Each tunnel would have two decks, fully equipped with bunks, medical posts, kitchens and sanitation and each installation would accommodate 9,600. This capacity was later reduced to 8,000 as a result of improved accommodation standards. Work began on November 27th 1940 and it was hoped to have the first shelters ready by the following summer. There were great difficulties in obtaining labour and material and when the blitz abated the Government had second thoughts and in the middle of 1941 a select committee on national expenditure recommended that no further deep shelters be built, but those started should be completed.

Sleepers in a typical deep level shelter in July 1944 - this example is Clapham South

Work at St. Paul's was abandoned in August 1941 as it was feared the foundations of the cathedral might be affected. Oval was also abandoned shortly after this as large quantities of water had been encountered. The first shelter to be completed was Chancery Lane which was ready in March 1942 and the other seven were finished later in that year. The Board then urged the government to open the shelters to relieve the strain on the tube stations, but the Cabinet were reluctant due to the high cost of maintaining the shelters once they were opened and decided to keep them in reserve pending an intensification of bombing.

Towards the end of 1942, part of Goodge Street shelter was made available for General Eisenhower's headquarters. Eventually the shelters at Stockwell, Clapham North, Clapham South and Belsize Park were opened to the public but those at Clapham Common and Chancery Lane were retained and later adapted for Government use. Chancery Lane was used as a troop hostel at this time. CITADEL ACCOMMODATION The decision to allocate citadel accommodation at Chancery Lane was taken in January 1944, half to the operational staffs of the London Civil Defence region and Ministry of Works, plus some space for Combined Operations and the Inter Services Research Bureau (alias ISRB).

Beds in a typical deep shelter in January 2000 - this example is Belsize Park - click here to enlarge

The structure was adapted to meet these bodies' operational needs and to provide living accommodation for their staff

The precise allocation was:

• London Civil Defence Region
  Report and Control Centre
  Liaison Officers of Government Department
  CD HQ operational staff

• Ministry of Works Engineering Services
• Inter Services Research Bureau
• Combined Operations
• Flag Officer, London
• Movement Control (War Office)
• Port of London Authority
• Government Communications Bureau

Inter Services Research Bureau was a cover name for the research and development section of Special Operations Executive (SOE), itself an offshoot of M16 set up initially to help the Resistance in German-occupied countries and later expanded into a covert organisation of about 10,000 men and women. The Bureau's use of the Chancery Lane location may explain a reference in Leo Marks's book Between Silk & Cyanide, which describes his role in agent communication activities. The department known as the Government Communications Bureau was another cover name, relating to the combined signals intelligence (SIGINT) organisation of the three armed services. It later took the name of, and became more familiar as, Government Communications Headquarters or GCHQ.

Needless to say, these arrangements did not meet with universal approval. ISRB indicated the majority of their communications ran northward and Belsize Park would have been more convenient. The Ministry of Works argued this had no influence on cable routes; lines from both locations would run through the same Northern Line tube tunnels and where these surfaced at Golders Green they would lose protection in any case. Nevertheless, ISRB was content to establish a map room, signals room, operations room and sleeping area at `Chancery Lane West', as the file calls it.

In March 1944, it was agreed that staff of the Port of London Authority, Flag Officer in Charge and War Department Movement Control could join those other departments with allocated space in Chancery Lane. For the London Civil Defence Region, Chancery Lane became its `reserve war room' in May 1944, fitted out to handle ambulance provision, casualty service, rescue co-ordination, heavy rescue, research and experiments. The ponderous instructions issued to selected staff made abundantly clear what lay before them:

“When operations start on the Continent, or possibly before, the enemy may include London amongst other targets in an attempt to disorganise our military operations. As it is vital that these operations shall proceed with the minimum of interruption the Regional Commissioners, in common with other departments, have made arrangements to carry on in premises and under conditions likely to be impervious to enemy attack. You, as one of the officers needed to undertake this duty, will realise the vital importance of the work and accept any inconvenience to which you may be subjected during the emergency period. A move of this nature may have to be made at very short notice. You should therefore hold yourself in readiness to move ... at once.” The personal instructions also dealt with security and housekeeping matters, noting that although entrances existed in Holborn and on the tube station platform, Civil Defence London Region staff should use the “special entrance in Furnival Street”. Also that: “The lift service is not good, there being only one lift which moves very slowly, therefore, it should be used for upward journeys only.

Click here to continue Chancery Lane deep shelter and Kingsway telephone exchange

[Source:Andy Emmerson & Nick Catford]

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