as the Air Training Corps and Combined Cadet Force for training.
In January 2016, it was announced that RAF Barnham would close, A 'Better Defence Estate' published in November 2016, indicates that the Ministry of Defence will dispose of the site by 2020, domestic accommodation will be relocated to RAF Honington, with access to Barnham Training Area maintained, this was later extended to 2022.
Information sourced from – en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Barnham
NON-NUCLEAR COMPONENT STORES BUILDING 60 –
The function of the non-nuclear component stores was to hold the high explosive part of the bomb and its outer casing. The casing could probably be split into two units, the tail and forward part containing the high explosive and electronics. The bombs, minus their fissile components, were housed in three almost identical stores buildings 59-61, known as Storage Building Type 'D-D'. These are arranged in an arrowhead pattern, and are accessed from the internal loop road, and are all surrounded by 14ft 6in high earth traverses, revetted by a reinforced concrete retaining wall against the roadway.
The western store, building 59 was gutted by a fire during the 1980's and has subsequently been demolished. Its floor plan remains visible on the remaining concrete floor slab. The two remaining stores, buildings 60 and 61 are rectangular in plan, and are constructed from reinforced concrete columns and beams. Internally there are two rows of columns, 13in², which support the roof beams, 2ft by 9in, which carry the 9in thick reinforced concrete roof slab which is covered with bituminous felt. The rainwater gutters and down pipes are cast asbestos.
The wall sections are filled with 18in by 9in by 9in precast concrete blocks, internally the main storage area measures 190ft 2½in by 60ft. It is divided longitudinally into eleven 17ft by 3ft bays and cross ways into three bays the outer bays measure 17ft 6in and the central bay is 25ft wide. The maximum clear internal height was 12ft from the floor to the underside of the roof beams. The floor is surfaced with a hard gritless asphalt with the patent name 'Ironite'. The walls are painted pale green colour and the ceiling cream. in store building 61 the bay letters 0, N, M, and L are visible on the rear columns on the eastern side, suggesting the store was divided into 22 bays along the outer walls.
Abutting on to the front of the stores, and flanking the entrances, are plant and switch rooms, which originally contained heating and air conditioning plant to maintain a stable environment within the stores. A raised air extract duct is placed asymmetrically on the roofs of the stores. Entry into the stores is through a 10ft wide door opening with 12ft high doors. In the rear wall of the stores is a single door width, outward opening emergency exit. The first nuclear weapon the store was designed to hold was relatively large, a ''Blue Danube'' bomb measured 24ft in length and weighed 10,000lbs.
The problems of handling such large objects are reflected in the provision of substantial lifting gantries at the entrance to each store. Two variants are found, the simplest, exemplified by the middle store building 60 comprises a straight gantry. Over the roadway the gantry is supported by four 24in by 18in reinforced concrete columns, which support two 51in by 24in reinforced concrete beams. The upper beams of the gantry taper towards the entrance to the store where they are suppurted by two reinforced concrete columns. On the underside of the gantry is attached a 20in by 6½in rolled steel joist runway beam which runs to the entrance to the building. This was originally fitted with a 10 ton hoist. The gantry is covered by asbestos sheeting to provide a dry working area.
On the eastern and western stores the gantries were set at 30° to the front of the stores. In this variant an extra set of columns was placed at the 30° dogleg. Internally there is no evidence for a runway beam, so it presumed the bombs were lifted off a road transporter and loaded onto a bomb trolley for storage. It is not known how many bombs were kept in each store, or if the tail units were separated from the front part of the bomb for storage. Subsequent to the site being relinquished by the RAF a central corridor has been created in the stores by the insertion of breeze block walls. Doors in these walls give access to workshops along either side of the buildings. External windows have also been inserted in some of the bays.
Information sourced from English Heritage.
NON-NUCLEAR COMPONENT STORES BUILDING 61 –
Building 61 (Drg No. 1245/53) is a Non-Nuclear Component Stores with attached concrete gantry on four columns projecting over the road to the front (west). Reasons for Designation Building 61 is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
▪︎RARITY – A rare building on a unique site designed to accommodate and service Britain's first nuclear weapon, the ''Blue Danube''. It is the only such surviving facility in the country.
▪︎HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION – The building has outstanding national and international interest for its historical associations with the development of the earliest British nuclear weapons technology during the Cold War, which helped shape Britain's post-war history.
▪︎GROUP VALUE – The building has strong group value with other buildings at RAF Barnham, and was part of the national deployment of nuclear weapons.
▪︎INTACTNESS – Building 61 is largely intact.
