ROC
Group Headquarters and the United Kingdom Warning & Monitoring Organisation:
Individual ROC posts reported their instrument readings directly to their Group Headquarters by GPO/BT landline. If lines were not functioning but there was still communication between posts in a cluster, the master post in each cluster would communicate with Group HQ by VHF radio. If their own Group Headquarters was non operational for any reason they could then report to an adjacent Group Headquarters.
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The hub of each Group HQ or Group Control was the operations room where
the triangulation team would analyse the information received from individual
posts. This three-man team consisted of a tote-operator, a triangulator
and an assessor. The burst times, pressure readings, elevations and bearings
from each post were shown on a blackboard. Bearings from the post were
plotted on a table map, which gave a triangulated fix on ground zero.
With the aid of a calculator, the pressure readings and distances enabled
the scientists to calculate the power of the bomb or bombs. This and other
information was then passed to the Sector Operations Centres of the United
Kingdom Warning and Monitoring Organisation (UKWMO) where more scientists
were able to predict where and when the fall-out was heading. There were
5 Sector Operations Centres, four in England and one in Scotland located
within Group Headquarters.
The five main functions of the UKWMO, which came under the direct control
of the Home Office, were:
Warning of an air attack - conventional and nuclear
Group HQ operated with a staff of approximately 50 working under
the group controller. There were roughly 40 Observers, a warning team of 10 (the
scientists who made the calculations) and 5 full time paid staff. When fully operational
Sector Control would need a staff of about 80 including sector scientific advisor
who’s job would be to advise on any unexpected developments.
There were two types of purpose built protected centre, a semi-sunken two level
bunker or a two level surface blockhouse. Each had an operations room with an
upper gallery around three sides (in a bunker you went down to the lower floor
while in a blockhouse you go up to the gallery), stand-by generator plant, sleeping
accommodation, kitchen and dining room, air conditioning, air filters, communications,
water and food storage etc. When sealed the centre had to be self sufficient
for a week under fall-out conditions.
A few centres were located in adapted buildings, Bristol and Belfast were in post
war anti-aircraft operations rooms while Inverness and Preston occupied a former
WW2 RAF Sector Operations Centre.
The administration block was usually located in a less substantial building, sometimes
an old house, alongside. Following the restructuring programme in 1968 some Group
Controls closed in the general re-clustering with posts being transferred to adjacent
Groups.
Note: These floor plans apply to both surface and underground sites.
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© Subterranea Britannica 1998 - 2004
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Last updated 11/7/04
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