Battle of Britain Bunker
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The main bunker and Operations Room used by the British RAF Fighter Command No. 11 Group in the defence of Great Britain during the 1940 German air force (Luftwaffe) campaign against its British foe. Known as the Battle of Britain, it ended with a British victory and the first major military defeat of the German Nazis in WWII. British air force campaigns continued to be co-ordinated from the bunker throughout the war, including during D-Day, and it remained operational for several years after the war ended but was eventually decommissioned.In 1985 the site in the west London suburb of Uxbridge was first opened to the public after it had been restored to look exactly like it did during the Battle of Britain. A state-of the-art visitor centre and exhibition was added above ground in 2018.
>Combinations with other dark destinations
More background info: The bunker was constructed at RAF Uxbridge in western London shortly before the outbreak of WWII in 1939, after the 1938 Munich Agreement had failed to appease Hitler and a full-on war became ever more likely.
The bunker is ca. 20m underground and is encased with a reinforced-concrete ceiling, floor and walls. Access was and still is through a single 76-steps staircase that also contains all supply lines (electricity, communication, water, etc.), and a sophisticated air-filtration and ventilation system was added.
The bunker was to be the headquarters for Fighter Command Group 11 – there were four groups in total (Groups 10–13) but No. 11 was the strategically most important as it was responsible for the air defence of London and the south-east of England, i.e. the parts closest to what soon was to become enemy territory. The other groups were located further north and west, and their HQ bunkers were modelled on the one at Uxbridge.
The nerve centre of the bunker was its Operations Room. Here information from various sources, such as early-warning radar stations (called “Chain Home”), intelligence services, Royal Observer Corps (ROC) messages, anti-aircraft stations and so on, was relayed to Fighter Command and used to make vital decisions about how to best use the RAF’s squadrons of fighter aircraft. It was the first integrated air-defence system in the world and was called the “Dowding System”, after the Commander-in-Chief of Fighter Command at the time, Air Chief Marshal Hugh Dowding. The development of such an integrated system would prove a key advantage in the later air battles against Germany.
The Operations Room’s centrepiece, as it were, was the large plotting table based on a map of the English Channel and the central and southern parts of Britain. Information coming in from the outside regarding the location of enemy (as well as RAF) planes was translated on to the table by means of colour-coded ‘plots’ (wooden markers with numbers and code letters on them) which were moved by sticks operated by the room’s (mostly female) staff. The large wall at the back had a system called ‘Tote boards’ displaying the status of the various fighter squadrons of the Group. In addition weather information and info about barrage balloons was displayed. The Controllers based their decisions as to how to deploy their squadrons on all the information concentrated in this Operations Room. Incoming communication was mainly by telephone.
After Nazi Germany had successfully invaded and occupied Poland, Hitler aimed west, overrunning the Netherlands, Belgium and then by May 1940 also most of France, in what became known as the Blitzkrieg (a type of warfare characterized by high mobility – but also fuelled by the copious use of amphetamine-based performance-enhancing drugs). This Blitzkrieg also triggered the hasty evacuation of British Expeditionary troops from Dunkirk in May 1940.
After the Fall of France, newly appointed Prime Minister Winston Churchill expected a “Battle of Britain” next (this expression was used by Churchill for the first time in a speech that also contained the first use of the famous “Finest Hour” line in it).
With the loss of the French ally in mainland Europe, an invasion by Germany seemed likely. In actual fact, Hitler hadn’t made such plans, apparently relying on pushing Britain into a quick peace deal in his favour. Yet Churchill insisted on carrying on Britain’s war effort.
The German army (Wehrmacht) was in no way prepared for a landing operation required for an invasion of Britain, there was no plan, the soldiers weren’t trained for it and the military lacked the necessary equipment (especially landing craft). So when in July 1940 Hitler finally decided to undertake an invasion attempt this was scheduled for September of that year. For the months before it was to be the German Luftwaffe’s task, under Reich Air Marshal Hermann Göring’s command, to weaken or even take out the British defences in order to gain air superiority in preparation for a subsequent landing operation (code-named “Operation Sea Lion”).