Non-nuclear component stores buildings 60 and 61, held the high explosive part of the bomb and its outer casing. The central section of the casing held the high explosive lenses assembled into a large ball with forward sections containing electronics and radars. Owing to the weight and size of ''Blue Danube'', the gantry at the entrance was required to manoeuvre the bomb onto a trolley for storage. Building 61 is currently used as small work units and has blockwork partitioning which is reversible.
▪︎MATERIALS – A reinforced concrete frame and blockwork walls, and a flat concrete roof. ▪︎PLAN – Rectangular, aligned approximately east-west.
▪︎EXTERIOR – Building 61 is surrounded by substantial earth bunds. It has a central recessed entrance flanked by two projecting two storey, flat roofed plant and switch rooms which originally contained plant to maintain a stable environment. The original steel doors remain. The rear elevation has a central door and there are crittall windows to the rear and sides.
▪︎INTERIOR – Originally sub-divided internally into compartments of 11ft x 3ft bays allowing the storage of up to 66 bombs, Building 61 has been partitioned internally to create smaller work units.
Although the site was in use for storage of Mustard Gas and explosives during World War II, it was not until after the end of hostilities that the depot was constructed in its current form. In the early 1950's, the Air Ministry had a continuing need for high explosive bombs and storage facilities for them and was looking ahead to a ''future war in which atomic and thermo-nuclear weapons would be used by both sides''. It is within this historic context that the Special Storage Unit at RAF Barnham was constructed following the issuing of ''Blue Danube'', Britain's first nuclear bomb, to the RAF in November 1953.
The bombs were held in clutches in V-bomber airfields such as RAF Scampton and RAF Wittering and the purpose of the store at RAF Barnham, and the almost identical site at RAF Faldingwoth in Lincolnshire, was to provide maintenance and refurbishment to support the airfields and hold spare warheads. The Air Ministry plan for the Store is dated May 1953, although planning for the facility almost certainly had started before this, and it was fully operational by July 1954. In the first phase of works, the fences, earthworks, fissile core storage hutches, inspection buildings and gantries were built by August 1955.
The small arms and pyrotechnics store, barrack accommodation, gymnasium, telephone exchange, meat preparation store and dog compound were erected shortly after to strengthen security. By mid 1955 the double fence was in place, later augmented by the current observation towers erected in early 1959 replacing smaller structures. The Special Storage Unit remained the main holding place for the Mk. 1 Atomic Bomb, under control of Bomber Command until November 1956 when an independent Unit (95 Commanding Maintenance Unit) was formed. During the operational life of the site, second and third generation British nuclear weapons such as ''Red Beard'' and ''Yellow Sun'' were introduced on the site.
By 1962, the site was in decline and the maintenance unit ceased to exist on 31st July 1963. The closure of the station is probably linked to the operational deployment of ''Blue Steel'' from late 1962. The site was sold to the current owners in 1966 and let out for light industrial use. Some of the buildings have been altered and most significantly, one of the non-nuclear stores burnt down in the 1980’s, but there has been an on-going maintenance and repair programme agreed with English Heritage resulting in the preservation of the site.
30ft ENCLOSED WATCH TOWER –
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).
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.
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.
Information sourced from – rafbarnham-nss.weebly.com/security.html
MAINTENANCE BUILDING 58 –
To the rear of building 62, and separated from it by an earthwork traverse, is building 58 (Drg No. 1244/53) it is designated Storage Building 'C-D'. It is approached along paths which lead back towards the bomb stores and the main gate, the entrances to the store are shielded by freestanding breeze block walls. The construction of the building is similar to the non-nuclear component stores, buildings 59-61, being formed from reinforced concrete columns and beams infilled with block work. It is, however, taller than the stores, buildings 59-61 and stands 23ft 11i from floor to ceiling. The main central section measures 70ft by 30ft, at each end of which are air lock porches 20ft by 15ft, while to the rear is plant and dark room 34ft 5in by 20ft. The root is a 5½in thick reinforced concrete slab, with a coating of bituminous felt. The building is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
▪︎RARITY – It is a rare building in a national and international context. Designed in the 1950's for storing innovative nuclear technology, RAF Barnham is the only such surviving facility in England.
▪︎HISTORIC INTEREST – A unique building surviving from the Cold War, designed to accommodate Britain's first nuclear weapon, the ''Blue Danube''.
▪︎GROUP VALUE – Building 58 has strong group value with the other buildings at RAF Barnham, both in terms of their function and historic significance.
▪︎INTACTNESS – Building 58 is a largely intact, bespoke structure.
