Thor sites protected.
Agree that point Aaron, certainly the ones over the way on the former RAF Mepal had sheds that were mounted on rails that simply rolled away when the Thor was required. Some of the rails are still in place next to the power station they built on the site a few years ago. Believe that they had a bit of a problem breaking up the old concrete though.
The IoW place was at High Down, near the Needles and was used for testing SARO's Black Knight / Black Arrow rockets, not Blue Streak. Some of the Blue Streak buildings are still used at Spadeadam by the EW Range (one of the engine test stand blockhouses was used as a store for all of the spares for the Russian kit they use up there), though the Blue Streak test stands at Greymare were in a bad condition when I was based there in the late 90s.
As for Bloodhound Mk 1 sites, the one in best condition is the ex 94 Sqn site at Misson, which defended Finningley. It is owned by a military surplus vehicle dealer, who operates the place under the name of 'The Rocket Site'. On one of the missile pads there the owners actually has a rusting Bloodhound Mk1 on a Launcher. The site at Woolfox on the A1 was in good nick, though somebody burnt down the Explosive Fitting Building in the last few years. Most of the buildings are gutted hulks and are used of storage or other purposes (the one remaining LCP building at Woodhall Spa is now the clubhouse of the RAF Conningsby Golf Club).
As for Bloodhound Mk 1 sites, the one in best condition is the ex 94 Sqn site at Misson, which defended Finningley. It is owned by a military surplus vehicle dealer, who operates the place under the name of 'The Rocket Site'. On one of the missile pads there the owners actually has a rusting Bloodhound Mk1 on a Launcher. The site at Woolfox on the A1 was in good nick, though somebody burnt down the Explosive Fitting Building in the last few years. Most of the buildings are gutted hulks and are used of storage or other purposes (the one remaining LCP building at Woodhall Spa is now the clubhouse of the RAF Conningsby Golf Club).
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The site at Woolfox on the A1 was in good nick, though somebody burnt down the Explosive Fitting Building in the last few years.
RES to hold public exhibitions on Woolfox wind farm plans - Rutland and Stamford Mercury
It must have been something else, driving down the A1 and seeing those Bloodhounds. I'm not sure how these things affect flying these days, but it's possibly lucky there's no flying at Cott anymore then..
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Cold war Thor bases
Too late for RAF Tuddenham I'm afraid; I used to live there in the only married quarter and well remember seeing from my bedroom window the missiles erected and fuelled for days during the Cuba crisis although I was too young to fully comprehend the danger.
I drove past the place a few years ago and discovered that the whole airfield is now a muddy pig farm and the OMQ has been replaced by a Spanish style monstrosity.
I had a working model of a Thor launch pad (Corgi/Airfix?) at the time that had a motorised hangar on rails that would retract, erect the missile and fire it across my bedroom. Might be worth something now if I knew where it was!
I drove past the place a few years ago and discovered that the whole airfield is now a muddy pig farm and the OMQ has been replaced by a Spanish style monstrosity.
I had a working model of a Thor launch pad (Corgi/Airfix?) at the time that had a motorised hangar on rails that would retract, erect the missile and fire it across my bedroom. Might be worth something now if I knew where it was!
It must have been something else, driving down the A1 and seeing those Bloodhounds. I'm not sure how these things affect flying these days, but it's possibly lucky there's no flying at Cott anymore then.
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Flypast this month covers the airfields around Cottesmore, and has some aerial piccies of the Bloodhound sites from the air.
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Originally Posted by ORAC
Quote:
the Thor presence in the UK lasted ony about 4 years - when there was an effective counter, they were withdrawn.
Depending on who you believe they were retired as part of the agreement with the USSR to pull their missiles out of Cuba - which is why they put them there into Cuba in response.
The Other Other Missiles of October: The Thor IRBMs and the Cuban Missile Crisis
the Thor presence in the UK lasted ony about 4 years - when there was an effective counter, they were withdrawn.
Depending on who you believe they were retired as part of the agreement with the USSR to pull their missiles out of Cuba - which is why they put them there into Cuba in response.
The Other Other Missiles of October: The Thor IRBMs and the Cuban Missile Crisis
Your own link downplays any relation of the Thor missiles to the crisis, and specifically notes that they were NOT retired as a result of the crisis!
Conclusion
55. The most dangerous crisis of the Cold War arose when the USSR deployed M/IRBMs within range of the USA. One factor in that deployment was Soviet irritation at the US IRBMs in Turkey. We do not yet know how the Soviets viewed the threat from the Thors. From the Soviet perspective, the missile threat was in the context of thousands of Amercian nuclear weapons targeted on the USSR, many from European bases. Yet, the Thors did not emerge as an irritant in British-Soviet or East-West relations. Nor, during the Cuban missile crisis, did the Soviets attempt, publicly or privately, to link the Thors to the Soviet MRBMs in Cuba. The Thor deployment amply demonstrates that Cold War and nuclear confrontations cannot be understood in military terms alone.
