Planning For the End - UK Central Government In WW3

 

It is a quiet time for writing on defence matters, and there is relatively little to comment on that is new or newsworthy. While we await the publication of the Integrated Review next month, there will be some leakage of force cuts and final jockeying for position in the outcomes, but it does feel that, right now, there is relatively little of interest to comment on.

One thing that did catch the authors eye the other day was the publication of an article on ‘The Drive’ website about the US Navy’s floating command posts for WW3. It was an extremely useful article, exploring what role was played by the US Navy in contingency planning for WW3 and how certain ships would fulfil the role of a ‘Navy One’ style floating White House for the President (or successor).

This article is fascinating as the subject of continuity of government planning is so bleak, and so complex and yet so little understood. Here in the UK, for example, we focus heavily on the existence of a network of bunkers, without really knowing much about the plans for central government to survive. It is also not well understood just how much work went into planning for the military to offer a similar capability to the afloat command post, and wider post attack communication nodes, in order to try and ensure that something would survive.

In the Cold War, the plans for government survival really broke down into 3 core phases. The first phase, which lasted until the early 1950s, envisaged much use being made of legacy WW2 shelters in London, such as the Admiralty Citadel on Horseguards, the Cabinet War Rooms and other similar shelters.

The assumption was that there would be relatively few atomic weapons dropped, with limited accuracy and destructive potential, and that it was not an unreasonable assumption that quite a lot of the UK would survive. To that end, London would still function in some form as the Capital, and much of essential Government would remain, albeit sheltering in tunnels and other areas.

From the mid 1950s onwards, as the hydrogen bomb became more prevalent, and accurate, it became clear that there was little to no chance of London surviving a nuclear attack, and that government would be wiped out.

British planning focused on a dispersed series of government HQ’s, using a variety of legacy bunkers, mainly built for the RAF ROTOR radar programme, and some other sites including WW2 underground factories, to divide the country up into various regions. Each region would have a commissioner (usually a senior Minister), and supported by various arms of government to oversee survival and reconstruction.

This form of regionalised control lasted until the end of the Cold War, and unfashionable as it may sound to say it, the UK was actually pretty well organised when it came to the delivery of planning for local, regional and central government in WW3. Over time it has become clear that across the country, huge efforts were made to build all manner of dispersed hardened facilities at various scales, and that planning at down to a surprisingly local level was in force.

Would it have saved the day-  absolutely not. Would something have survived – almost certainly yes. Most importantly, this planning was arguably far more advanced than many other countries, including the USA, whose own plans were far more limited.

So while we understand what would have happened to the regions, and the local areas, what would have happened to the central government itself? From the mid 1950s until 1968 the plan was simple – Government would have decanted en masse to a facility in Corsham known by a variety of names including STOCKWELL, TURNSTILE, BURLINGTON and EYEGLASS.

The site was not manned in peacetime, and its location was classified as TOP SECRET, with only a tiny handful of people knowing the true nature of what was going on there. Extensive plans were drawn up that in the event of activation occurring, government departments would be mobilised to travel via carefully designed plans to the site.

On arrival there were pre-arranged office blocks and phone extensions – it is possible to look at the formerly TOP SECRET phone directory and know the precise room and extension number required to reach the First Sea Lord or Prime Minister.

The facility, a former WW2 aircraft factory located in old quarries was enormous. Comprising sufficient space for about 4,000 people to live in relative comfort, it had multiple dining rooms (including one for senior civil servants and a ladies dining area), a hospital with operating  theatre, multiple office blocks and an enormous suite of communication facilities to enable the British Government to fight a global war.

Corsham was a magnificent centrepiece for the heart of government, but it was also a very vulnerable and easily exploitable target. In the event of general war, the moment it had gone live, it would have been transmitting signals and been easily detectable to hostile forces. Its destruction was all but certain at the onset of war.

With this in mind, by the mid 1960s planning was turning to the idea of how to keep the UK government intact, while still able to exercise control of the military forces and try to rebuild government in some way.

A plan emerged that remained top secret until long after the Cold War had ended, and which to this day is not fully declassified. Known initially as PYTHON, the concept was one best summed up as ‘Run Away’.

The new plan essentially abandoned Corsham as an operational site, leaving it in place as a decoy. Corsham remained highly classified and it was retained in limited use as a reserve primarily to ensure that there was an accretion point somewhere that, if it survived, could prove a useful facility.

Under the new plans the UK government would essentially split into two groups. At the onset of the crisis the Prime Minister would nominate a series of deputies (numbers varied but somewhere between 4-6 seems likely) who were mid ranking Ministers.

These Ministers would essentially become ‘Prime Minister (designate)’ in a ranking order and then team up with a smallish group of somewhere between 100-250 people drawn from the military and wider civil service.