Maintenance Building 58 was probably one of two buildings on the site (the other being the much altered Building 62) used for the inspection of the bombs brought from the airfields. Documents record some movement of bombs between the site and airfields and indeed pantechnicons designed to carry a complete weapon were known to have visited the site. It is now used for light engineering.
▪︎MATERIALS – Building 58 has a reinforced concrete frame and blockwork walls, over-painted at the east end, and is shielded by freestanding blast walls.
▪︎PLAN – The building has a rectangular plan, aligned approximately east-west.
▪︎EXTERIOR – The building has projecting entrance bays to the east and west, which contained airlocks internally, both of which have double height steel doors through which the bombs would travel. To the north are attached single storey toilet blocks and a store room with replaced fenestration.
▪︎INTERIOR – The central section of the building is largely featureless except for a runway beam which originally supported four hoists. The airlocks in the porches have been removed.
Although the site was used for storage of Mustard Gas and explosives during World War II, it was not until after the end of hostilities that the depot was constructed in its current form. In the early 1950's, the Air Ministry had a continuing need for high explosive bombs and storage facilities for them in anticipation of a future war in which atomic and thermo-nuclear weapons would be used by both sides.
It is within this historic context that the Special Storage Unit at RAF Barnham was constructed following the issuing of ''Blue Danube'', Britain's first nuclear bomb, to the RAF in November 1953. The bombs were held in clutches in V-bomber airfields such as RAF Scampton and RAF Wittering and the purpose of the store at RAF Barnham, and the almost identical site at RAF Faldingwoth in Lincolnshire, was to provide maintenance and refurbishment to support the airfields and hold spare warheads.
The Air Ministry plan for the Store is dated May 1953, although planning for the facility almost certainly had started before this, and it was fully operational by July 1954. In the first phase of works, the fences, earthworks, fissile core storage hutches, inspection buildings and gantries were built by August 1955. The small arms and pyrotechnics store, barrack accommodation, gymnasium, telephone exchange, meat preparation store and dog compound were erected shortly after to strengthen security. By mid 1955 the double fence was in place, later augmented by the current observation towers erected in early 1959 replacing smaller structures.
The Special Storage Unit remained the main holding place for the Mk. I atomic bomb, under control of Bomber Command until November 1956 when an independent Unit (95 Commanding Maintenance Unit) was formed. During the operational life of the site, second and third generation British nuclear weapons such as ''Red Beard'' and ''Yellow Sun'' were introduced and stored there. By 1962, the site was in decline and the Maintenance Unit ceased to exist on 31st July 1963. The closure of the station is probably linked to the operational deployment of ''Blue Steel'' from late 1962.
The site was sold to the current owners in 1966 and later let out for light industrial use. Some of the buildings have been altered and significantly, one of the Non-nuclear stores burnt down in the 1980’s, but there has been an on-going maintenance and repair programme agreed with English Heritage resulting in the preservation of the site.
Information sourced from – historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1402411
English Heritage.
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.
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.
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.
June 1972, Guam --- The Andersen Air Force Base on Guam Island from where the B-52 Stratofortress planes take off for Vietnam. 500 and 750lb (pound) bombs in storage near the base. --- Image by © JP Laffont/Sygma/Corbis
06/13/10 - A gasoline storage tank burns in Greensboro early Sunday morning after a lightning storm ignited the tank. The facility runs along I-40 which has been closed in both directions until officials can extinguish the flames. (AP Photo/Brad Coville, Burlington Times-News)
– THE BLUE DANUBE ATOMIC BOMB –
The ''Blue Danube'' was a very large weapon, 24ft in length and weighing 10,000 lb. For storage it was broken down into three main sections, the nose, the central section containing a 5ft diameter sphere of explosives, weighing nearly 2½ tons, and the tail section. For safety reasons the Plutonium Fissile Cores were kept separately. The sites pentagonal structure consists of three giant stores for storing the bomb and four plantations of small sheds in which Fissile Cores were stored.
One of the giant stores was destroyed by a fire. To assemble the bomb the core would be picked up on a hand trolley and taken to a central assembly building to be matched with its body. Whenever a fission trigger was moved, a klaxon would sound, and everyone on the site would have to freeze motionless. The storage of Nuclear Weapons probably ceased at RAF Barnham in spring 1963. In 1965 the site was offered for Public sale. (taken from site information board).
The first Blue Danube was delivered to RAF Wittering in November 1953 although there were no aircraft equipped to carry it until the following year. No. 1321 Flight RAF was established at RAF Wittering in April 1954 as a Vickers Valiant unit to introduce the Blue Danube nuclear weapon into RAF service. Declassified archives show that 58 were produced, before production shifted in 1958 to the smaller and more capable ''Red Beard'' weapon, which could accept the Blue Danube core and be carried by smaller aircraft than the V-bomber fleet. Blue Danube was retired from service in 1962.
