ÿþ<HTML LANG=en-GB> <HEAD> <TITLE>The Derelict Miscellany :: R.A.F. Dunsfold Battle H.Q.</TITLE> <META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="surrey, raf, dunsfold, aerodrome, bunker, ww2, wwii, world, war, two, battle, headquarters, hq, underground, disused"> <META NAME="description" CONTENT="A Second World War bunker built to co-ordinate airfield defence in the event of a full scale attack by hostile forces."> <META NAME="ROBOTS" CONTENT="ALL"> <link rel="icon" href="favicon.ico" type="image/x-icon"> <link rel="shortcut icon" href="favicon.ico" type="image/x-icon"> </head> <body link="#668b8b" bgcolor="darkgray" text="000000" vlink="#668b8b"> <center> <table width=1044> <tr><td> <table width=1044 cellspacing=0> <tr background="gam_print_ordsvywat-sun-171278517207606.jpg"> <td background="gam_print_ordsvywat-sun-171278517207606.jpg" align=right><A HREF="index.html"><img src=1.jpg border=0></a></td><td background="gam_print_ordsvywat-sun-171278517207606.jpg" align=center> <a indepth="true" STYLE="text-decoration: none" HREF="index.html"><h1>T H E &nbsp D E R E L I C T &nbsp M I S C E L L A N Y</H1></A> R e f l e c t i o n s &nbsp o n &nbsp f o r g o t t e n &nbsp a n d &nbsp a b a n d o n e d &nbsp s p a c e s <br><br> </td><td background="gam_print_ordsvywat-sun-171278517207606.jpg" align=left><A HREF="index.html"><img src=2.jpg border=0></a></td></tr></table> </td></tr> <tr><td bgcolor="#EEE9E9"> <center> <a indepth="true" STYLE="text-decoration: none" href="http://derelictmisc.org.uk/index.html">{home} </a> &nbsp &nbsp <a indepth="true" STYLE="text-decoration: none" href="http://derelictmisc.org.uk/menu2.html">{menu} </a> &nbsp &nbsp <a indepth="true" STYLE="text-decoration: none" href="aboot.html">{about} </a> &nbsp &nbsp <a indepth="true" STYLE="text-decoration: none" href="cont.html">{contact} </a> &nbsp &nbsp <a indepth="true" STYLE="text-decoration: none"href="http://twitter.com/DerelictMisc" target="blank">{twitter}</a> &nbsp &nbsp <a indepth="true" STYLE="text-decoration: none" href="disc.html">{disclaimer}</a> &nbsp &nbsp <a href="#" STYLE="text-decoration: none" onClick="window.open('veh/index.html','', 'width=589,height=577,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,status=no,toolbar=no,menubar=no');return false;"> {rusty old cars}</A> &nbsp &nbsp <a href="#" STYLE="text-decoration: none" onClick="window.open('misc/menu.html','', 'width=870,height=482,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,status=no,toolbar=no,menubar=no');return false;"> {miscellany}</A> &nbsp &nbsp <a indepth="true" STYLE="text-decoration: none" href="links.html">{links}</a> &nbsp &nbsp <a indepth="true" STYLE="text-decoration: none" href="contrib.html">{contribute} </a> </td></tr><tr><td bgcolor=#EEE9E9><table width=100% bgcolor="#EEE9E9"> <td width=13></td><td> <center><br><u><font size="5">R. A. F. Dunsfold Battle Headquarters</font></u></center> <br><b>What:</B> RAF command bunker <BR> <b>Where:</B> Dunsfold, Surrey <BR> <b>Built:</b> c. 1943 <BR> <b>Architect:</b> Unknown <BR> <b>Abandoned:</b> 1946 <BR> <b>Listed:</b> No <BR><b>Visited:</b> 2007, 2010<BR> <b>Last Known Condition:</b> Flooded <br><b>Page Updated:</b> January 2012<BR> <br> <p align="justify">By 1940, attacks on military airfields were more than just a threat, they were a regular occurrence. The German invasion of Crete that year had alerted the Royal Air Force to the inadequacy of existing airfield defences and accordingly there began an extensive programme of fortification-building in the form of pillboxes, gun emplacements, trenches and barbed wire at British airfields. In the event of an attack, defence was to be co-ordinated from a purpose-built underground bunker - the battle headquarters. Initially these were only built at fighter stations, but after 1942 battle headquarters were seen at all RAF command stations [1], including, in c. 1943, Dunsfold in Surrey. [2] <br><br> <table><tbody><tr><td> <img src="defence/rafd.jpg" border="1"> &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp </td><td valign="TOP" align="justify">Dunsfold Aerodrome itself was begun on the 11th May 1942 by the the 2nd Battalion Royal Canadian Engineers and completed in just twenty weeks, after which it was operated by the Royal Canadian Air Force under the name of RCAF Dunsfold and was initially a fighter station, home to the Mustang Mk 1s of the 400 and 414 Squadron RCAF. This remained the case until the following year with the arrival of the Mitchell Mk11 medium bombers of the 98 and 180 Squadrons RAF and later 320 squadron of the Royal Netherlands Naval Air Service [2a]. It was presumably shortly after the Royal Air Force arrived that the Battle Headquarters were built at Dunsfold, to the design specified by Air Ministry drawing 11008/41. These consisted of a brick and concrete bunker entered by a ladder on one side into a lobby. Standing in the lobby, to the left would be a door to the messenger's room, which in turn led to the PABX (private automatic branch telephone exchange), while straight ahead would have been the latrine. To the left of this was a door to the largest chamber - the commander's office. At the end of this room, through a door on the right was a small lobby which led to a semi-subterranean observation post to be manned by the Local Defence officer and to an emergency exit. [3] The whole structure was in fact only partly beneath ground level, the rest being covered by a raised mound of earth.