The actual air battle began with German bomber attacks against British harbours and supply convoys, moving on to targeting airfields, radar stations and aircraft assembly plants by August. It was all intended to weaken the British defences and initially the situation seemed to indicate that this approach would be effective – Göring was certainly confident. The RAF had something like only 600 fighter planes compared to Germany’s 1200 plus 1300 bombers. So the RAF faced the task of having to shoot down German aircraft at a ratio of 4:1 in order to succeed.
The German planes were based mostly in northern France, but also as far away as Norway. Their numbers were formidable, but the aircraft also had their weaknesses. The bombers were either single-engine Junkers Ju-87 ‘Stukas’ (dive bombers) with limited capacity, range and speed, which made them vulnerable; while the heavier bombers were twin-engined Heinkel He-111s and Junkers Ju-88s, neither of which had much of a bomb-carrying capacity and they also lacked speed. The British Hawker Hurricanes and especially the more agile Supermarine Spitfires had the advantage here – also over the Germans’ best fighter plane, the Messerschmitt Bf-109, which was very capable but lacked the range to protect accompanied bombers for very long and thus could not play out its speed and better armament.
The Germans had lost some 600 aircraft by late August 1940, the RAF “only” ca. 250. Around this time Churchill first used the later famous line: “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.” He actually first said this at the Uxbridge bunker, which he visited on several occasions, but later repeated the line to a wider audience in Parliament. It should be noted that amongst those “few” were quite a few non-British pilots, of whom the No. 303 Polish Squadron distinguished itself more than any other. In fact Dowding himself reckoned that the contribution and “gallantry” of the Poles was a crucial factor in the RAF’s success.
Initially, the Germans only went after military targets, but after they dropped some bombs on civilian sites (possibly by accident) and the RAF responded by launching the first aerial attacks on Berlin, Hitler changed tactics and launched a massive campaign of bombing against London and other cities in what’s become known as “The Blitz”. This caused widespread destruction especially in the east of London and also claimed many thousands of civilian lives. A particularly dreadful night was 29 December when German bombing caused a firestorm in London through the use of incendiary bombs (this would later “backfire”, quite literally, in the firestorms caused by the RAF in German cities like Hamburg and Dresden a few years further into the war).
Yet the RAF had thwarted Germany’s attempts at gaining daylight air superiority, as they were shooting down Germans planes faster than the Nazis could replace them. Effectively, the Battle of Britain, as it first presented itself, was won by the RAF by September 1940.
However, the Luftwaffe increasingly switched to night-time attacks and carried on with bombing raids until May 1941. Some historians see these raids as an extension of the Battle of Britain, while others believe September/October 1940 marked its end.
In any case, any plans for an invasion of Britain were dropped, and bombing raids scaled back, as Hitler eventually shifted his attention towards the impending opening of the Eastern front with the Wehrmacht’s invasion of the Soviet Union (“Operation Barbarossa”).
Fighter Command Group 11 was kept busy defending London and the south-east against the aerial bombings by the Luftwaffe, but after those largely ceased things became quieter in Uxbridge. Yet the bunker came back into action by co-ordinating air support for the disastrous “Operation Jubilee” (the Dieppe Raid of August 1942) and in particular during the much more successful “Operation Overlord”, i.e. the D-Day Allied landings in Normandy and the subsequent pushing back of German troops from France.
After the end of WWII the Uxbridge bunker was kept operational until 1958, when Group 11 relocated elsewhere. From 1975 the bunker’s interiors were restored to their original state and how they would have looked in September 1940. From 1985 there have been guided tours for the general public and a first museum exhibition was opened inside some of the side rooms of the bunker. After a heavy investment plan was launched in 2015, an all-new visitor centre with a large additional exhibition was constructed above ground next to the entrance to the bunker. This opened its doors in March 2018.