Blue Danube was the first operational British nuclear weapon, the RAF V-bomber Force was meant to use Blue Danube at a time when the first hydrogen bomb had not yet been detonated, and the British military planners still believed that an atomic war could be fought and won using atomic bombs of a similar yield to the Hiroshima bomb dropped by the U.S. to end the Second World War. For that reason the stockpile originally planned was for up to 800 bombs with yields of approximately 10-12 kilotons.
V-bomber bomb bays were sized to carry Blue Danube, the smallest-size nuclear bomb that was possible to be designed given the technology of the day (1947) when their plans were formulated. Initial designs for the Blue Danube warhead were based on research derived from ''Hurricane'', the first British fission device (which was not designed nor employed as a weapon) tested in 1952. The actual Blue Danube warhead was proof-tested at the Marcoo (surface) and Kite (air-drop) nuclear trials sites in Maralinga, Australia, by a team of Australian, British and Canadian scientists in late 1956.
Blue Danube added a ballistically shaped casing to the existing Hurricane physics package, with four flip-fins to ensure a stable ballistic trajectory from the planned release height of 50,000ft. The flip fins were needed to allow it to fit in the carrying aircraft's bomb bay. It initially used a plutonium core, but all service versions were modified to use a composite plutonium/ U-235 core. A version was also tested with a uranium-only core. The service chiefs insisted on a yield of between 10-12 kT for 2 reasons. Firstly to minimise usage of scarce and expensive fissile material; and secondly to minimise the risk of predetonation, a phenomenon then little understood and the primary reason for using a composite core of concentric shells of plutonium and U-235.
Major deficiencies with Blue Danube included the use of unreliable lead-acid accumulators to supply power to the firing circuits and radar altimeters. Later weapons used the more reliable ram-air turbine-generators or thermal batteries. Blue Danube was not engineered as a weapon equipped to withstand the rigours of service life. It was really a scientific experiment on a gigantic scale, which needed to be re-engineered to meet service requirements. That re-engineered weapon became Red Beard. A similar account could be written of the first U.S. atomic bomb, ''Fat Man'', which was quickly re-engineered after World War II.
Information sourced from – rafbarnham-nss.weebly.com/blue-danube.html
NON-NUCLEAR COMPONENT STORES BUILDING 60 –
The function of the non-nuclear component stores was to hold the high explosive part of the bomb and its outer casing. The casing could probably be split into two units, the tail and forward part containing the high explosive and electronics. The bombs, minus their fissile components, were housed in three almost identical stores buildings 59-61, known as Storage Building Type 'D-D'. These are arranged in an arrowhead pattern, and are accessed from the internal loop road, and are all surrounded by 14ft 6in high earth traverses, revetted by a reinforced concrete retaining wall against the roadway.
The western store, building 59 was gutted by a fire during the 1980's and has subsequently been demolished. Its floor plan remains visible on the remaining concrete floor slab. The two remaining stores, buildings 60 and 61 are rectangular in plan, and are constructed from reinforced concrete columns and beams. Internally there are two rows of columns, 13in², which support the roof beams, 2ft by 9in, which carry the 9in thick reinforced concrete roof slab which is covered with bituminous felt. The rainwater gutters and down pipes are cast asbestos.
The wall sections are filled with 18in by 9in by 9in precast concrete blocks, internally the main storage area measures 190ft 2½in by 60ft. It is divided longitudinally into eleven 17ft by 3ft bays and cross ways into three bays the outer bays measure 17ft 6in and the central bay is 25ft wide. The maximum clear internal height was 12ft from the floor to the underside of the roof beams. The floor is surfaced with a hard gritless asphalt with the patent name 'Ironite'. The walls are painted pale green colour and the ceiling cream. in store building 61 the bay letters 0, N, M, and L are visible on the rear columns on the eastern side, suggesting the store was divided into 22 bays along the outer walls.
Abutting on to the front of the stores, and flanking the entrances, are plant and switch rooms, which originally contained heating and air conditioning plant to maintain a stable environment within the stores. A raised air extract duct is placed asymmetrically on the roofs of the stores. Entry into the stores is through a 10ft wide door opening with 12ft high doors. In the rear wall of the stores is a single door width, outward opening emergency exit. The first nuclear weapon the store was designed to hold was relatively large, a ''Blue Danube'' bomb measured 24ft in length and weighed 10,000lbs.
