Battle of Britain Operations Room was hidden under an ornamental garden

Recent work by Historic England has revealed more information about the surface defences and features of bunker which played a key role in the Battle of Britain. Discoveries included the creation of an ornamental garden above the deeply buried bunker as a form of camouflage. The 'camouflage garden' was very similar in appearance to one at nearby Hillingdon House.

The bunker housed RAF Fighter Command’s No.11 Group Operations Room. It was the room from which much of the Battle of Britain was co-ordinated and it was here on 15 September 1940 that Winston Churchill first spoke his famous phrase, "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few".

The Bunker is a series of rooms on two levels some 60 feet (18 metres) underground. The Operations Room- or plotting room- with its large map table, squadron display boards, balloon and weather states, is exactly how it was on the day Churchill visited. The site now has a modern museum on the surface and the bunker can be visited on organised tours or virtually.  

This story was picked up by the BBC News.

The bunker is grade 1 listed. 

Images are copyright of Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA)