Battle of Britain Control Room

Useful Information

Location:	At RAF Uxbridge, West London. Location by UK Streetmap
Open:	only by appointment
Fee:
Classification:	World War II Bunkers
Light:	electric.
Dimension:
Guided tours:
Bibliography:
Address:	RAF Uxbridge, Hillingdon, Uxbridge, Middlesex, Tel: +44-1895-237144.
Last update:	$Date: 2008/07/01 20:23:32 $

History


late 1930's		bunker built.
15-SEP-1940		used as controll room during the Battle of Britain.
1958		closed by the RAF.
1970s		restored to its current state, opened to the public.
2000		fully restored as a private museum.

Description

The underground operations room was used during World War II. Todays exhibition tries to revive exactly the state it had on the morning of 15th September 1940.

Before the war, the RAF Fighter Command divided the country into geographic areas named Fighter Groups. No 11 Group covered London and southeast England and was based here at Uxbridge. An underground operations room was built nearby Hillingdon House within the grounds of the RAF Depot Uxbridge.

The two level bunker was built in the late 1930s. It has two entrances, a main entrance with two flights of stairs and and a ventilation plant in between, and an emergency exit on the other end of the bunker. 50 Meters from the emergency exit is a small brick blockhouse with the still working generator, which provides electricity for the bunker.

The main poit of interest is of course the Ops Room with its large irregularly shaped, angled plotting table showing the group and sector boundaries and the various airfields. Small flagged blocks could be pushed into place to show the positions of the various squadrons. Tote boards at the rear of the room show the state of all aircrafts by coloured lights.

Battle of Britain Control Room

Useful Information

History

Description

See also