London’s Battle of Britain Bunker Still Revealing its Secrets
The Battle of Britain Bunker in Uxbridge is still revealing its secrets 86 years after it was built, according to Historic England and MOLA (Museum of London Archaeology).
The underground operations room was of fundamental importance during the Second World War. From here, Britain's response to direct attack by Nazi Germany's air force, the Luftwaffe, was coordinated by the RAF Fighter Command 11 Group.
The Grade I listed bunker is 60 feet (18 metres) below ground. Construction began in 1938. Recent conservation work and repairs enabled archaeological investigation, revealing the lengths the RAF went to to protect this vital military command centre.
Surveys show that deep levels of earth and concrete were piled up to protect against direct hits from above, while defences including gun pits, brick pillboxes and barbed wire entanglements were all introduced to counter enemy attack at ground level.
The military was responding to a new type of warfare, as airborne raids and the threat of German parachutists being dropped to land and advancing on foot became of concern.
Due to its top-secret nature, there are no known wartime photographs of how the bunker looked above ground.
However, recent interpretation of historic aerial photographs suggests the bunker and its defences were camouflaged as a decorative garden, so that from the air it looked like part of the designed landscape of nearby Hillingdon House.
Another intriguing discovery is a large Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) symbol scratched on a pillbox – evidence of later peaceful protest on site.
We don't know if this graffiti was created while the RAF base was still operational.
London’s archaeology goes back thousands of years, so the Battle of Britain Bunker at 86 years young is one of the most ‘modern’ sites I’ve been involved with. We knew that any exploration of the site would need careful understanding of Second World War military tactics and features so that nothing was missed. The discovery of the multiple and layered defensives employed to keep this secret nerve centre safe tells us something of the fear of the Bunker being compromised, which could have spelled disaster for the country. I’m pleased we’re still able to add to our knowledge of this extraordinary place.
It was at the bunker that Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill first uttered his famous line: “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few” during a visit on 16 August 1940.
By September 1940, Britain had become the first nation in history to retain its freedom and independence through air power.
"MOLA is delighted to have contributed to building a greater understanding of this nationally significant monument. By bringing the various strands of information together – archaeological evidence, documentary sources, aerial photography and historic maps – we now have a good idea of how the exterior of the bunker looked during WWII, as can be seen in the new artistic impression produced by the MOLA graphics team."
Jim McKeon, MOLA Project Manager
The Battle of Britain Bunker is now a popular attraction and education centre, managed by Hillingdon Council, welcoming thousands of visitors every year.
Visitors can experience a series of rooms on 2 levels. The operations room (or plotting room) – with its large map table, squadron display boards, balloon and weather states – is exactly how it was when Sir Winston Churchill visited.
It is fascinating to find out that this literal hidden gem in our borough still had mysteries to uncover so many years later. Visitors to this formerly top-secret bunker won’t be surprised to now learn that such an essential nerve centre during the war was so creatively hidden to avoid enemy detection. The Battle of Britain Bunker Visitor and Exhibition Centre is a truly unique location and hopefully this latest discovery entices more people to come and pay it a very worthwhile visit.
The archaeological work was instructed and monitored by Historic England’s Greater London Archaeology Advisory Service (GLAAS) and undertaken by MOLA on behalf of Hillingdon Council.
MOLA’s findings will be available to view via the Greater London Historic Environment Record, which is set to be relaunched on a new and improved publicly accessible platform created through a long-term partnership between Getty and Historic England.