</td></tr></tbody></table> <p align="justify">The structure seems to have been maintained throughout the war, but had fallen out of use by the time the base was decommissioned in 1946 [4]. After decommissioning, the base itself became a civil airport until 1959, when it became the base of the Hawker Aircraft Company, later British Aerospace, and in the 1960s the Hawker Siddely Harrier prototype and the Harrier Jump Jet respectively were tested there for the first time. It is now used as a business park and race track, best known as the filming location for the BBC's <I>Top Gear</I> series. Meanwhile, at the edge of the site, the battle headquarters has largely been ignored, and has escaped the fate of most of the WWII era buildings on site, which have been replaced or demolished. <br><br></p> <p align="justify">Despite winter flooding, when our exploration party visited in December 2006, the headquarters were in good condition and appeared to be structurally sound. Internally, despite having been stripped of most fittings, the positions of cables and electrics were very much in evidence, with junction boxes still surviving in some places. Externally the bunker's position is marked by an oblong mound. Although this was heavily overgrown it was still just possible to see the observation post on top of it - the only significant part of the complex that is above ground, and on the north side overlooking the airfield, the main entrance, choked with earth afforded a narrow entryway which one half of the party were able to descend with the aid of a cable. The emergency exit, which was the point of entry for the other half of the party, is located next to the observation post and consists of a vertical shaft - also partly backfilled - with a ladder for access.</p> <br></p><center> <br> <a href="#" onClick="window.open('defence/0d.jpg','', 'width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=yes,status=no,toolbar=no,menubar=no');return false;" > <img alt="The site from the path." height=160 src="defence/0d.jpg" border=1> </A> <a href="#" onClick="window.open('defence/d2-1.jpg','', 'width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=yes,status=no,toolbar=no,menubar=no');return false;" > <img alt="Main entrance" height=160 src="defence/d2-1.jpg" border=1> </A> <a href="#" onClick="window.open('defence/d3.jpg','', 'width=350,height=470,scrollbars=no,resizable=yes,status=no,toolbar=no,menubar=no');return false;" > <img alt="Entrance ladder" src="defence/th_d3.jpg" border=1> </A> <a href="#" onClick="window.open('defence/PIC_0286.jpg','', 'width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=yes,status=no,toolbar=no,menubar=no');return false;" > <img alt="Taken from on top of the mound, showing the observation post (brick structure). The emergency exit (not visible) is to the right of the post" height=160 src="defence/PIC_0286.jpg" border=1> </A> <a href="#" onClick="window.open('defence/PIC_0249.jpg','', 'width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=yes,status=no,toolbar=no,menubar=no');return false;" > <img alt="The emergency exit." height=160 src="defence/PIC_0249.jpg" border=1> </A><BR>L-R: 1. Overgrown mound hiding the bunker; 2. Main entrance; 3. Main entrance ladder (the cable visible was part of our equipment); 4. The top of the observation post is just visible through the brambles, emergency exit to the right obscured by brambles; 5. Ladder to emergency exit<br><br> <a href="#" onClick="window.open('defence/d4.jpg','','width=350,height=470,scrollbars=no,resizable=yes,status=no,toolbar=no,menubar=no');return false;"><img alt="The emergency exit lobby; the observation post is through the portal on the left" src="defence/th_d4.jpg" border=1></A> <a href="#" onClick="window.open('defence/d6.jpg','','width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=yes,status=no,toolbar=no,menubar=no');return false;"> <img alt="Portal between the Observation Post and the emergency exit." height=160 src="defence/d6.jpg" border=1> </A> <a href="#" onClick="window.open('defence/d5.jpg','','width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=yes,status=no,toolbar=no,menubar=no');return false;"><img alt="Inside the