Site Name: Fort SouthwickJames Callaghan Drive Sub Brit site visit 3rd December 2002 [Source:
Nick Catford]
During the 1950's, between the Korean War (1950-52) and the Suez Crisis
(1956), the Commander in Chief Portsmouth, who, on 21 February 1952
was appointed to the NATO post of Allied Commander in Chief Channel
(CINCHAN), decided that to meet his National and NATO responsibilities
he would require a Headquarters which could provide better facilities
than those available in HM Dockyard. The answer was to reopen the UGHQ
at Fort Southwick. Before this could be implemented it was discovered
that the tunnels had been broken into through the South Adit and considerable
damage caused by local vandals. A Royal Navy working party was put to
work to return the UGHQ to a state of readiness this was completed in
about twelve months. Later, during the Suez Crisis (1956) the entire
UGHQ was refurbished to an operational state. 
Photo:Communications
Room in the NATO Commcen, formerly the GPO carrier room in WW2
Photo by Nick Catford With the increasing NATO exercise cycle and pressure for office space, particularly for the Ships Maintenance Authority and Fleet Technical Staff it was decided to move CINCHAN and CINCHOME (Commander in Chief Home) staff to the fort on a permanent basis.
On 21st January 1966 the CINCHAN appointment was amalgamated with that of CINCEASTLANT (Commander in Chief Eastern Atlantic) and in consequence Channel staff moved to Northwood during 1968/69. The underground headquarters remained operational as a communications centre (COMMCEN) for the proposed new Naval Home Command Organisation (CINHOME later CINCNAVHOME) but it became evident that it was too big and required modernisation as the communications equipment was long overdue for updating.
When it became clear that the cost of fully modernising the underground headquarters was out of the question on financial grounds it was decided to build a new COMMCEN in the parade ground above. The fort was retained by the MOD as the headquarters of the Commander
in Chief, Naval Home Command until the late 1990's and it formed part
of an Admiralty Research Establishment. It was also used by the DCSA
(Defence Communications Services Agency) as a communications centre
for the Royal Navy. The COMMCEN remained in use until 2001 when its
function was transferred to the Portsmouth Naval Base. 
Photo:Standby
generator room. The passage at the far end leads to the Diesel Tunnel
(later the main NATO entrance to the tunnel complex.)
Photo by Nick Catford In July 2003 the fort was sold to Fort Southwick Company Ltd. It is proposed to convert the barrack block into luxury apartments maintaining the external and internal features of the listed building. There are also plans to refurbish the main caponier as a museum relating the history of the fort up to WW2. The main operations room in the UGHQ may also be renovated and opened to the public. A collection of military vehicles will be exhibited on the parade ground and many of these have already been brought to the site. It should be stressed however that that no areas of the fort are currently open to the public and the company does not welcome casual visitors. For further information and photographs of Fort Southwick
click here [Source:
Nick Catford]
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