What there is to see: Before you enter the visitor centre you may want to take a look at a few items out in the open air. First there is the original memorial stone honouring the bunker’s role in the Battle of Britain. This was unveiled in the late 1950s, when RAF Fighter Command Group 11 moved out (see above). There are also two planes on sticks on open-air display, one a later version of the Spitfire with the characteristic black-and-white-stripes D-Day markings, the other a Hawker Hurricane as it would have looked in the Battle of Britain. Behind the Hurricane note the green door in the brick wall – as the guide later explained, that was the original door through which personnel living beyond it would go to work. The housing estate behind the wall is not original, though, but was developed after the war. Near the Hurricane is also a plaque that is part of the “Polish Air Force Heritage Trail” (bilingual in English and Polish!).
Inside the visitor centre first go to the reception desk and check in for your bunker tour – or buy your ticket if you haven’t booked it online in advance (which is however recommended at least for the tour – see below). As you are asked to be there well in time for your tour slot you may have time to have a quick first look at the visitor centre’s exhibition. That’s what I did, but I’ll come to that later and for consistency’s sake start with an account of the bunker tour first.
When I visited in early January 2025, we were a group of perhaps 12 to 15 participants, of all ages, from kids actually a little too young for such a thing to some older pensioners who later had a bit of trouble negotiating the steps down to the bunker (and back up). After a short intro the guide ushered our group to the bunker’s entrance and the topside guard position, where personnel would have checked in when coming to work.
We then made our way down the 76 steps to the bottom and into the bunker as such. Past a few side rooms we then entered the heart of the complex, the Operations Room with its large plotting table. Our group was invited to take a seat on the chairs arranged around the plotting table map. The guide, taking up position opposite us, then delivered her illuminating talk about how this room and the whole “Dowding System” (see above) worked, pointing out all the relevant elements and their function, including the squadron status lights on the huge wall at the back.
I won’t go into the technical and military details here (if you want to know more, why not go on such a tour yourself!), except one, because it’s a funny one. At one point the guide asked whether there was anybody from Birmingham in the group (indeed, my wife) before pointing out a spelling mistake on the plotting map, where the name of this second-largest city in Britain was erroneously given as “Birminigham” (with an <i> too many).
Past a telephone switchboard and operating console for the ‘Tote board’ (the squadron status wall), we then took the stairs to the upper level that overlooks the Plotting Room. This is where the incoming information, after being “filtered” (so that only relevant bits were relayed), was interpreted and decisions were taken on what to make with the data and how, where and when to scramble which fighter squadrons.
There’s lots of period technology, such as rows of dialling-disk telephones, even a Morse code transmitter, microphones, speakers, and a couple of safes. There are also rolled out maps with pens, clipboards, glasses, caps and so on scattered around so that it looks as if the staff had only just left in mid-work. Included was also a tea mug with RAF markings on it – so they even had their own mugs!
At the rear behind all this is an exhibition in a couple of rooms, with plenty of exhibits related to the bunker on display. These ranged from first-aid kits to uniforms, and from model planes to charts which provided the silhouettes of various aircraft that were in service at the time on both sides to aid recognition, especially by the Royal Observer Corps (ROC).
There are also lots of documents, newspaper clippings, photos, paintings, plaques, medals and whatnot related to the bunker and the Battle of Britain. One photo showed the Operations Room in action, and you can see how many people were involved – I counted some three dozen people in the photo, and there would have been plenty more off the frame of the image. The majority of the staff in the Plotting Room were women. And a special section complements that in focusing on women’s significant role in Fighter Command, especially within the WAAF (Women’s Auxiliary Air Force).
A few items relate to veterans of the battle, and feature signatures from some of them, including those in a large framed photo of a 50th anniversary gathering of veteran pilots entitled “The Last of the Few” (in reference to the famous Churchill quote – see above).
There are also numerous text-and-photo panels dedicated to a range of individuals under the common heading of “faces of the bunker”, including pilots, commanders and key WAAF members working as part of the up to 80 people inside the bunker during day and night shifts.
Other panels provide details about the various subsections of the military involved, plus a history of RAF Uxbridge after WWII, through the Cold War, and until its closure in 2010.
A remarkable exhibit is also a sort of Battle-of-Britain-themed board game, with figures including radio towers, blimps, ROC personnel, pilots and in the centre a typical bowler-hat-wearing and cigar-smoking Churchill on the British half. This is complemented on the Nazi German half with figurines of bombs, soldiers, pilots, generals and a rather ridiculous-looking little Adolf Hitler giving his Nazi salute.
Our group then made its way back up the 76 steps and dispersed at ground level – and I headed for the main exhibition in the visitor centre above ground.
This exhibition is very modern and spread out over two levels. As you go in, you’re on the upper level balcony that wraps around the main lower level. Suspended on wires from the ceiling are two British fighter planes … the usual suspects, one Supermarine Spitfire and a Hawker Hurricane, the two main RAF protagonists in the Battle of Britain. These planes are not originals but reconstructions, I believe.
Along the upper level is a section about the ill-fated Operation Jubilee (the Dieppe Raid), plus a set of scale models, made by volunteers, of particular scenes that played out during D-Day. This is complemented by plaques about the two planes hanging from the ceiling, along with others providing an overview of the Dowding System (see above).
Looking down into the main part you can make out a reconstruction of the Operations Room with a scaled-down plotting map and parts of the squadron status panels (called ‘Tote boards’). You can also see some of the bigger exhibits such as an anti-aircraft gun, a searchlight and plane engines.
Heading downstairs to the main part you can decide whether to go around randomly or try to follow the chronology of sections. If doing the latter, then you should begin with the WW1 section – entitled the “First Battle of Britain”, when in particular Zeppelins managed to drop a few bombs on to British soil.
Then there’s a section about the road that led to WWII, with Hitler seizing power, Britain’s failed attempt at appeasement with the Munich Accords, and then the early stages of the war and how Britain prepared for it.
The Battle of Britain is naturally given especially substantial space, with all the phases of the battle between May and October 1940 given detailed separate panels. Another separate section covers “Life in the bunker”, and there’s also a 3D scale model of the bunker.
A particularly intriguing large exhibit of ancient technology turns out to be a control console/rack for reading out data from the “Chain Home” nascent early-warning radar systems. This big grey piece is as large as a big wardrobe and could have jumped straight out of a Terry Gilliam movie …
Other large items on display include an anti-aircraft gun, a night-time searchlight and a few plane parts, in particular one of those Merlin V-12 piston engines used in the Spitfire and Hurricane fighter planes, and one glass cabinet contains items that fighter pilots would have been equipped with on their sorties.
One more remarkable artefact on display is a “scramble bell” from one of the airfields where fighter squadrons were stationed. When these bells started to ring, the pilots had to run to their aircraft, get in, strap up and take off into the air as quickly as possible.
Next to this bell sits a little fluffy toy teddy bear. In fact there are several of those dotted around the exhibition – these are part of the special parallel commodification aimed at younger children. This also incorporates a number of “games” you can obtain for the smaller kids.
Back to the serious adult stuff: roughly in the centre of the main exhibition space you can try your hand at an interactive section about the Operations Room (see above) and its plotting table (you can have a go at “filtering” incoming info).
In a glass-fronted side room you can additionally find a special exhibition about the contribution by the pilots from Poland who fought so successfully in the Battle of Britain and the RAF generally. This section is bilingual in English and Polish (while the rest of the exhibition is in English only).
Furthermore there is a detailed section about Operation Overlord, especially the D-Day landings in Normandy, and the involvement of the Fighter Command Group 11 in planning and co-ordinating the airborne aspects of this decisive turning point in WWII.
A side section is called “new defensive challenges” and includes panels about the German V1/V2 terror weapons.
When you're finished with the exhibition you may want to have a look at the gift shop where various aviation-related books and other items, and in particular ones on the Battle of Britain theme, can be obtained. Behind this is also the museum cafe called “Daisy’s in the Park”.
After leaving the building and walking back to the car park – or past it back to the Tube station – take note of the large statue of Air Chief Marshal Sir Keith Park, who was in charge of the Fighter Command Group 11 during the Battle of Britain (April to December 1940). Hence he is honoured as the “Defender of London”.
