Cold War Relic

[petewayne]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

Scattered across the UK are a large number of small "nuclear" bunkers which were designed to provide the Royal Observer Corp with a degree of protection if the Cold War decided to go hot. Their role was to provide local warning of an attack then communicate for as long as possible after an attack with details of location, weather patterns and fallout, all of which was to be done with communications equipment that was susceptible to EMP. In 1991 the Royal Observer Corp stood down having served the UK proudly and with little fanfare through WW2 and the Cold War. Today, the infrastructure to alert and monitor (known as UKWMO - UK Warning and Monitoring Organisation) has been dismantled as a relic of the Cold War, replaced with a highly dubious system involving television and cellular communication alerts

 

The ROC bunker in these images looks over the Vale of the White Horse with targets ranging from airbases, to industry and population centres. The main concrete block houses the entrance tunnel which opens into a large room over which the other concrete and metal pipes are connected for the purpose of data gathering. This was a Master Post which meant aside from the telephone connection (the telephone pole is seen in the background) it was able to communicate by radio with Group control (based in Oxford).

 

I make no apologies for the darkness of these images.......they are a relic of a dark time and one that has yet to pass us by. For more detailed information Google Royal Observer Corp as there are many good sites detailing the role. (DLux4)

[Marquinius]

Pete,

 

Strong series! And a wonderful subject: there's a lot of history around these bunkers. Funny thing? You can find same same just across the old East German border. So everybody was hiding and hoping ...

 

Marco

[Advertisement]

The Leica Q3 is available for pre-order at B&H Photo Video and Adorama

[vdb]

Outstanding series Pete. I wonder if the darkness of story could be enhanced by darkening the sky, increasing drama? Just a thought. Well done.