(original photo which inspired the above image HERE)
(High resolution art of the logo HERE)

Cold War Geodesy
British Nuclear Force Locations

Command & Control (C3I) Infrastructure

Central Government War Headquarters (CGWHQ) – 35-acre complex built 120 feet (37 m) underground as the United Kingdom's emergency government war headquarters – the hub of the country's alternative seat of power outside London during a nuclear war or conflict with the Soviet Union. It is in Corsham, Wiltshire, in a former Bath stone quarry known as Spring Quarry, under the present-day MoD Corsham. In 1940, during the Second World War, the site was acquired by the Minister of Aircraft Production and used as an underground engine factory. The war headquarters was commissioned in 1955. The complex was known variously as "STOCKWELL", "SUBTERFUGE", "BURLINGTON", "TURNSTILE", "CHANTICLEER", "PERIPHERAL", and "Site 3".

Civil Defense Corps (CDC) Regional Bunkers – Built 1953-1965. All planned successors to these early bunkers were largely not built due to costs.

Facility Type

Facility Name

Location (Decimal)

Location (DMS)

Command Bunker

Central Government War Headquarters (CGWHQ)

51.42094, -2.22154

51°25′15″N 2°13′18″W

Command Bunker

RAF High Wycombe (RAF Bomber Command)

51.68161, -0.80596

51°40′54″N 0°48′21″W

Command Bunker

Northwood (Royal Navy)

51.61910, -0.41112

51°37′09″N 0°24′40″W

Regional Bunker

CDC Region 1 Bunker – Kenton Bar, Newcastle upon Tyne

55.00028, -1.66333

55°00′01″N 1°39′48″W

Regional Bunker

CDC Region 2 Bunker – Lawnswood, Leeds

53.84778, -1.59111

53°50′52″N 1°35′28″W

Regional Bunker

CDC Region 3 Bunker – Chalfont Drive, Nottingham

52.96306, -1.19833

52°57′47″N 1°11′54″W

Regional Bunker

CDC Region 4 Bunker – Brooklands Avenue, Cambridge

52.18778, 0.12778

52°11′16″N 0°07′40″E

Regional Bunker

CDC Region 6 Bunker – University of Reading, Reading

51.43896, -0.93454

51°26′20″N 0°56′04″W

Regional Bunker

CDC Region 7 Bunker – Flowers Hill, Bristol

51.42717, -2.54423

51°25′38″N 2°32′39″W

Regional Bunker

CDC Region 8 Bunker – Coryton, Cardiff

51.52333, -3.23917

51°31′24″N 3°14′21″W

Regional Bunker

CDC Region 9 Bunker – Shirley, Birmingham

52.40417, -1.82056

52°24′15″N 1°49′14″W

Regional Bunker

CDC Region 10 Bunker – Kirknewton, near Edinburgh

55.90000, -3.43750

55°54′00″N 3°26′15″W

Regional Bunker

CDC Region 11 Bunker – Tunbridge Wells

51.12639, 0.27917

51°07′35″N 0°16′45″E

Regional Bunker

Kelvedon Hatch RSG Bunker

51.67181, 0.25656

51°40′19″N 0°15′24″E

Regional Bunker

Hack Green RGHQ Bunker

53.02704, -2.53049

53°01′37″N 2°31′50″W

Atomic Infrastructure

Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE)

Facility Type

Facility Name

Location (Decimal)

Location (DMS)

Nuclear Weapons Design

AWE Aldermaston

51.36695, -1.14688

51°22′01″N 1°08′49″W

Nuclear Weapons Production

AWE Burghfield

51.40846, -1.02201

51°24′30″N 1°01′19″W

Nuclear Weapons Production

AWE Cardiff (1987-1997)

51.52481, -3.19386

51°31′29″N 3°11′38″W

RAF V-Force

End of 1958

Facility Name

Squadrons

Location (Decimal)

Location (DMS)

RAF Cottesmore

No. 10 Sq (Victor B.1)
No. 15 Sq (Victor B.1)

52.73276, -0.65269

52°43′58″N 0°39′10″W

RAF Finningley

No. 18 Sq (Valiant B.1)
No. 101 Sq (Vulcan B.1)