The problems of handling such large objects are reflected in the provision of substantial lifting gantries at the entrance to each store. Two variants are found, the simplest, exemplified by the middle store building 60 comprises a straight gantry. Over the roadway the gantry is supported by four 24in by 18in reinforced concrete columns, which support two 51in by 24in reinforced concrete beams. The upper beams of the gantry taper towards the entrance to the store where they are suppurted by two reinforced concrete columns. On the underside of the gantry is attached a 20in by 6½in rolled steel joist runway beam which runs to the entrance to the building. This was originally fitted with a 10 ton hoist. The gantry is covered by asbestos sheeting to provide a dry working area.
On the eastern and western stores the gantries were set at 30° to the front of the stores. In this variant an extra set of columns was placed at the 30° dogleg. Internally there is no evidence for a runway beam, so it presumed the bombs were lifted off a road transporter and loaded onto a bomb trolley for storage. It is not known how many bombs were kept in each store, or if the tail units were separated from the front part of the bomb for storage. Subsequent to the site being relinquished by the RAF a central corridor has been created in the stores by the insertion of breeze block walls. Doors in these walls give access to workshops along either side of the buildings. External windows have also been inserted in some of the bays.
Information sourced from English Heritage.
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.
MAINTENANCE BUILDING 58 –
To the rear of building 62, and separated from it by an earthwork traverse, is building 58 (Drg No. 1244/53) it is designated Storage Building 'C-D'. It is approached along paths which lead back towards the bomb stores and the main gate, the entrances to the store are shielded by freestanding breeze block walls. The construction of the building is similar to the non-nuclear component stores, buildings 59-61, being formed from reinforced concrete columns and beams infilled with block work. It is, however, taller than the stores, buildings 59-61 and stands 23ft 11i from floor to ceiling. The main central section measures 70ft by 30ft, at each end of which are air lock porches 20ft by 15ft, while to the rear is plant and dark room 34ft 5in by 20ft. The root is a 5½in thick reinforced concrete slab, with a coating of bituminous felt. The building is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
▪︎RARITY – It is a rare building in a national and international context. Designed in the 1950's for storing innovative nuclear technology, RAF Barnham is the only such surviving facility in England.
▪︎HISTORIC INTEREST – A unique building surviving from the Cold War, designed to accommodate Britain's first nuclear weapon, the ''Blue Danube''.
▪︎GROUP VALUE – Building 58 has strong group value with the other buildings at RAF Barnham, both in terms of their function and historic significance.
▪︎INTACTNESS – Building 58 is a largely intact, bespoke structure.
Maintenance Building 58 was probably one of two buildings on the site (the other being the much altered Building 62) used for the inspection of the bombs brought from the airfields. Documents record some movement of bombs between the site and airfields and indeed pantechnicons designed to carry a complete weapon were known to have visited the site. It is now used for light engineering.
▪︎MATERIALS – Building 58 has a reinforced concrete frame and blockwork walls, over-painted at the east end, and is shielded by freestanding blast walls.
▪︎PLAN – The building has a rectangular plan, aligned approximately east-west.
▪︎EXTERIOR – The building has projecting entrance bays to the east and west, which contained airlocks internally, both of which have double height steel doors through which the bombs would travel. To the north are attached single storey toilet blocks and a store room with replaced fenestration.
▪︎INTERIOR – The central section of the building is largely featureless except for a runway beam which originally supported four hoists. The airlocks in the porches have been removed.
Although the site was used for storage of Mustard Gas and explosives during World War II, it was not until after the end of hostilities that the depot was constructed in its current form. In the early 1950's, the Air Ministry had a continuing need for high explosive bombs and storage facilities for them in anticipation of a future war in which atomic and thermo-nuclear weapons would be used by both sides.
It is within this historic context that the Special Storage Unit at RAF Barnham was constructed following the issuing of ''Blue Danube'', Britain's first nuclear bomb, to the RAF in November 1953. The bombs were held in clutches in V-bomber airfields such as RAF Scampton and RAF Wittering and the purpose of the store at RAF Barnham, and the almost identical site at RAF Faldingwoth in Lincolnshire, was to provide maintenance and refurbishment to support the airfields and hold spare warheads.
The Air Ministry plan for the Store is dated May 1953, although planning for the facility almost certainly had started before this, and it was fully operational by July 1954. In the first phase of works, the fences, earthworks, fissile core storage hutches, inspection buildings and gantries were built by August 1955. The small arms and pyrotechnics store, barrack accommodation, gymnasium, telephone exchange, meat preparation store and dog compound were erected shortly after to strengthen security. By mid 1955 the double fence was in place, later augmented by the current observation towers erected in early 1959 replacing smaller structures.
