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The outer wall of the New Public Offices showing the solid concrete apron put in place to limit bomb damage to the Cabinet War Rooms below. |
A Secure Site
RAF planners drew a horrifying picture of 600 tons of bombs raining down on the capital, causing 200,000 casualties in just the first week of a war. Schemes for the evacuation of the Prime Minister, the Cabinet and its administrative machinery were prepared throughout the 1920s and 1930s, among them the adaption of basement offices and the tunnelling of deep shelters in central London and in the capital's north-west suburbs.
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Blast damage in an office in 10 Downing Street, 14 October 1940 (IWM F 1725) |
Eventually the concern that the public might think their leaders were deserting them persuaded the planners to look to the possibility of providing a secure 'Central War Room' nearer to the traditional home of government.
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The 'sand bagged' entrance to the Cabinet War Rooms |
The site chosen was the basement chambers of the Office of Works building, which faced St James's Park and Horseguards Road on one side and Great George Street on the other. Known properly as the 'New Public Offices' but referred to throughout the war simply as 'George Street', this building offered the strongest structure of any in Whitehall and was conveniently situated between Parliament and the Prime Minister's office-residence at Number 10 Downing Street.