53.48006, -1.00483

53°28′48″N 1°00′17″W

RAF Honington

No. 7 Sq (Valiant B.1)
No. 90 Sq (Valiant B.1)

52.34255, 0.77365

52°20′33″N 0°46′25″E

RAF Marham

No. 148 Sq (Valiant B.1)
No. 207 Sq (Valiant B.1)
No. 214 Sq (Valiant B.1)

52.65254, 0.55518

52°39′09″N 0°33′19″E

RAF Scampton

No. 617 Sq (Vulcan B.1)

53.30400, -0.55285

53°18′14″N 0°33′10″W

RAF Waddington

No. 83 Sq (Vulcan B.1)

53.16994, -0.52432

53°10′12″N 0°31′28″W

RAF Wittering

No. 49 Sq (Valiant B.1)
No. 83 Sq (Valiant B.1)

52.61382, -0.46771

52°36′50″N 0°28′04″W

RAF Wyton

No. 543 Sq (Valiant B.1)

52.35619, -0.11546

52°21′22″N 0°06′56″W

End of 1962

Facility Name

Squadrons

Location (Decimal)

Location (DMS)

RAF Coningsby

No. 9 Sd (Vulcan B.2)
No. 12 Sq (Vulcan B.2)
No. 35 Sq (Vulcan B.2)

53.09306, -0.16611

53°05′35″N 0°09′58″W

RAF Cottesmore

No. 10 Sq (Victor B.1)
No. 15 Sq (Victor B.1)

52.73276, -0.65269

52°43′58″N 0°39′10″W

RAF Honington

No. 55 Sq (Victor B.1A)
No. 57 Sq (Victor B.1A)

52.34255, 0.77365

52°20′33″N 0°46′25″E

RAF Scampton

No. 27 Sq (Vulcan B.1)
No. 87 Sq (Vulcan B.1)
No. 617 Sq (Vulcan B.1)

53.30400, -0.55285

53°18′14″N 0°33′10″W

RAF Waddington

No. 44 Sq (Vulcan B.1A)
No. 50 Sq (Vulcan B.1A)
No. 101 Sq (Vulcan B.1A)

53.16994, -0.52432

53°10′12″N 0°31′28″W

RAF Wittering

No. 100 Sq (Victor B.2)
No. 139 Sq (Victor B.2)

52.61382, -0.46771

52°36′50″N 0°28′04″W

Royal Navy

Project N – Under this program the USN provided nuclear depth charges for Shackleton/Nimrod aircraft, and they were stockpiled at a few locations.

HMNB Clyde – Where the RN Polaris Force is based out of and goes for light maintenance in between patrols.

Rosyth Shipyard – Where the Polaris boats go for deep maintenance.

Facility Name

Location (Decimal)

Location (DMS)

RAF St Mawgan (Project N) (Active to 1990s)

50.44234, -5.00462

50°26′32″N 5°00′17″W

RAF Machrihanish (Project N) (Inactive by 1990s)

55.43799, -5.68935

55°26′17″N 5°41′22″W

HMNB Clyde (Faslaine, Scotland) (SSBN Base)

56.06591, -4.81944

56°03′57″N 4°49′10″W

Rosyth Shipyard (SSBN Shipyard)

56.02330, -3.44568

56°01′24″N 3°26′44″W

Barrow-in-Furness Shipyard (SSN/SSBN Shipyard)

54.11031, -3.23753

54°06′37″N 3°14′15″W

British Thor Launch Complexes under “Project Emily”

All Thor Sites Centroid: 53.08222, -0.24906

No. 1 Group Centroid: 53.64023, -0.47122

Hemswell Station Wing Centroid: 53.32774, -0.38585
Driffield Station Wing Centroid: 53.95266, -0.55786

No. 3 Group Centroid: 52.52379, -0.03259

Feltwell Station Wing Centroid: 52.42717, 0.57041
North Luffenham Station Wing Centroid: 52.61734, -0.63821

General Thor Notes:

• All Thor sites were “Soft”, despite the missiles being stored horizontally in protective, rail-mounted shelters at fixed above-ground sites with each complex housing three missiles.

• Normally between 45 and 50 Thor missiles were ready to fire in 15 minutes at any one time under RAF Bomber Command.

