The Bunkers
In the event of a nuclear attack, to provide resilience, the country was split into Civil Defence Regions, each with a Government Headquarters bunker. BBC staff and studio facilities had a presence in each bunker. In additon, the BBC had its own bunkers in London and central England.
The War Room, RSG, SRHQ Bunkers
The life of the WTBS covered the entire Cold War period. In that time, the style of bunkers, or as they were termed, Protected Accomodation (PA), varied in the their provison of facilities for civil defence and continuity of Government.
For the WTBS, these changes effected the studios and the people who staffed them.
The BBC Bunkers
From the outset of the Cold War, BBC planning for emergency broadcasting would have included the use of the Stronghold bunker behind Broadcasting House and a presence at their premises at Wood Norton Hall, near Evesham.
In the intervening years it expanded from surface based studios to a complete emergency facility to enable the continuation of UK broadcasting.
"I remember I ended up talking to someone I knew on the other end (of the GPO line). I asked him where he was and he said it was a regional bunker near the station. He said you could see where it was because of all the ban the bomb graffiti on the walls."
M H - BBC Communications Engineer on testing the WTBS lines into the bunkers