The Special Storage Unit remained the main holding place for the Mk. I atomic bomb, under control of Bomber Command until November 1956 when an independent Unit (95 Commanding Maintenance Unit) was formed. During the operational life of the site, second and third generation British nuclear weapons such as ''Red Beard'' and ''Yellow Sun'' were introduced and stored there. By 1962, the site was in decline and the Maintenance Unit ceased to exist on 31st July 1963. The closure of the station is probably linked to the operational deployment of ''Blue Steel'' from late 1962.
The site was sold to the current owners in 1966 and later let out for light industrial use. Some of the buildings have been altered and significantly, one of the Non-nuclear stores burnt down in the 1980’s, but there has been an on-going maintenance and repair programme agreed with English Heritage resulting in the preservation of the site.
Information sourced from – historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1402411
English Heritage.
June 1972, Guam --- The Andersen Air Force Base on Guam Island from where the B-52 Stratofortress planes take off for Vietnam. 500 and 750lb (pound) bombs are stored near the base. --- Image by © JP Laffont/Sygma/Corbis
Local Accession Number: 06_11_000873
Title: Old powder house, built for a wind-mill, by French Huguenots and used in 1775 for a powder house
Alternative title: 3rd of July Centennial Celebration, of Washington's taking command of the American army
Statement of responsibility: Photographed and published by T. Lewis
Creator/Contributor: Lewis, T. (Thomas R.), -1901 (photographer)
Genre: Stereographs; Photographic prints
Created/Published: Cambridgeport, Mass. : Photographed and published by T. Lewis
Date issued: 1850-1920 (approximate)
Physical description: 1 photographic print on stereo card : stereograph ; 9 x 18 cm.
General notes: Title from underlined text on verso.; Part of series: Cambridge celebration. Centennial views.; No. 26.
Date notes: Date supplied by cataloger.
Subjects: Storage facilities
Collection: Stereographs
Location: Boston Public Library, Print Department
Shelf locator: Disasters (3) Johnstown flood
Rights: No known copyright restrictions.
NON-NUCLEAR COMPONENT STORES BUILDING 60 –
The function of the non-nuclear component stores was to hold the high explosive part of the bomb and its outer casing. The casing could probably be split into two units, the tail and forward part containing the high explosive and electronics. The bombs, minus their fissile components, were housed in three almost identical stores buildings 59-61, known as Storage Building Type 'D-D'. These are arranged in an arrowhead pattern, and are accessed from the internal loop road, and are all surrounded by 14ft 6in high earth traverses, revetted by a reinforced concrete retaining wall against the roadway.
The western store, building 59 was gutted by a fire during the 1980's and has subsequently been demolished. Its floor plan remains visible on the remaining concrete floor slab. The two remaining stores, buildings 60 and 61 are rectangular in plan, and are constructed from reinforced concrete columns and beams. Internally there are two rows of columns, 13in², which support the roof beams, 2ft by 9in, which carry the 9in thick reinforced concrete roof slab which is covered with bituminous felt. The rainwater gutters and down pipes are cast asbestos.
The wall sections are filled with 18in by 9in by 9in precast concrete blocks, internally the main storage area measures 190ft 2½in by 60ft. It is divided longitudinally into eleven 17ft by 3ft bays and cross ways into three bays the outer bays measure 17ft 6in and the central bay is 25ft wide. The maximum clear internal height was 12ft from the floor to the underside of the roof beams. The floor is surfaced with a hard gritless asphalt with the patent name 'Ironite'. The walls are painted pale green colour and the ceiling cream. in store building 61 the bay letters 0, N, M, and L are visible on the rear columns on the eastern side, suggesting the store was divided into 22 bays along the outer walls.
Abutting on to the front of the stores, and flanking the entrances, are plant and switch rooms, which originally contained heating and air conditioning plant to maintain a stable environment within the stores. A raised air extract duct is placed asymmetrically on the roofs of the stores. Entry into the stores is through a 10ft wide door opening with 12ft high doors. In the rear wall of the stores is a single door width, outward opening emergency exit. The first nuclear weapon the store was designed to hold was relatively large, a ''Blue Danube'' bomb measured 24ft in length and weighed 10,000lbs.