• The full launch sequence from shelter roll-back, erection of the missile, rapid fueling of LOX (they were typically preloaded with RP-1 Kerosene), initialization of guidance to ignition took about 15 minutes, with provisions for a phased hold at six minutes post-LOX loading.

• Once fully fueled, Thors could be launched within 60 seconds, but they could only be kept fuelled for two hours afterwards, because the super-cold LOX froze valves and other components; which then required six hours to “thaw”.

• The agreement between the US/UK was that the USAF would pay for the maintenance of the Thors for five years, after which the RAF would take over – this was the main reason the missiles lasted only four years – from 1959 to 1963.

No. 1 Group

Location (Decimal)

Location (DMS)

Hemswell Station

RAF Hemswell

No. 97 Squadron

53.40105, -0.57497

53°24′04″N 0°34′30″W

12 Jan 1959

24 May 1963

Hemswell Station

RAF Ludford Magna

No. 104 Squadron

53.37384, -0.19635

53°22′26″N 0°11′47″W

22 July 1959

24 May 1963

Hemswell Station

RAF Bardney

No. 106 Squadron

53.22715, -0.29240

53°13′38″N 0°17′33″W

22 July 1959

24 May 1963

Hemswell Station

RAF Coleby Grange

No. 142 Squadron

53.13083, -0.49713

53°07′51″N 0°29′50″W

22 July 1959

24 May 1963

Hemswell Station

RAF Caistor

No. 269 Squadron

53.50545, -0.36816

53°30′20″N 0°22′05″W

22 July 1959

24 May 1963

Driffield Station

RAF Driffield

No. 98 Squadron

53.99428, -0.48248

53°59′39″N 0°28′57″W

8 Jan 1959

18 April 1963

Driffield Station

RAF Full Sutton

No. 102 Squadron

53.98041, -0.86448

53°58′49″N 0°51′52″W

8 Jan 1959

27 April 1963

Driffield Station

RAF Carnaby

No. 150 Squadron

54.06076, -0.26029

54°03′39″N 0°15′37″W

8 Jan 1959

9 April 1963

Driffield Station

RAF Catfoss

No. 226 Squadron

53.92000, -0.27276

53°55′12″N 0°16′22″W

8 Jan 1959

9 March 1963

Driffield Station

RAF Breighton

No. 240 Squadron

53.80625, -0.90766

53°48′22″N 0°54′28″W

8 Jan 1959

8 Jan 1963

No. 3 Group

Wing

Station

Squadron

Location (Decimal)

Location (DMS)

IOC

EOC

Feltwell Station

RAF Feltwell

No. 77 Squadron

52.47944, 0.51917

52°28′46″N 0°31′09″E

9 Jan 1959

10 July 1963

Feltwell Station

RAF Shepherds Grove

No. 82 Squadron

52.31528, 0.92028

52°18′55″N 0°55′13″E

22 July 1959

10 July 1963

Feltwell Station

RAF Tuddenham

No. 107 Squadron

52.31407, 0.55963

52°18′51″N 0°33′35″E

22 July 1959

10 July 1963

Feltwell Station

RAF Mepal

No. 113 Squadron

52.39627, 0.12231

52°23′47″N 0°07′20″E

22 July 1959

10 July 1963

Feltwell Station

RAF North Pickenham

No. 220 Squadron

52.62932, 0.73080

52°37′46″N 0°43′51″E

22 July 1959

10 July 1963

North Luffenham Station

RAF North Luffenham

No. 144 Squadron

52.63192, -0.60645

52°37′55″N 0°36′23″W

12 Jan 1959

23 Aug 1963

North Luffenham Station

RAF Polebrook

No. 130 Squadron

52.46704, -0.38889

52°28′01″N 0°23′20″W

12 Jan 1959

23 Aug 1963

North Luffenham Station

RAF Folkingham

No. 223 Squadron

52.85750, -0.44332

52°51′27″N 0°26′36″W

12 Jan 1959

23 Aug 1963

North Luffenham Station

RAF Harrington

No. 218 Squadron

52.39270, -0.86232

52°23′34″N 0°51′44″W

12 Jan 1959

23 Aug 1963

North Luffenham Station

RAF Melton Mowbray

No. 254 Squadron

52.73662, -0.88937

52°44′12″N 0°53′22″W

12 Jan 1959

23 Aug 1963