FOLLOWING the recent news (see the Free Press of June 13) that in the event of a nuclear attack on Britain the Prime Minster and Cabinet would take refuge at RAF High Wycombe in Walters Ash, near Naphill, this article will describe the history of that site. Although the site originally had just one very important function, it now provides the base for a number of different activities.
Origins
With the impending outbreak of the Second World War, Britain’s Air Ministry was seeking a safe location away from, but convenient to, London for the location of the Headquarters of RAF Bomber Command. Working at the Ministry at that time was Wing Commander Alan Oakeshott, whose father Major Harold Alan Oakeshott and mother lived at Firs Cottage in Walter’s Ash. A chance remark by him resulted in a wooded area to the west of the main road linking Naphill, Walters Ash and Lacey Green being chosen for the site, with the trees providing natural camouflage from the air.
The construction company John Laing & Son were contracted to carry out the work, with 400 workmen and 80 specialists involved. The trees were preserved as much as possible to maintain the camouflage they provided, roads being laid out so as to avoid most trees. The buildings were designed to resemble other uses; for example the Officer’s mess was built to resemble a manor house, and the fire station had a tower so it resembled a church. Each block of buildings were connected by tunnels and linked to the Operations Block, which was built 17 metres below ground.
Secrecy of the location was preserved by naming the station as ‘Southdown’; the site’s postal address was given as just ‘GPO High Wycombe’, which remained so until 1968.
Bunkers
The current bunker is the second to be built on the site. When work started on the original WWII bunker in 1938, each tree that was dug up for the construction was marked and labelled with a number. They were then replanted elsewhere. When the bunker was completed in 1940 the trees were put back into their exact position to disguise any change in the landscape from the air. For the duration of the war, the bunker’s precise location was a secret.
The second bunker was built during the Cold War as a safe location for the government and military to continue to operate if the UK was hit by a Russian nuclear strike. It is still functional to this day and remains one of the most secretive and undocumented buildings in Britain.
The site in WW2
During the second world war the site is synonymous with Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Travers Harris, now more widely known as ‘Bomber Harris’. He ‘took up residence’ there when he was appointed Commander-in-Chief of Bomber Command in February 1942. That followed from the decision by the government to undertake the area bombing of German cities in a strategic bombing campaign, and Harris was directed to carry out the Area Bombing Directive. This became an important part of the ‘Total War’ waged against Germany.
This was not a universally popular decision, particularly when the Allies gained the upper hand and area bombing of German cities continued. But as Harris had said at the start of the campaign “The Nazis entered this war under the rather childish delusion that they were going to bomb everybody else, and nobody was going to bomb them. At Rotterdam, London, Warsaw and half a hundred other places, they put their rather naive theory into operation. They sowed the wind, and now they are going to reap the whirlwind.”
One local man who developed a close working relationship with Harris was Andrew Oliver, who was an expert in wood laminates and the adhesives used to bond the laminates (for a full account of Andrew’s work and career see the Free Press 8/3/25, 23/3/25 and 3/5/24). His work was vitally important in regard to the Mosquito aeroplane. Bomber Harris ordered Andrew to personally inspect every Mosquito which came down in England to determine if the accident was due to a failure of the adhesive. It never was. This however meant that Andrew had to learn to fly, so he was given six lessons. He was then on his own. Using Harris’s private plane, he took off from a temporary flying strip at Lacey Green to fly to the crash-sites.
Towards the end of the war Harris wanted a standard Dakota KG72 aircraft converted into a flying office and conference room. Andrew led a team from his company W F Baker to fit out the aircraft with a luxury interior using veneered ply panels made from Indian laurel wood. The complete conversion consisted of a galley at the forward end, a large saloon in the centre and a rear luggage compartment. The work was completed in four weeks and two days. The firm received a letter from the Air Chief Marshall complimenting them on their fine craftmanship, making special reference to Mr Andrew Oliver.
Andrew was so taken by the village of Lacey Green that he and his family moved there after the war.
Post WW2
Although RAF High Wycombe Station has continued to diversify its responsibilities to the present day, it was not an officially recognised RAF station until the 1960s. The Station badge, incorporating a thunderbolt and two pillars to symbolise the support the Station gave to Bomber Command, was formally approved in November 1966. The Station title was officially recognised as RAF Station, High Wycombe on January 1, 1969. This was after RAF Bomber Command had been merged with RAF Fighter Command to form RAF Strike Command on April 30, 1968.
On July 1 1994, the Headquarters Allied Forces North Western Europe of NATO was established at the Station.
RAF Strike Command merged with RAF Personnel and Training Command to form RAF Air Command at RAF High Wycombe on April 1, 2007.
Since 2009, the Station has been responsible for reviewing UFO sightings as part of efforts to identify any possible unauthorised military incursions into UK airspace. Civil servants tasked with reviewing such sightings were relocated to the Station from the Ministry of Defence in London.
To summarise, RAF High Wycombe is now a major administrative support Station. It hosts and supports HQ Air Command, several Groups, and the European Air Group. It also supports the Joint Ground Based Air Defence, and Joint Force Air Component Commander.
The Station in the community
In 1971 the Station was granted the ‘Honorary Freedom of the ancient borough of High Wycombe’. Only granted nine times previously, this is the highest civic honour the town can bestow. It allows the privilege every four years of marching through the town on all ceremonial occasions with ‘sword drawn, bayonets fixed, bands playing, and colours flying’. At that time it was reported that RAF High Wycombe had about 1,000 RAF personnel and their families and employed about 200 civilian workers. It was projected that the number of RAF personnel would be doubling over the next two years.
From 1983 to 1984 there was a ‘Peace Camp’ outside the site protesting at the building of a bunker to house RAF Strike Command.
Since 2010 the Ministry of Defence has had a contract with the company SERCO to provide support services at RAF High Wycombe and RAF Halton, including leisure services, general engineering and catering.
The actor David Jason officially opened the station’s new welfare centre, named after Wing Commander Alan Oakeshott, in July 2011.
An Armed Forces Community Covenant between the station and Wycombe District Council was signed in April 2012, extending the Freedom of the Borough granted in 1970, to all towns in the district.
Postscript – Alan R Oakeshott
Alan Robertson Oakeshott joined the RAF at the age of 18 after completing his education at the Royal Grammar School, where he had been Sergeant Major in the Officer’s Training Corps. He was a fine all-round sportsman, playing rugby and cricket, and also held the school’s boxing championship for two successive years.
In July 1940, as an Acting Flight Lieutenant, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for gallantry and devotion to duty in the execution of air operations, and also promoted to Squadron Leader. He was later promoted to Wing Commander. In September 1942 Wing Commander Oakeshott was reported to be missing whilst on air operations over the North Sea.
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