The problems of handling such large objects are reflected in the provision of substantial lifting gantries at the entrance to each store. Two variants are found, the simplest, exemplified by the middle store building 60 comprises a straight gantry. Over the roadway the gantry is supported by four 24in by 18in reinforced concrete columns, which support two 51in by 24in reinforced concrete beams. The upper beams of the gantry taper towards the entrance to the store where they are suppurted by two reinforced concrete columns. On the underside of the gantry is attached a 20in by 6½in rolled steel joist runway beam which runs to the entrance to the building. This was originally fitted with a 10 ton hoist. The gantry is covered by asbestos sheeting to provide a dry working area.
On the eastern and western stores the gantries were set at 30° to the front of the stores. In this variant an extra set of columns was placed at the 30° dogleg. Internally there is no evidence for a runway beam, so it presumed the bombs were lifted off a road transporter and loaded onto a bomb trolley for storage. It is not known how many bombs were kept in each store, or if the tail units were separated from the front part of the bomb for storage. Subsequent to the site being relinquished by the RAF a central corridor has been created in the stores by the insertion of breeze block walls. Doors in these walls give access to workshops along either side of the buildings. External windows have also been inserted in some of the bays.
Information sourced from English Heritage.
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.
NUCLEAR WEAPON STORAGE FACILITY –
RAF Barnham (also known as Barnham Camp) is a Royal Air Force station situated in Suffolk two miles south of Thetford, it is located to the north of the village of Barnham on Thetford Heaths, the camp is a satellite station of RAF Honington. During the 1950's and 1960's a part of RAF Barnham Station was set aside as high-security storage facility for Nuclear Weapons, this area of the site is now a scheduled monument. Earlier than that, RAF Barnham had been used as a Chemical Weapons Store and Filling Station from the 22nd August 1939. In the early 1960's, the Nuclear Weapons Storage facility was put up for sale, and now forms the privately owned Gorse Industrial Estate.
The Chemical Weapon Store and former Chemical Weapon Filling Station are situated down the dead-end Station Road. The present main gate of RAF Barnham can be found directly off the Bury Road A134 between Barnham village and Thetford, the entrance to the former Nuclear Weapons Store (now Gorse Industrial Estate) can be found on the Elveden Road between Barnham village and the old A11.
Military facilities have existed at Barnham since the First World War, and during the Second World War Barnham had been a Chemical Weapons Storage and Filling Station for Mustard Gas. During 1953 and 1954 construction began on a high-security RAF Bomb Store on the Thetford Heath. The site was to become known as RAF Barnham and construction was completed in 1955 with the site operational from September 1956. RAF Barnham was constructed as a sister-site to a similar facility constructed a few years before at RAF Faldingworth. Both sites were built to store and maintain Free-Fall Nuclear Bombs and RAF Barnham was able to supply the Bomber Squadrons at RAF Honington, RAF Marham, RAF Watton, RAF Wyton, RAF Upwood and RAF Bassingbourn, RAF Barnham came under the control of the RAF's No. 94 Maintenance Unit.
The operational life of RAF Barnham was relatively short, by the early 1960's this type of Storage Facility became obsolete as Free-Fall Nuclear Bombs were superseded as the weapon of choice, for the British Nuclear Deterrent, by the Blue Steel Stand-Off Missile. The storage and maintenance of Nuclear Weapons moved to the V Bomber Airfields. The last Nuclear Weapons were probably removed from the site by April 1963, the site was sold in 1966, and since that date it has been used as a light industrial estate.
The site was built specifically to store and maintain Free-Fall Nuclear Bombs, such as 'Blue Danube' this specific purpose was reflected in the facility's layout, the site was roughly pentagonal in shape, it consisted of three large Non-Nuclear Component Stores, surrounded by earthwork banking and a number of smaller Storage Buildings to hold the Fissile Cores, the Cores were held in Stainless Steel Containers sunk into the ground, with the larger buildings stored the Bomb Casings and the High-Explosive elements of the weapons.
The smaller Stores known as ''Hutches'' were constructed to hold the Fissile Core of the weapons, these Hutches were further divided into type 'A' and 'B'. The 'A' Type hutches having a single borehole for the storage of Plutonium Cores and the 'B' Type Hutches having a double borehole for storing the Cobalt cores. In total, there were 55 Hutches giving enough capacity to store 64 Fissile Cores. RAF Barnham had sufficient storage capacity for 132 Fissile Cores although it's likely that only a small number were ever stored there as only 25 Blue Danube Bombs were ever built at a cost of £1M per bomb !
In addition to the storage buildings, the site consisted of a number of other buildings including a Fire Station, RAF Police Flight, Administration Block, Mess block, Mechanical Transport Section, Kennels and Workshops. The Perimeter of the Site was protected by a double system of Chain Link Fencing and an Inner Concrete Panel Wall, all of which were topped with Barbed Wire. In 1959 security was enhanced by the building of Watch Towers around the Perimeter.
