More information : The United Kingdom was divided into six sectors for air defence purposes. Each was controlled by a Sector Operations Centre (SOC). The SOCs were located within purpose-built underground R4 bunkers, apart from the centres at Box and Longley Lane that were housed in wartime underground operations blocks. The interior of the SOCs featured an operations room that occupied the full height of the bunker, with information was displayed on the wall at one end and a large table display on the floor. Control cabins were situated on other three walls overlooking the displays. The upper level cabins were occupied by senior officers and the middle level cabins by the ground executive, which controlled the radar, and the air executive, which directed the airborne aircraft and interceptions. Also contained within the bunkers were rest rooms, lavatories, a kitchen, duty rooms, and rooms for telephone equipment, teleprinters and generators.
The Sector Operations Centre at Longley Lane was located at SD 541 365. The domestic site was situated at RAF Warton and the stand-by set house co-located at the technical site. (1-2)
Aerial photography from 1976 shows an operations block and guardhouse in good condition. Several aerial bases are visible. The site is noted as a WT station on OS map. (3)
Longley (or Langley) Lane was a bunker complex built by the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. It consisted of three bunkers positioned a few hundred yards apart. One was the operations room, one a filter room and the third a communications centre. During the war the complex acted as 9 Group Operations Centre Fighter Command. In 1950 the site became a Sector Operations Centre, however it was short lived and closed in circa 1956.
The filter block bunker was later used as the Preston Armed Forces Headquarters and as a military firing range. It has been empty since 1992. The communications bunker is now derelict and used as a vehicle store. The operations bunker was adapted for use as the Sector Operations Centre, and in the 1960s as a Royal Observer Corps Group Headquarters. A prefabricated building was constructed alongside the bunker for administration. The administration block is now used as a veterinary practice, although the bunker itself is empty. (4)
The centre closed September 1957 and became occupied and gradually extended by the Royal Observer Corps. (5) |