These groups were then sent around the country to a variety of predetermined sites including remote locations in Scotland, and Aberystwyth University.  Three specifically military sites including Bovington, HMS OSPREY (the RN base in Portland) and RNAS Culdrose, where three groups would arrive. They would then go radio silent, and then wait for the bombs to drop and the world to end.

Meanwhile the intention appears to have been clear that the War Cabinet would have remained in London until the end – there is no reference in any declassified documents to senior members of Government escaping from London. Instead the function of the Cabinet would be to order nuclear release and then perish under the MOD, located in PINDAR (the Defence Crisis Management Centre) as the first bombs hit.

After the strike, the PYTHON groups would pop up from wherever they had sheltered, and using TA home defence radio networks, try to establish communications with what was left of government and then work out who was in charge. At this point, the most senior surviving ‘PM Desig’ would find themselves as the Prime Minister of what was left of the UK.

The military role in all of this is more substantial than may have first appeared. To begin with the Army was responsible for protecting the Royal Family, whose wartime plans and locations have never been revealed.

We know that under a Top Secret plan (CANDID), the Royals would be split into two groups, and dispatched around the UK, under the escort of the units based in Windor. The Household Division would once again have protected the sovereign in wartime.

Below this, it is clear that there would be some military protection of the groups themselves, and they would have sheltered on, or near, military sites. One can only imagine the reaction of a base commander on discovering in the run up to war that they were to house the likely future Prime Minister of the UK at very short notice and no prior planning.

In terms of getting afloat, the Royal Navy would have provided two ships for the task – it is believed that the Royal Yacht Britannia, and the RFA ENGADINE were to be assigned to host a PYTHON group, sailing to locations as yet unclear.

In all likelihood these ships would have sheltered somewhere on the West Coast of Scotland, in the many sea lochs that would provide good shelter and cover, and remain very discrete. Loch Torridon is often suggested as a likely refuge for this group – which makes sense as it also has a fine stately home (now a hotel) that could provide VIP accommodation if required.

More widely at least three Caledonian MacBrayne ferries were built with a variety of discrete fixtures including an NBCD citadel and a variety of other modifications to enable them to become floating outposts of Government. It seems extremely likely that in the event of war,  a not insignificant part of the British Government would have found itself afloat on Royal Navy or chartered shipping trying to work out what to do next.

Its hard looking back to work out how credible these plans were, or if they were done purely as a sense of offering a vague guide on what could be done as an absolutely bare minimum effort. Realistically once nuclear weapons were released, all bets were off.

Practically though, it is fascinating to consider how they would have worked. The military love plans, they love to modify plans and they love to exercise plans to make sure it all comes together nicely and works on the day. But here we have a scenario emerging where the British Government had to plan for its own destruction, but could never test or try out any of the plans in advance.

To even hint at what may have been, or to exercise the PYTHON plans would have been to potentially fatally compromise the secret that Corsham was not the final redoubt. This means that the first time any of this would have been carried out would have been for real as society collapsed into near anarchy.

Could PYTHON have worked, and what difference would it have made? In practical terms very little – a small group of disparate officials and military officers, thrown together at practically no notice, and with no prior training or knowledge of their role would not have made a terribly convincing central government.

At best it would have been a stop gap measure, intended to take stock of what was left, and work out who had control of which assets, where the food and supplies would come from next, and begin the process of rebuilding. In no way would it have given anything other than the most basic of government to an utterly broken nation.

Perhaps it’s a good thing that it was never exercised or tested, and that it was so unremittingly bleak. To paint a false picture of survival and hope is to encourage people that this may be doable, and it is perhaps not a bad thing to not think that the end of the world is survivable in this way. It motivates people to not want to make it happen in the first place!

This is a very quick canter through an extremely complex and challenging subject, and there are many on social media who know far more than the author. For those who want to read more about the plans, the organisation and the intentions then it is worth following both @wellbright and @atomic_hobo, who both excel at informing on nuclear matters – In particular the podcasts by @atomic_hobo are superb.

For those interested in the Burlington facility itself, then Nick Catfords super book on Burlington is worth a read. It is published by Folly Books, who do a lot of incredibly well produced books on Cold War and WW2 subterranean history.

Struggle for Survival, by Steve Fox, is a grim read, but one that sets out much of the detailed planning done by government – a full read is HERE. There is also a very  good site here (RINGBELL) on the UK civil defence and military radio networks, and how they would have worked too.

Finally there are plenty of great Facebook pages out there too, for example ‘Britains Cold War’ which contain good information on Cold War planning and material. It is definitelty worth a read if you can.

Hopefully the next article will be on more cheery and up to date information about defence!