post, showing part of the 360° observation slot." height=160 src="defence/d5.jpg" border=1> </A> <a href="#" onClick="window.open('defence/d7.jpg','', 'width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=yes,status=no,toolbar=no,menubar=no');return false;" > <img alt="The mess room." height=160 src="defence/d7.jpg" border=1> </A> <a href="#" onClick="window.open('defence/PIC_02630.jpg','', 'width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=yes,status=no,toolbar=no,menubar=no');return false;" > <img alt="The mess room (other direction) with portal to emergency exit/obs. post lobby on right." height=160 src="defence/PIC_02630.jpg" border=1> </A><BR>L-R: 1. The emergency exit lobby, the observation post is through the door on the left; 2. Portal between the Observation Post and the emergency exit; 3.Inside the post, showing part of the 360° observation slot; 4-5. Mess room<br><br> <a href="#" onClick="window.open('defence/d9.jpg','', 'width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=yes,status=no,toolbar=no,menubar=no');return false;"><img alt="Portal between the mess room and the entrance lobby." height=160 src="defence/d9.jpg" border=1></A> <a href="#" onClick="window.open('defence/d10.jpg','','width=350,height=470,scrollbars=no,resizable=yes,status=no,toolbar=no,menubar=no');return false;"><img alt="Latrine." height=160 src="defence/th_d10.jpg" border=1></A> <a href="#" onClick="window.open('defence/PIC_02721.jpg','','width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=yes,status=no,toolbar=no,menubar=no');return false;"><img alt="The office - other direction." height=160 src="defence/PIC_02721.jpg" border=1> </A> <a href="#" onClick="window.open('defence/d15.jpg','','width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=yes,status=no,toolbar=no,menubar=no');return false;"><img alt="Sleeping quarters." height=160 src="defence/d15.jpg" border=1></A> <a href="#" onClick="window.open('defence/PIC_0271.jpg','', 'width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=yes,status=no,toolbar=no,menubar=no');return false;" > <img alt="Sleeping quarters." height=160 src="defence/PIC_0271.jpg" border=1> </A> <BR>L-R: 1. Door between the mess room and the entrance lobby; 2. Latrine; 3. Runner's/messenger's area; 4-5. PABX (Private Automatic Branch eXchange) room. <br><br> <BR><B><u>Airfield and Defences</u></B> <br> <br> <a href="#" onClick="window.open('defence/1.JPG','', 'width=360,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=yes,status=no,toolbar=no,menubar=no');return false;" > <img alt="." height=160 src="defence/1.JPG" border=1> </A> <a href="#" onClick="window.open('defence/3.JPG','', 'width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=yes,status=no,toolbar=no,menubar=no');return false;" > <img alt="." height=160 src="defence/3.JPG" border=1> </A> <a href="#" onClick="window.open('defence/2.JPG','', 'width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=yes,status=no,toolbar=no,menubar=no');return false;" > <img alt="." height=160 src="defence/2.JPG" border=1> </A> <a href="#" onClick="window.open('defence/5.JPG','', 'width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=yes,status=no,toolbar=no,menubar=no');return false;" > <img alt="." height=160 src="defence/5.JPG" border=1> </A> <a href="#" onClick="window.open('defence/6.JPG','', 'width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=yes,status=no,toolbar=no,menubar=no');return false;" > <img alt="." height=160 src="defence/6.JPG" border=1> </A> <BR>L-R: 1-2. One of a pair of rare Ruck machine gun posts; 3. Unidentified hut; 4. Airfield with Top Gear test track and Jumbo Jet; 5. Old British Aerospace sign on Fast Bridge. <br><br> </center> <br><font size="1"> <u>SOURCES OF INFORMATION</u><br><br> [1] Catford, N. (2003) "'RAF Dunsfold Battle Headquarters", Available at: http://www.subbrit.org.uk/sb-sites/sites/d/dunsfold(raf)_battle_headquarters/index.shtml. Accessed: 17/1/07 <br> [2], [2a] "'Dunsfold Aerodrome History", Available at: http://www.dunsfoldaerodrome.com/aerodrome_history.asp?fdv=1. Accessed: 17/1/07 <br> [3] Catford, N. (2003) "'RAF Dunsfold Battle Headquarters", Available at: http://www.subbrit.org.uk/sb-sites/sites/d/dunsfold(raf)_battle_headquarters/index.shtml. Accessed: 17/1/07 <br> [4] "'Dunsfold Aerodrome History", Available at: http://www.dunsfoldaerodrome.com/aerodrome_history.asp?fdv=1. Accessed: 17/1/07 <br><br>Additional information supplied by Iain Taylor of http://battleheadquarters.info <br> <br> </font> <center></font><b> <a href="index.html">Home..</a></b><br> </td><td width=13></td></tr></table> </TD></TR><TR><TD bgcolor="#EEE9E9" ALIGN=CENTER> <font size=1>Derelict Miscellany. Website &amp; content Copyright D. A. Gregory 2005-Present unless stated to be otherwise.</font> </td></tr></table> </font> </body> </html>