Monument record 0950900000 - Strike Command

Bomber Command, later the UKRAOC and then Strike Command, was established at Walter's Ash in 1938. Land was bought both north and south of New Road for administrations and residential buildings (see sub-records for residential buildings). In the Station Headquarters area in Park Wood it was particularly important to make the installation look like a village and to keep as many trees as possible for camouflage purposes. In 1944 a road at the northern site was built to replace the previous wiggly route and called New Road. The Operations Block was underground and covered with earth. Extensions were made in the 1960s when the station was used during the Cold War. A new bunker was constructed in the late 1970s at the northern site (see sub-record) but not used until 1989. After the war new land was acquired. The northern site was extended and 23 married quarters added in 1962. More land next to the road was bought in 1963 and is now a car park outside the main entrance. In 1968 Bomber and Fighter commands merged to become Strike Command. A new building shaped like a W to represent the wings of the RAF was built at the northern site and later given over to NATO (B1,B4).
Bomber Harris was the Commander-in-Chief during the latter years of WW2. His office was situated at the corner of the solid red brick two storey building that huosed Bomber Command's most senior officers, down the long ground-floor corridor. Lesser officers were scattered over several acres of wartime huts. The Operations Room, known as 'The Hole', had been purpose-built for Bomber Command just before the war (B2).
Notes on standard designs of RAF buildings (B3).
1946 & 1947 RAF vertical aerial photographs show extent and layout of site (B5).