Secret Sites

The majority of bunkers built in the 1950's and 1960's have been sold off or demolished. The two most important sites owned by the Government are the large site in an area south west of Corsham, bordered by the A4 and the A635, and the Pindar Bunker. It is believed that work started in 1984, and by the end of 1994 some 126 million pounds had been spent. Its purpose is to provide a joint operations centre for the Government with a protected crisis management facility. It became operational on the 7th December 1992. The Pindar site is situated below the existing Ministry of Defence building within the centre of London.

On April 22nd in 1976 two Hungarian Diplomats were spotted by MOD Police taking pictures through the fence at Awe Burghfield. After an early morning car chase they were caught by Thames Valley Police and arrested under the Official Secrets Act, but released when they pleaded diplomatic immunity. The two Hungarians actually turned out to be Soviet Bloc intelligence officers using their embassy as a cover. It later turned out that the two Hungarians had in fact been to Burghfield a number of times before to monitor the movement of the convoys.

The Foreign Office decided against expelling the two Hungrians who denied that they had been spying, explaining their presence in the Burghfield area as the result of visiting friends, who they refused to identify. Within a few weeks they had left Britain, withdrawn to Budapest.

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