In the distance, beyond a row of flagpoles flying flags of nations involved in the Battle of Britain (i.e. including the non-British ones who also served as pilots – see above), stands historic Hillingdon House, which also has a military association, including the planing of D-Day, but these days is a luxury event centre hosting primarily weddings.
All in all, this is a site of great historical place authenticity augmented by a well-made, highly illuminating museum commodification, well worth the effort of coming out all the way here. Naturally, it’s much more for those with an interest in WWII and especially the Battle off Britain (for such people it is an absolute must-do!!). But even for people not all that interested in the military minutiae, seeing the original Operations Room and all the intriguing artefacts is still quite something.
Location: in the far north-west of London between Uxbridge and Hillingdon on Wren Road, some 16 miles (25 km) from the city centre.
Google Maps locators:
Battle of Britain Bunker – visitor centre: [51.5408, -0.4648]
Uxbridge Station: [51.5466, -0.4779]
Polish Airmen Memorial: [51.5489, -0.4003]
RAF Northolt: [51.5555, -0.4085]
WWII-era relics in the woods [51.5942, -0.4373]
Access and costs: a long way out from London’s city centre, but doable by public transport; not too pricey by London standards.
Details: The nearest London Underground (Tube) station is Uxbridge, served by the Metropolitan and Piccadilly Lines (it’s a western terminus for those lines, in fact). From there it is a ca. 20-minute walk, first down High Street, straight across the roundabout to continue on Hillingdon Road, then turn left into Burton Road and then cross Dowding Park. The bunker is signposted. Alternatively there’s a taxi rank at Uxbridge Station.
If you are driving yourself, the post code for entering into SatNav/GPS systems is: UB10 0GG. There is a free visitor car park right at the site. Note that the site is within the “Ultra Low Emissions Zone” of Greater London, so if your vehicle is a bit older and/or does not comply with the set emission limits you have to pay a fee (and at 12.5 GBP per day it’s a hefty one too!).
It’s recommended that you book your bunker tour ticket in advance online (at the battleofbritainbunker website). You have to pick one of the available time slots. In theory you could just turn up, but since places on the tours are limited you may risk disappointment. Tour tickets are also valid for the visitor centre exhibition and currently (in early 2025) cost 12 GBP for adults, 9.50 GBP for seniors (over 65), students 6 GBP and under 16-year-olds enjoy free admission. Not recommended for very small children (under 7).
There’s also the option of getting a ticket for only the visitor centre at a reduced rate of 7/5.50/3.50 GBP. This is mainly for people unable/unwilling to go down to the bunker, for which you have to be able to descend 76 steps down and climb back up them at the end. At the visitor centre there’s a “virtual bunker visit” feature (free) that you could use instead.
The visitor centre’s opening times are: daily from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Time required: I spent just over two hours at this site, and a bit under half of that was taken up by the bunker tour. Those who want to read absolutely everything in the visitor centre exhibition and use all the interactive elements provided will need longer than this.
Combinations with other dark destinations: I visited the Battle of Britain Bunker in January 2025 together with a fellow blogger, friend and specialist tour operator (under the name “Explorabilia” – see this sponsored link) who afterwards took me and my wife on an intriguing private tour around west London, where he lives (based in Ruislip just north of Uxbridge). This tour (for some photos see under London >gallery) included a stop at the Polish Airmen Memorial, driving past RAF Station Northolt (where one of the Group 11 squadrons was based; still in RAF use today), a brief stop at a house from where some Soviet spies operated for years during the Cold War and WWII-era bomb craters and some relics within Ruislip Woods where there was once a training centre for exiled Germans to be turned into spies. There were several fascinating stories involved, but I won’t give any of them away here. If you want to know more, enquire about such a tour for yourself ;-)
The place most related to the Battle of Britain Bunker within London is the Churchill War Rooms in Whitehall, and the Imperial War Museum in Lambeth also has things related to the topic. For both you’d have to make your way from out at Uxbridge back to central London.
There’s also a somewhat over-the-top large Battle of Britain Monument on Victoria Embankment near Big Ben.
For more see also under Great Britain and London in general.
Combinations with non-dark destinations: there’s nothing much of tourist interest out in this suburban region – see under London in general instead.
