History

Battle of Britain Bunker: well worth a visit

Over in Hillingdon, the Battle of Britain Bunker, from which the core part of the Battle of Britain was commanded, is open several weekends a year. It’s a great, and free, venue:

Battle of Britain bunker - planes at entrance
Simple but effective: the angled display of the planes out front gives much more of a sense of them as swift moving machinery rather than a static lump of materials.
Entrance to Battle of Britain bunker
Battle of Britain bunker - plotting table from the top level
Pictured at the bottom was the bonus of the visit – the amazing Rosemary, who served here during the Second World War. To the guide’s good-natured relief, she only had two points on which to correct him.
Battle of Britain bunker - plotting table
Battle of Britain bunker - plotting table and status panels
Battle of Britain bunker - plotting table close up
Battle of Britain bunker - control seat
Battle of Britain bunker - switchboard
Battle of Britain bunker - the red phone
Battle of Britain bunker - greycoats bureaucracy
Who knew greycoats required such detailed rules?
Battle of Britain bunker - what happens if you follow the Sat Nav
Top travel tip: this is what happens if you try to follow the Sat Nav to the site.

The bunker features in the Battle of Britain movie, that staple of holiday TV schedules:

On a similar theme, the Bentley Priory RAF Museum is well worth a visit. It was there that the control room design used in Hillingdon was first tested and refined.

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