The New RAF Operations Centre
From Lacey Green History
click Bomber Command for more of the history of this famous RAF Headquarters.
click Wars for local details of the Boer War, WW1, WW2, & The Cold War
Hallmark February 1987. The New RAF Operations Centre. (An exhibition giving the history of this RAF Command Centre from its inception.)
Way back in October 1985 the National Trust held a successful Open Day on the Bradenham Estate, this included a number of displays. 1800 members attended.
The display that was of major interest was the one of the new Royal Air Force operations and communications centre which is being built on National Trust property adjacent to Headquarters Strike Command. We felt readers might like to know more about the project, and we are indebted to the R.A.F. for this article. Cover drawing by our own Miles Marshall.
The January/February 1985 edition of Hallmark included an article about Royal Air Force, High Wycombe and Headquarters Strike Command. This piece gave a brief history of the Station from just before World War II up to the present day and showed how, when the camp was being built, great trouble was taken to preserve the beech trees and other natural camouflage. The instructions on a contemporary site plan were "The positions of all buildings to be checked and moved slightly if necessary to avoid removing trees. Roadway to be detoured to allow as many trees to remain as possible. No trees to be cut down without sanction of the Air Ministry, other than are necessary to site the buildings."
Another consideration, then as now, was the preservation of Grims Ditch which runs through the site. This ditch and mound probably date from the 5th or 6th Century and stretch over four miles in this area. It is not known whether its purpose was agricultural or military, but it is preserved as a historic monument.
Camouglage measures included constructing the original Headquarters Bomber Command buildings from local brick and in a variety of designs so as to appear from the air like a typical town or village. Thus, the present Fire Section and central heating buildings is an almost cruciform shape, with a tower at one end and resembles a church. The original Air Staff block has dormer windows and was supposed to resemble "a municipal building or town hall”.
The Headquarters was provided with a small underground operations centre from which bomber operations against Nazi Germany were planned and controlled throughout World War II. The name most often connected with this period is that of the late Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Arthur Harris. Anyone interested in the "Bomber" Harris era is recommended to obtain a copy of "Bomber Command" by Max Hastings (Michael Joseph 1979) which, in addition to being a well researched and readable account of the Command's wartime activities, also includes some interesting details about the local scene in those days.
In 1969 a reorganisation of the RAF commands resulted in Bomber Command being absorbed into the new Strike Command with wider operational responsibilities. The Headquarters' role was further expanded in 1975 when the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Strike Command also assumed certain NATO responsibilities as Commander-in-Chief United Kingdom Air Defence Region. Throughout this period and up to the present day all the Command's operational activities have been planned and controlled from the original underground operations centre constructed in 1939. Although it continues to function satisfactorily it has a number of shortcomings, principally in terms of space in view of the Commands increased responsibilities. Accordingly, plans were made some years ago to provide a new operations centre and agreement was reached to build on land adjacent to the present Headquarters which was leased from the National Trust.
Construction of the new underground operations centre was started in May 1982. Management of construction is in the hands of the Department of Environment (Property Services Agency) and the prime contractor 0S Taylor Woodrow Construction plc. From the outset the views of the local authorities, the National Trust and other conservation organisations were taken into account in the design, planning and implementation of the project. As a result, a special temporary access road was constructed from the A4O10 West Wycombe to Princes Risborough road so that heavy vehicles would not have to pass through Bradenham, Lacey.
Green, Walters Ash and Naphill. Now that the heavy construction work is complete and the number of heavy vehicles visiting the site is few, this road has been closed, again with the prior agreement of the National Trust and local authorities. The National Trust was also consulted about fences, hedgerows and trees and in many cases the plans were modified to protect and preserve these and other natural features. Soil and chalk that had to be removed during the early excavation process were stored in separate areas of adjoining fields and are now being replaced. Over the centre of the site the ground will be some 10m above the original level; however, because of its location and the landscaping of the surrounding area, this will not be apparent from nearby public roads and footpaths. Incidentally, construction work which has resulted in a large, fenced mound beside the Walters Ash to Lacey Green road has no connection with the Royal Air Force. This installation is a reservoir belonging to the local water authority.
Regular meetings are held to discuss landscaping arrangements at which the National Trust is represented. A firm of professional landscape consultants has been contracted by DOE to provide planning and advice and the final stage will involve seeding the whole site so that it is returned as near as possible to the type of meadowland that was there before construction started. This may involve taking a grass crop from an adjoining field so that identical seeds are reintroduced. The few small structures that will be above ground will be coloured so as to be as inconspicuous as possible and sight lines have been checked to ensure that most new structures will not be seen from the surrounding areas. In many respects the Royal Air Force has found that its concerns are the same as those of local residents and conservationists, namely to minimise inconvenience for nearby communities and to ensure that the final result is as unobtrusive as possible.
To safeguard the environment in the longer term it is Ministry of Defence policy to establish Conservation Groups at sites where there is known conservation interest and suitable expertise is available. As an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty the location of Strike Command's new operations centre clearly falls within that category and a Conservation Group will be formed. The Chairman of a Conservation Group is normally someone from the Service establishment administering the site and he is supported by a small committee including representatives of the main interests at the site, for example ornithology, botany and entomology. One of these representatives often fulfils a dual function by representing the local county trust or natural history society as well as a particular naturalist Or scientific interest. At other military establishments it has been found that areas of restricted access become havens for wildlife and we hope this will apply in the fenced area around the new operations centre.
It is hoped that this short article will be of interest to your readers – our neighbours - and give some reassurance that positive steps are being taken to preserve the natural beauty of the Chilterns whilst meeting the requirements of national defence