56. Yet the operational aspects of missile deployment were important during the missile crisis. President Kennedy was anxious about the command and control of the Jupiters in Turkey and Italy, and the US leadership was exercised, both publicly and privately, over the operational arrangements for the Soviet MRBMs in Cuba. The Americans behaved as though they believed Soviet operational readiness was an indicator of Soviet willingness to use the missiles. Yet the threat posed to Washington from Cuba was no different from the threat posed to Moscow from England. The Thors were at a high state of readiness and could have been fired in less than 15 minutes. The comparison with Soviet missiles is intriguing and underlines how Amercian perception of Soviet military capabilities frequently neglected how things were on the other side of the hill.
57. It is perhaps an irony that the operational readiness of the British Strategic Missile Force was in inverse proportion to its political significance. The proximity of the Jupiters to Soviet territory clearly influenced Soviet (and American) perceptions.
58. It is now clear that when Khrushchev publicly demanded the withdrawal of American nuclear forces from Turkey in return for Soviet withdrawal from Cuba, Kennedy secretly undertook to withdraw the missiles from Turkey (and Italy). Linkage between the Thors and the missiles in Cuban was considered by the British government. For Macmillan it was a basis for possible independent action to break the diplomatic deadlock. For the Foreign Office, anxious not to undermine American diplomacy or appear to be 'chickening out', the Thors could be calibrated with American diplomacy. In the event Kennedy demurred at Macmillan's offer to immobilise the British IRBMs. And although we do no yet know sufficient about Soviet military calculations, it seems reasonable to conclude that during the missile crisis, the Thors were very much a dog that did not bark in the night.
55. The most dangerous crisis of the Cold War arose when the USSR deployed M/IRBMs within range of the USA. One factor in that deployment was Soviet irritation at the US IRBMs in Turkey. We do not yet know how the Soviets viewed the threat from the Thors. From the Soviet perspective, the missile threat was in the context of thousands of Amercian nuclear weapons targeted on the USSR, many from European bases. Yet, the Thors did not emerge as an irritant in British-Soviet or East-West relations. Nor, during the Cuban missile crisis, did the Soviets attempt, publicly or privately, to link the Thors to the Soviet MRBMs in Cuba. The Thor deployment amply demonstrates that Cold War and nuclear confrontations cannot be understood in military terms alone.
56. Yet the operational aspects of missile deployment were important during the missile crisis. President Kennedy was anxious about the command and control of the Jupiters in Turkey and Italy, and the US leadership was exercised, both publicly and privately, over the operational arrangements for the Soviet MRBMs in Cuba. The Americans behaved as though they believed Soviet operational readiness was an indicator of Soviet willingness to use the missiles. Yet the threat posed to Washington from Cuba was no different from the threat posed to Moscow from England. The Thors were at a high state of readiness and could have been fired in less than 15 minutes. The comparison with Soviet missiles is intriguing and underlines how Amercian perception of Soviet military capabilities frequently neglected how things were on the other side of the hill.
57. It is perhaps an irony that the operational readiness of the British Strategic Missile Force was in inverse proportion to its political significance. The proximity of the Jupiters to Soviet territory clearly influenced Soviet (and American) perceptions.
58. It is now clear that when Khrushchev publicly demanded the withdrawal of American nuclear forces from Turkey in return for Soviet withdrawal from Cuba, Kennedy secretly undertook to withdraw the missiles from Turkey (and Italy). Linkage between the Thors and the missiles in Cuban was considered by the British government. For Macmillan it was a basis for possible independent action to break the diplomatic deadlock. For the Foreign Office, anxious not to undermine American diplomacy or appear to be 'chickening out', the Thors could be calibrated with American diplomacy. In the event Kennedy demurred at Macmillan's offer to immobilise the British IRBMs. And although we do no yet know sufficient about Soviet military calculations, it seems reasonable to conclude that during the missile crisis, the Thors were very much a dog that did not bark in the night.
Last edited by GreenKnight121; 16th Jul 2014 at 18:38.
Thor Site in Military Usage
I happened to drive over a Thor site today - still very much in military usage, at (RAF) Driffield. One of the launch pads supports a seriously large off-road training berm, whichI drove up and down in a Landrover Discovery. Other parts of the architecture are still vaguely discernible in the driver training area. For a good history with drawings of Thor sites, see English Heritage's Cold War History book published about 10 years ago.
ps. Sadly the Officers' Mess at Driffield was demolished - only last year. The airfield is used for MOD driver training and part of the admin site is a cadet training facility. A few of the quarters are still occupied by RAF personnel.
ps. Sadly the Officers' Mess at Driffield was demolished - only last year. The airfield is used for MOD driver training and part of the admin site is a cadet training facility. A few of the quarters are still occupied by RAF personnel.
