Surcouf, prize of General de Gaulle's Free French Navy, has disappeared with all 130 crew in the Caribbean, after freighter sailed away from collision. It may have been subsequently mistaken for a German U-boat & bombed by American planes. https://t.co/mHTZeoeYXq
The world's largest submarine, the French "undersea cruiser" Surcouf, has sunk near Panama, after a crash with an American freighter in the middle of the night. https://t.co/kt08h2xF5Y
The first Japanese military plane is flying over Sydney: taking off from a submarine, pilot Nobuo Fujita surveys the Australian city for potential bombing. https://t.co/Z4laPjZorq
Before beginning massacre of Bangka Island, Japanese soldiers rape & sexually assault the Australian nurses: https://t.co/WtDUR98iS4
Vivian: "A bullet got me in the left loin, went straight through me & out at the front. The force knocked me into the water & there I lay." Feigning death until Japanese leave, she crawls into junge, lone survivor of the Bangka Island Massacre: https://t.co/CY8ht0KTbq
With the women waist-deep in surf, Japanese start to machine-gun them. Nurse Vivian Bullwinkel: "They just swept the line- girls fell one after another." https://t.co/uEtmoQHsur
23 female nurses, shipwrecked on Bangka Island, try to surrender; Japanese soldiers order them to walk into the sea at gunpoint. Matron, Irene Drummond, calls: "Chin up, girls. I'm proud of you & I love you all." https://t.co/xE2zZDE9c8
Nazi U-boats strike the Caribbean: 7 German submarines have attached Dutch island of Aruba, near Venezuela, shelling oil refineries & sinking tankers. https://t.co/hySNJCZLmM
Eyewitness Lt. Moore: “Japanese led small groups [of wounded patients] out of sight; ensuing yells & screams, coupled on one occasion with a Jap returning wiping blood from his bayonet, left little doubt as to the men’s fate.“ https://t.co/ZhbnGES749
~85,000 British, Indian, Australian & Malay troops have been captured by the Japanese at Singapore; it's the largest surrender in British history. https://t.co/yN9sb72cyu
Under a white flag & Union Jack, General Percival is crossing to Japanese lines to surrender his troops & city of Singapore. https://t.co/q8CAo8EdKD
The Site
The surface surrounding the bunker has changed considerably since the War. One of the major changes was the dismantling of the many Nissen Huts and water tanks that existed in the early 1940’s. The other was the erection of the DSS buildings in 1948 to house offices of the fledgling National Health Service.
The area actually on top did used to contain many shrubs and trees (as can be seen from the map) though today it is just grassed over. There is still some greenery that exists on the south side around the concrete mast plinths.
The bunker had two main entrances/exits, on the west and east side for obvious reasons (in case of attack, fire etc.).
The map below shows the site in 1948, as it was at the time.
There was also a generator hut with surrounding blast wall (not shown on map). It could be found at the west side of the compound, close to Ponteland Road just inside the fence.
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- Dropped in to the bunker today for a routine dehumidifier check. All working well and bunker pretty dry now. Had a… https://t.co/QmRmX6v1Ra
- Not posted for a while - been busy elsewhere - found some interesting booklets though. Will, hopefully end up on di… https://t.co/GkOFdiHyOO
- Found another section of the Ejector room door skin and scraped the wimpey dark green off to reveal more original l… https://t.co/Ft7AoQXEWc
- Popped in this Sunday to check the dehumidifiers and decided to have a quick look at the pile of rubbish in the to… https://t.co/NCT130O8jr
- Another Sunday another clean up session and a bit of door sliding. Once again the Vacmaster donated by… https://t.co/giF5OZfChn
Great talk on this the other night. I worked in a Govt block on the site in the late 60s/early 70s and have always wondered what the odd buildings we could see from the windows were for. Rumours were that it was an RSG (Regional Seat of Government) and, though it wasn’t that, it was top secret and had a Cold War use so perhaps the rumours weren’t that far off. Fascinating and suprising that it survives. Many thanks.