RAF Rudloe Manor

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RAF Rudloe Manor is a Royal Air Force station located south-east of Bath, United Kingdom. It is one of several military installations situated on the Spring Quarries, Copenacre Quarry, the villages of Hawthorn and Hudswell, and the town of Corsham.

In World War II the Ministry of Aircraft Production built the Beaverbrook underground aircraft factory here for Bristol Aeroplane and other companies. The vast caverns had some 2,250,000 square feet of space, divided into many smaller chambers. Other local quarries were expanded on and linked together, forming a network of tunnels and bunkers, parts of which were used for army storage purposes. An RAF Fighter Group HQ (RAF Box), and a communications switching centre were also set up, making the area an important military nerve centre even then.

1 Underground
2 Present Status, Facilities & Units
3 UFO Links
4 Further reading
5 External links

[edit] Underground

In the 1950s, in response to the Soviet Union's explosion of the atom bomb and subsequent development of the more powerful Hydrogen bomb, the British government began a frantic programme of hardening and building underground facilities to try to ensure the survivability of the government and establishment. The Corsham area, with its already extensive underground areas, was chosen as the wartime seat of power in case of nuclear war. Utilising the London to Bath railway which run through the base, through the Box tunnel, the government could evacuate quickly from Whitehall to the Hawthorn Central Government War Headquarters. An underground siding was constructed so trains could come straight into the underground base.

[edit] Present Status, Facilities & Units

The full extent of the Corsham underground workings today is unknown, but they are known to stretch for several miles. Much has fallen into disuse, or has been sold, such as tunnels and bunkers at Monkton Farleigh, to the south. A naval commander was heard to admit to "25 miles of underground tunnels" on Channel 4 TV news.

Today there are numerous establishments and units. At Hawthorn is RAF Rudloe Manor, which itself is split into separate locations. The first site, the main one, houses RAF Signals units which run what is called CDCN. This stands for Controller, Defence Communications Network, which is the MoD organisation which co-ordinates military communications worldwide. This is a tri-service set up, and its nerve centre is beneath a field at Hawthorn, in a separate location to the main Rudloe base.

The second site is further up the road from Hawthorn. This is the Manor site, which housed the headquarters of the RAF Provost and Security Service, which is the component of the RAF Police handling special investigations, security surveys and the like.

One of the most sinister military facilities is known as Corsham Computer Centre or CCC. Conspiracy theorists on the internet spread many rumours about the role of the Corsham site, but its exact role remains a secret.

The actual Manor house itself is rumoured to be empty and kept by the RAF for occasional meetings.

[edit] UFO Links

Rumours abound over the years that Rudloe Manor had a secret role in monitoring the UFO reports. Records released by the public records office under the 30 year rule show UFO incidents being investigated by the RAF Provost & Security Service, which was based at Rudloe Manor. The MoD had consistently denied Rudloe Manor is involved in UFO research. Recently the MOD admitted to UFO researchers that Rudloe Manor was indeed the focal point for all UFO reports. These were dealt with by Provost and Security Services Staff who would on occasion investigate the sightings by sending out staff to interview witnesses. P&SS staff are now based at RAF Henlow.

[edit] Further reading

McCamley, Nick (2000) Secret underground cities : an account of some of Britain's subterranean defence, factory and storage sites in the Second World War, Pen & Sword Books Ltd, ISBN 0-85052-733-3
Good, Timothy "Above Top Secret: The Worldwide UFO Cover-up", William Morrow Books, ISBN-10: 0688092020