Raf Newcastle |
| Hob Uid: 1413821 | |
Location :
Newcastle upon Tyne
Non Civil Parish
|
| Grid Ref : NZ2163967345 |
| Summary : A Second World War military headquarters complex, including a bunker, later refitted as a Cold War military headquarters, situated at Kenton Bar. The site is also referred to as "RAF Newcastle" and "RAF Blakelaw" in different sources, the latter may actually be the nomenclature for the site at the end of the war. Constructed in 1939, this was the wartime headquarters of No 13 Group Royal Air Force Fighter Command at Kenton Bar from 1940-1944. The complex included a subterranean operations block bunker built in the central/eastern part of the site: This consisted of operations and communications rooms, rest rooms and mess rooms. 13 Group were responsible for England north of the Humber and for all of Scotland during the Battle of Britain, although this area was much less hard pressed than 12 Group and above all 11 Group to the south. After the Battle of Britain a further bunker was built on a different site at Blakelaw Quarry which acted as a "Filter Room" to proccess intelligence to pass back to the main coperations centre. The Second World War headquarters complex at Kenton Bar also had ancilliary surface buildings such as: an electricity station on the western edge of the site, a "NAAFI" canteen to the north; hutted barracks quarters for Womens Auxilliary Air Force personnel (WAAFs) in the central area of the site; an air raid shelter and decontamination centre in the southern part of the site. During the Cold War, specifically in the mid 1950s, the operations block bunker was converted to use as "Region 1 Regional War Room". This is thought to have closed about 1960, as the strategy to cope with potential effects of Soviet nuclear attack changed. The bunker is extant but the surface buildings are no longer extant. The site is now (2010) occupied by government offices. |
More information : OPERATIONS ROOM. Description
No 13 Group Fighter Command Headquarters
Kenton Bar
Recorder - ?. (1)
(2)
The Second World War headquarters of No 13 Group Royal Air Force Fighter Command at Kenton Bar, NZ 216 674, built in 1939 and functioned as headquarters from 1940-1944. The complex included a subterranean operations block bunker built in the central/eastern part of the site: This consisted of operations and communications rooms, rest rooms and mess rooms. 13 Group were responsible for England north of the Humber and for all of Scotland during the Battle of Britain, although this area was much less hard pressed than 12 Group and above all 11 Group to the south. After the Battle of Britain a further bunker was built on a different site at Blakelaw Quarry which acted as a "Filter Room" to proccess intelligence to pass back to the main coperations centre. The Second World War headquarters complex at Kenton Bar also had ancilliary surface buildings such as: an electricity station on the western edge of the site, a "NAAFI" canteen to the north; hutted barracks quarters for Womens Auxilliary Air Force personnel (WAAFs) in the central area of the site; an air raid shelter and decontamination centre in the southern part of the site. In the mid 1950s during the Cold War, the operations block bunker was converted to use as "Region 1 Regional War Room". This is thought to have closed about 1960, as the strategy to cope with potential effects of Soviet nuclear attack changed. The website source includes images of the bunker and an annotated aerial view of the site as it was in the Second World War showing the funcions of the surface buildings described above. (2)
"Kenton Bunker at former RAF Blakelaw". An underground operations room bunker built in 1939, situated off Kenton Lane, Kenton, Newcastle upon Tyne. It was the headquarters of No. 13 Group responsible for the defence of the north in the Battle of Britain and later the general defence of the region. It is built of concrete and brick. There is a small entance building of brick columns with a flat concrete roof. The bunker is reached by a long flight of concrete steps. many original fixtures are still intact. Listed Grade II. (3)
For obvious former reasons of national security on the 1941 Ordnance Survey 1:2500 map the Group 13 Complex is not marked but the boundary around it is recognisable when compared to images of the wartime site from source 2. The area is centred at roughly NZ 21612 67365. (4)
On the corresponding 1:2500 map for 2007 the outer boundary remains recognisable but none of the surface structures from the wartime complex corespond to the buildings shown on the modern map; these appear to have been replaced with modern buildings, the site is labelled as "Government Offices". (5)
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