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Report - - RAF Neatishead R3 Bunker | Military Sites | 28DaysLater.co.uk

Report - RAF Neatishead R3 Bunker

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pauln

too old to be reckless
28DL Full Member
Courtesy of a subbrit visit today here are some pics of the bunker at Neatishead. Some details below but following a fire in 1966 which killed 3 firefighters it was not fully rebuilt and brought back into use until the 1980s and as a result is probably one of the most modern R3 bunkers. It has a huge new underground section for electrical and other services to the bunker (which makes it probably one of the newest underground military builldings).

Info from Wikipedia
RRH Neatishead, is a Royal Air Force military radar station in the English county of Norfolk, East Anglia, and was established during the Second World War. It consists of the main technical site, and a number of remote, and sometimes unmanned sites.

The primary function of Neatishead was as a "Control and Reporting Centre" (CRC) for the south of the United Kingdom; it forms a part of the UK's air defences - namely the UK "Air Surveillance And Control System" (ASACS), and is part of the larger NATO air defence. It uses radar, ground-to-air radio and digitally encrypted data links.

On 16 February 1966 a fire broke out in the bunker, station fire teams were unsuccessful in putting the fire out and so civilian fire crews were called. 3 civilian firefighters lost their lives. Later that year LAC Cheeseman was sentenced to 7 years for starting the fire and causing the deaths.[1]

RRH Neatishead controls the remote site of RAF Trimingham with its Type 93 Radar. It also controls the site at RAF Weybourne with its two AEGIS aerials.[citation needed]

Neatishead is adjacent to the RAF Air Defence Radar Museum.

In April 2004 the decision was taken to substantially reduce activities at Neatishead, and by 2006, the base had been downgraded to Remote Radar Head (RRH) status, but the museum remains open. The gate guardian, a Phantom previously based at RAF Wattisham, was cut up for scrap in 2005 despite interest from the Radar Museum.[2]

In October 2006 local media reported that a buyer had been found for the now disused section of the base.[3] The 251/2 acres site was advertised again in January 2010, with an asking price of £4,000,000.[4]


Guard bungalow

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Down the stairs inside the bungalow and along the usual long entrance tunnel is a very substantial blast door.


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Control panel for the decontamination rooms (everything about this bunker seems to have been done to the most stringent designs)

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Plant room

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Emergency Exit B (locked and alarmed)

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Warning notice on the comms room

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The completely new section of bunker is accessed at the end of the entrance tunnel from the guardhouse (i.e. just outside the blast door to the original bunker)


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There were blast doors everywhere !
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Air dampers
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There are two main emergency exits in this section and there seem to be a number of smaller ones


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This place was a very interesting contrast to the originally similar R3 at Bawdsey. The new section is amazing; an interesting glimpse at what a new build bunker might look like.
 

Bertiebassett

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
great pictures, I was stationed there after the fire and was on the trials team setting up the new ops room .(now the museum) I never got down into the bunker until after I left the RAF, I joined the Norfolk fire service and did my breathing apparatus training down there. In those days they lit a real fire in the toilets and filled the whole bunker with thick black smoke and we just had enough air in our cylinders to get in and round the top floor and out again. (wouldn't happen these days 'elfin safety' would have a field day. Sad about the three firemen loosing thier lives.
 

norfolkexplorer

Quite often seen exploring further than Norfolk
28DL Full Member
Great place, we camped in it in the 90's and off for a visit in a few weeks too, never tire of this place
 

Zyge

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
Bloody SubBrit getting all up in my business ;) Nice3 pics though, but you should see what will be coming soon!
 
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