August 6, 2010

By Ian Proctor

Harrow Observer, 4 August 2010 – A FORTIFIED bunker at the former RAF Bentley Priory, from which Winston Churchill oversaw the D-Day landings, could be dismantled.

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Landowner VSM Estates bought the land from the Ministry of Defence after the base in Stanmore, once the headquarters for Fighter Command, was decommissioned.

It is seeking permission to demolish the vacant two-storey underground complex, along with one of six above-ground entrances, because the owner can find no alternative use for it.

The man-made cavern was built in the 1940s and covers 0.27 hectares. It included offices, a map room with viewing gallery, concrete walls thick enough to withstand bomb blasts, air supply and an electricity generator.

The operations rooms were used by King George VI, Winston Churchill and General Eisenhower to monitor the D-Day landings on June 6, 1944. It was also used as a nuclear bunker during the Cold War.

VSM Estates has permission to transform the ex-RAF base into a luxury homes development, including converting the Grade II listed manor house into apartments and a Battle of Britain museum.

In a report to councillors, VSM Estates’ agent, GVA Grimley, said alternative uses for the bunker were considered, including storage, an archive room, emergency accommodation and even a nightclub.

Read the entire article here at the Harrow Observer

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