Thornbury in the Cold War
Talk by John Stennard on 9 January 2024. Report by Stephen Griffiths
It was back in 1966 that government spooks undertook exercise ‘Grass Seed’, in which the effects of a nuclear attack were predicted and horrific scenarios were envisaged such as the ‘Death of Bristol’. Wisely, the outcome of the exercise was not made public, but the government did issue some helpful pamphlets telling us what to do in the event. They told us that ‘nuclear explosions can cause significant damage’, and advised staying indoors and crawling under the kitchen table. In 1981, Avon County Council proudly declared itself a nuclear free zone, which helped a lot. They weren’t fooling anyone, but other things that the public knew little of were going on to help prevent nuclear war. Under the steely glare of the Society’s January audience, John Stennard talked.
Between Thornbury and the A38 is a Royal Observer Corps (ROC) underground bunker. There is another at Hill, and at Hallen, Dursley and Little Sodbury. In fact there are 1,563 of these bunkers, built in the late 50s and early 60s, spread around the UK. The bunkers were manned by over ten thousand ROC volunteers with the job of triangulating the points of nuclear explosions by measuring the intensity and direction of light and pressure. Each bunker was independent, with 2 bunk beds and supplies for several days, fuelled by car batteries and inter-connected only by radio.
The Royal Observer Corps were formed in 1925 with the primary aim of identifying enemy aircraft. During the period that the ROC was operating over 200,000 men and women signed the official secrets act and volunteered their services. In the complicated D Day landings of June 1944, 800 ROC volunteers accompanied gunners on navy craft so that no plane would be fired on until positively identified as an enemy. In the 1950s the ROC was re-commissioned to detect nuclear explosions, and was only stood down (but not disbanded) in the 1990s after the Berlin wall came down.
John Stennard lived only 50km from the ‘Iron Curtain’ for the first part of his life, and to him the Cold War was very real, with the threat of land invasion just as likely as a nuclear strike. Tanks and troops and NATO exercises were common sights. Each plane that was lost over the Eastern Bloc (16 American and 7 RAF) would heighten the tension for a while. John remembers going through checkpoints manned by young Russian soldiers who liked to barter cap badges, not for cigarettes, but for Littlewoods catalogues to fuel their fascination with western fashions. He explained that the worst time was in 1983, when NATO exercise ‘Able Archer’ convinced the Eastern Bloc that invasion was imminent.
In this country it is easy to be facetious about the Cold War and to question the point of all those bunkers. What good is a 4 minute warning of a nuclear war? That question, however, misses the point. It was the fact of early and accurate detection of nuclear ‘events’, and the threat of a timely and proportional response, that deterred the Eastern Bloc from launching an attack in the first place. Perhaps we need to be very grateful for all those ROC volunteers in their little underground bunkers.
So what will a bijou bunker for two cost you today? Well, certainly upwards of £20,000. Many have been bought by mobile phone companies for the purpose of radio mast building. If you want to see how an original one was set up then there is one you can tour at Broadway Tower. As for the ones in private ownership, I really couldn’t find out what they were used for. Must be a national secret. Thanks to John for his fascinating and entertaining talk, and to the two ladies in the audience who were actually in the ROC and told us of their experiences.