The bunker was built in 1940. Credit: Norfolk Historic Environment Service
A secret bunker built by order of Winston Churchill in 1940 was discovered outside of Norwich.
It was built as part of a secret communications network designed to
counter the threat of German invasion. It is protected by the UK
Government’s Department for Culture, Media and Sport as a scheduled
monument, as advised by Historic England.
It was discovered by a retired groundsman in the gardens of a Norwich
country house in 2012. It is believed to be one of only 32 IN-Stations
or Zero Stations built in England during World War II. Only 12 have been
found and this is one of the most intact. The fake bookcase concealing
the wireless room and escape tunnel are still there.
During the early years of the war, a secret army
of civilians was trained for the possibility of invasion and occupation
of British coastal areas. They were trained as spies and secret agents
who would report on German activities in the event of the occupation of
coastal areas in Britain. More than 125 civilian-run OUT-Stations were
established in dugouts or behind dummy walls in houses. This “Special
Duties” branch shut down and their equipment was stripped from stations
before their entrances were hidden. Details were kept secret about their
locations and construction. Very little documentation of the stations
exists; the information was protected in case the locations were needed
again.
Historic England is requesting that anybody with information about
family members who trained to be civilian spies, or any information
about where the other 20 IN-Stations may be, to get in touch with them.
0 comments:
Post a Comment