Today was an open day at the former RAF Greenham Common (USAAF Station #486) and there was a rare chance to visit the decontamination facilities within the former Wing Headquarters Building (Building 274). Unfortunately others had the same idea and the queue to get in was over 2 hrs. Ok I concede not the longest queue in the country this weekend (the Queen's Lying-in-State for the benefit of anybody reading this in ten years time) but long enough to make me whinge. As is usual with permission visits, the tour was quick so these photos were rushed without tripod.
HISTORY
Greenham Common is a former Royal Air Force station in the civil parishes of Greenham and Thatcham in the county of Berkshire. The airfield was southeast of Newbury, about 55 miles west of London. Opened in 1942, it was used by the United States Air Force during the Second World War and during the Cold War.
Following the 1979 NATO Double-Track Decision, in June 1980, RAF Greenham Common was selected as one of two British bases for the US Air Force's mobile nuclear armed Ground Launched Cruise Missiles or GLCMs. These were the "Gryphon" type derived from the sea-launched "Tomahawk". Some missiles were deployed at RAF Molesworth, but the majority of GLCMs were deployed at RAF Greenham Common. A Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp was established in protest at the deployment of cruise missiles in 1981. The protestors became known as "the Greenham women" or "peace women", and their 19-year protest drew worldwide media and public attention. After being equipped with the new weapons, the 501st Tactical Missile Wing was activated at Greenham Common on 1 July 1982. Following the ratification of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty by United States President Ronald Reagan and the General Secretary of the CPSU Mikhail Gorbachev in June 1988, the last GLCMs at RAF Greenham Common were removed in March 1991, and the 501st Tactical Missile Wing was inactivated in May 1991. On 11 September 1992, the USAF returned RAF Greenham Common to the Ministry of Defence. The station was closed in September 1992. In 1997 Greenham Common was designated as public parkland. The runway was removed and over a million tonnes of rubble used for the construction of the Newbury by-pass. The Cold War era control tower has recently been redeveloped and is now open as a visitor centre with a historical exhibition and community cafe. Cattle from local farms are permitted to graze the Common.
The decontamination facilities was built in expectation of a chemical attack on the air station. Why there are within the Wing HQ I do not know - I would had thought decontamination should be done well away from anyone else.
REPORT
1 - A rare open day
2 - I never expected this!
3 - Two hours later
4 - A sentry post at the entrance
5 - Reinforced glass window
6 - Marking my place in the queue I had a wanders...
7 - Note how it was a tactic of the US Air Force to defend their Wing HQ with the use of vicious feral children, surely an inhumane tactic and against the Geneva Convention but must had worked as a powerful deterrent as the Soviet Army never attempted to take Newbury
8 - And around the back
9 - Inside the first blast door
10 - And a turnstyle
11 - A second blast door
12 - Leading to the first of the decontamination facilities - a foot wash, the grills would had been removed and a constant flow of water flowing
13 - Next was the undressing room, here those to be decontaminated were ordered to strip naked and their clothing to be placed into the chute at the end. Notice the observation window built for the benefit of any perverts who enjoy watching people undress
14 - Next was the shower room and then a drying room, but as part of a large group was impossible to get photos. So we move onto the clean side of the complex and here we see the controller's station
15 - From here all internal doors were opened and those being decontaminated spoken to via intercom
16 - Plant room
17 - Filter units
18 - Power control panels
19 - Contaminated sewage is what I produce each morning in my own bathroom
20 - Finally the rear exit
21 - Nearby is Building 273 - Combat Support Building. This will never be opened up to the public as it is said to be a computer centre.
HISTORY
Greenham Common is a former Royal Air Force station in the civil parishes of Greenham and Thatcham in the county of Berkshire. The airfield was southeast of Newbury, about 55 miles west of London. Opened in 1942, it was used by the United States Air Force during the Second World War and during the Cold War.
Following the 1979 NATO Double-Track Decision, in June 1980, RAF Greenham Common was selected as one of two British bases for the US Air Force's mobile nuclear armed Ground Launched Cruise Missiles or GLCMs. These were the "Gryphon" type derived from the sea-launched "Tomahawk". Some missiles were deployed at RAF Molesworth, but the majority of GLCMs were deployed at RAF Greenham Common. A Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp was established in protest at the deployment of cruise missiles in 1981. The protestors became known as "the Greenham women" or "peace women", and their 19-year protest drew worldwide media and public attention. After being equipped with the new weapons, the 501st Tactical Missile Wing was activated at Greenham Common on 1 July 1982. Following the ratification of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty by United States President Ronald Reagan and the General Secretary of the CPSU Mikhail Gorbachev in June 1988, the last GLCMs at RAF Greenham Common were removed in March 1991, and the 501st Tactical Missile Wing was inactivated in May 1991. On 11 September 1992, the USAF returned RAF Greenham Common to the Ministry of Defence. The station was closed in September 1992. In 1997 Greenham Common was designated as public parkland. The runway was removed and over a million tonnes of rubble used for the construction of the Newbury by-pass. The Cold War era control tower has recently been redeveloped and is now open as a visitor centre with a historical exhibition and community cafe. Cattle from local farms are permitted to graze the Common.
The decontamination facilities was built in expectation of a chemical attack on the air station. Why there are within the Wing HQ I do not know - I would had thought decontamination should be done well away from anyone else.
REPORT
1 - A rare open day
2 - I never expected this!
3 - Two hours later
4 - A sentry post at the entrance
5 - Reinforced glass window
6 - Marking my place in the queue I had a wanders...
7 - Note how it was a tactic of the US Air Force to defend their Wing HQ with the use of vicious feral children, surely an inhumane tactic and against the Geneva Convention but must had worked as a powerful deterrent as the Soviet Army never attempted to take Newbury
8 - And around the back
9 - Inside the first blast door
10 - And a turnstyle
11 - A second blast door
12 - Leading to the first of the decontamination facilities - a foot wash, the grills would had been removed and a constant flow of water flowing
13 - Next was the undressing room, here those to be decontaminated were ordered to strip naked and their clothing to be placed into the chute at the end. Notice the observation window built for the benefit of any perverts who enjoy watching people undress
14 - Next was the shower room and then a drying room, but as part of a large group was impossible to get photos. So we move onto the clean side of the complex and here we see the controller's station
15 - From here all internal doors were opened and those being decontaminated spoken to via intercom
16 - Plant room
17 - Filter units
18 - Power control panels
19 - Contaminated sewage is what I produce each morning in my own bathroom
20 - Finally the rear exit
21 - Nearby is Building 273 - Combat Support Building. This will never be opened up to the public as it is said to be a computer centre.
Those feral children, yeah they're an excellent deterrant!
Re the 0pen days, I think they have to to get continued funding?
