By Elliott West
Introduction
As war rages in Ukraine, one of the things that the media has homed in on is the use of nuclear bunkers for protection. Harking from a post-war era when the Cold War was at its height, large numbers of nuclear bunkers were built in the event of a nuclear war transpiring. One such bunker still exists exists beneath the bustling streets of London. It is of course the lost Kingsway Telephone Exchange, a maize of tunnels running beneath and between Holborn and Chancery Lane underground stations.
This bunker is one of a number bunkers that exist in London. A place where civil servants and politicians could shelter in the event of a nuclear attack. The Kingsway Telephone Exchange dates back to World War Two and was originally used by the Special Operations Executive (SOE), a branch of MI6 which supported Resistance fighters in Nazi-occupied Europe.
Darkness and Secrets
Once unknown and highly confidential, these tunnels are situated 100 feet under central London and were fully equipped with air-raid shelters for the numerous air raids in 1940. A maze of rooms and corridors that could house 8000 people at one time. They were later used as an archive by the Public Records Office and MI6 to hold 400 tons of highly classified documents.
After the Second World War, this shelter was expanded and a telephone exchange was constructed on the site. Numerous telephone conversations fed through this exchange, a mix of civilian calls and an emergency feed between the White House and the Kremlin, installed after the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. This telephone exchange employed 200 Post Office operatives who handled 15 per cent of London’s trunk traffic, around 6000 calls a day or between 1.4 and 2 million calls a week. They were provided with amongst other things, a canteen and a bar. It is said that this is the deepest of its kind in London and once was dubbed “a telephone city under London”, only being declassified in 2005.
Every thought was put into the construction of this secret in the event of a nuclear war. Water could be provided via an artesian well and the bunker had enough rations to last for six weeks. From ground level, this bunker can be identified by a large air vent, situated at the south end of Leather Street.
In fact, there is even a YouTube video filming a tour of the site and trust me, it is not for the faint-hearted. Originally reached via a lift shaft, the site has a lower mezzanine level and then a lower ground level. Using a ventilation shaft to provide air for the inhabitants, the site has a very flimsy ladder that leads down to the bunker area of the complex. A bunker that has been provided with add-ons over the years including cramped side passageways and male and female toilets that now stand in rack and ruin.
Although the ceiling is now adorned with stalactites protruding down from the ceiling and couldn’t be used again, it is a reminder of a bygone era when the threat of nuclear war was a constant topic of conversation and one highly feared as a direct result of Russian intervention. Highly unlikely to ever have been used, they were more of a deterrent but something that could be used as a fallback if the moment ever arose. Sadly the people of Ukraine are having to use similar sites in their country to shelter from the continued rain of bullets and bombs being launched by Russia. Now largely unsafe and a clear breach of health and safety standards, a reminder of how when desperation strikes, such place provide temporary personal security and a pause from direct attacks.
