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View Full Version : Archived: Hack Green RGHQ Bunker 20/11/09



Tankman
08-12-2009, 12:09 AM
There are several preserved RGHQ's, Kelvedon Hatch, Essex, Anstruther, Scotland, and Hack Green, Cheshire.

Whereas Kelvedon Hatch is a bit of a miss match of things placed here and there! Hack Green has been well preserved and the displays and equipment that it has accumulated is second to none in terms of making a realistic setting, sinister looking but powerfully portrayed:thumb

A bit of history of the place:

In order to present a credible civil defence structure, secret plans were drawn up to ensure that should war have broken out the government would survive to lead and reconstruct post war Britain. From the ashes of a thermo-nuclear conflict the UK was split into 11 defence regions, each with a Regional Government Headquarters (RGHQ) protected to a high standard against the effects of nuclear weapons.

In 1976 the abandoned site at Hack Green (Former Rotor station) was purchased from the MOD by the Home Office Emergency Planning Division to be converted into a protected seat of government for Home Defence Region 10:2.

It was cloaked in considerable secrecy over a five year period. At a cost reputed to be some £32 million, the original Rotor radar bunker was converted into a vast underground complex containing its own generating plant, air conditioning and life support, nuclear fallout filter rooms, communications, emergency water supply and all the support services that would be required to enable the 135 civil servants and military personnel to survive a sustained nuclear attack.

The HQ became operational in 1984, region 10s other bunker at Southport, Lancashire was unsatisfactory and prone to flooding so its duties were transferred to Hack Green, which became responsible for a huge area from Cheshire in the south to Cumbria in the north. The HQ would have been headed by a Regional Commissioner who would have been an appointed civil servant or minister. Under the Emergency Powers Act he would govern his defence region, and neighbouring regions if other RGHQ's had been destroyed. He would attempt to marshall the remaining resources to put the region back on its feet and prepare for the re-establishment of national government. He was assisted by a network of County War Headquarters and the United Kingdom Warning & Monitoring Organisation.

In the event of World War III the Russians would not need to occupy the British Isles to achieve a military victory. They did however, arm and plan to neutralise Britain. Should that eventuality have occurred Hack Green stood ready yet to play its part to oversee the survival of Cheshire and the government, post nuclear war.

The Pics did not come out as I expected but they do portray a nice moody atmosphere:thumb

http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii38/tankman_2008/HACK%20GREEN%20RSG/PHOT0026.jpg

The bunker is of the semi-sunken type, unlike Kelvedon Hatch which is completely below ground.

http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii38/tankman_2008/HACK%20GREEN%20RSG/PHOT0009.jpg

Behind this door you can get the full "Nuclear Experience" without the Fallout:coffee

http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii38/tankman_2008/HACK%20GREEN%20RSG/PHOT0014.jpg

The old redundant BMEWS (Ballistic Missile Early Warning System) has been painstakingly recreated here in the bunker. A credit to the curator Rod Siebert who doggedly fought to rescue the system from the scrap heap:thumb

http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii38/tankman_2008/HACK%20GREEN%20RSG/PHOT0015.jpg

http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii38/tankman_2008/HACK%20GREEN%20RSG/PHOT0016.jpg

http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii38/tankman_2008/HACK%20GREEN%20RSG/PHOT0019.jpg

http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii38/tankman_2008/HACK%20GREEN%20RSG/PHOT0021.jpg

A small Soviet Bunker has also been recreated, so that all you "Commies" out there don't feel left out:lol: What a nice pic of "Uncle Joe"

http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii38/tankman_2008/HACK%20GREEN%20RSG/PHOT0024.jpg

Poignient signs litter the walls to remind us of "Mans Folly" - War:(

http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii38/tankman_2008/HACK%20GREEN%20RSG/PHOT0027.jpg

I saw a White Flash! Then all was gone:(

Well recommended if you are in the area:thumb:thumb

Thanks for looking!