The former Nuclear Bomb Storage facilities are designated as a scheduled monument by English Heritage with several buildings on the site having listed building status. RAF Barnham is a Satellite Station for RAF Honington and is used by the RAF Regiment for training, It is used as an accommodation and training venue for the Potential Gunners Acquaintance Course (PGAC) The adjacent MoD Training Area remains the property of the Ministry of Defence and is still used by the RAF Regiment, as well as the Air Training Corps and Combined Cadet Force for training.
In January 2016, it was announced that RAF Barnham would close, A 'Better Defence Estate' published in November 2016, indicates that the Ministry of Defence will dispose of the site by 2020, domestic accommodation will be relocated to RAF Honington, with access to Barnham Training Area maintained, this was later extended to 2022.
Information sourced from – en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Barnham
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.
NON-NUCLEAR COMPONENT STORES BUILDING 60 –
The function of the non-nuclear component stores was to hold the high explosive part of the bomb and its outer casing. The casing could probably be split into two units, the tail and forward part containing the high explosive and electronics. The bombs, minus their fissile components, were housed in three almost identical stores buildings 59-61, known as Storage Building Type 'D-D'. These are arranged in an arrowhead pattern, and are accessed from the internal loop road, and are all surrounded by 14ft 6in high earth traverses, revetted by a reinforced concrete retaining wall against the roadway.
The western store, building 59 was gutted by a fire during the 1980's and has subsequently been demolished. Its floor plan remains visible on the remaining concrete floor slab. The two remaining stores, buildings 60 and 61 are rectangular in plan, and are constructed from reinforced concrete columns and beams. Internally there are two rows of columns, 13in², which support the roof beams, 2ft by 9in, which carry the 9in thick reinforced concrete roof slab which is covered with bituminous felt. The rainwater gutters and down pipes are cast asbestos.
The wall sections are filled with 18in by 9in by 9in precast concrete blocks, internally the main storage area measures 190ft 2½in by 60ft. It is divided longitudinally into eleven 17ft by 3ft bays and cross ways into three bays the outer bays measure 17ft 6in and the central bay is 25ft wide. The maximum clear internal height was 12ft from the floor to the underside of the roof beams. The floor is surfaced with a hard gritless asphalt with the patent name 'Ironite'. The walls are painted pale green colour and the ceiling cream. in store building 61 the bay letters 0, N, M, and L are visible on the rear columns on the eastern side, suggesting the store was divided into 22 bays along the outer walls.
Abutting on to the front of the stores, and flanking the entrances, are plant and switch rooms, which originally contained heating and air conditioning plant to maintain a stable environment within the stores. A raised air extract duct is placed asymmetrically on the roofs of the stores. Entry into the stores is through a 10ft wide door opening with 12ft high doors. In the rear wall of the stores is a single door width, outward opening emergency exit. The first nuclear weapon the store was designed to hold was relatively large, a ''Blue Danube'' bomb measured 24ft in length and weighed 10,000lbs.
The problems of handling such large objects are reflected in the provision of substantial lifting gantries at the entrance to each store. Two variants are found, the simplest, exemplified by the middle store building 60 comprises a straight gantry. Over the roadway the gantry is supported by four 24in by 18in reinforced concrete columns, which support two 51in by 24in reinforced concrete beams. The upper beams of the gantry taper towards the entrance to the store where they are suppurted by two reinforced concrete columns. On the underside of the gantry is attached a 20in by 6½in rolled steel joist runway beam which runs to the entrance to the building. This was originally fitted with a 10 ton hoist. The gantry is covered by asbestos sheeting to provide a dry working area.
On the eastern and western stores the gantries were set at 30° to the front of the stores. In this variant an extra set of columns was placed at the 30° dogleg. Internally there is no evidence for a runway beam, so it presumed the bombs were lifted off a road transporter and loaded onto a bomb trolley for storage. It is not known how many bombs were kept in each store, or if the tail units were separated from the front part of the bomb for storage. Subsequent to the site being relinquished by the RAF a central corridor has been created in the stores by the insertion of breeze block walls. Doors in these walls give access to workshops along either side of the buildings. External windows have also been inserted in some of the bays.
Information sourced from English Heritage.
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.
06/13/10 - Assistant Chief Douglas with the Greensboro Fire Department briefs the media on the progress of a gasoline storage facility fire early Sunday morning. Douglas said that a lightning storm that rolled through the area ignited the tanker at 12:45 A.M. Sunday. (AP Photo/Brad Coville, Burlington Times-News)