# Auxiliary Unit Zero Station. June 2011



## gubbins (Jun 28, 2011)

Hi Peeps!

My first post on the forum 

These are the remains of a Zero Station on the Blorenge mountain in South Wales. A lot of these Auxiliary Unit bunkers were deliberately destroyed when the war finished but this one seems to have collapsed after the corrugated sheeting rusted away some years ago. Probably because it was in an isolated location and not many people back in those days knew anything about the AuxUnits, no orders were given to blow it up. 

This was part of Churchill's network of secret underground Operations Bases and hidden radio stations for use by the Home Guard Auxiliary Units if Britain had been invaded during the last war. This was a smaller version of an underground Operations Base. It would've been in radio contact with local 'Special Duties' radio outstations and used mainly for gathering intelligence on the enemy's movements. This information would then be passed to the local network of Operations Bases if acts of sabotage behind the enemy lines were needed.

More info on the AuxUnits here: http://www.auxunit.org.uk/ 




When this bunker was first built and camouflaged, I can understand how difficult it would be to find it up here.











Collapsed escape tunnel











Steel pipe used to carry the coaxial radio aerial cable to the outside of the bunker











Same pipe inside the bunker




















Lower vent pipes drew in cool fresh air











Upper vent pipes discharged warmer stale air











Evidence of fixing holes for some sort of cover fixed over the vent pipe on the inside









While I was there I also made this short 'walk round' video to show the general layout and the views from the location. Sorry about the background noise. It was a bit of a windy day.


http://s91.photobucket.com/albums/k296/snapper22_2006/?action=view&current=ZEROSTATION.mp4​


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## godzilla73 (Jun 28, 2011)

Nice - I see you have the escape tunnel, but did this one have the ladder hatch or stove access on it (like the one at Coleshill?)

Godzy


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## gubbins (Jun 29, 2011)

Hi Godzy,

No remains of a stove flue can be found due to the roof caving in. The bunker's half filled in now due to the collapse but a ladder would've been needed to climb down the access shaft originally. The original rock and soil covering would have been deeper making it about 10 feet from the entrance hatch cover down to the floor level.

Here's a plan of a similar Zero Station at Shipley.










Edited to add this photo of the entrance shaft. Some of the concrete blocks from the entrance shaft are missing. (There's one over by the escape tunnel). This entrance would've been higher originally with the hatch cover blended in to ground level. No sign of any remains of the hatch cover. This is the only chamber with a full roof still on it. This is what I got down to take the video of the inside.


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## oldscrote (Jun 29, 2011)

Nice one Gubbins always had an interest in the auxiliary, you should find this this link interesting.

http://www.coleshillhouse.com/


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## highcannons (Jun 30, 2011)

Nice one matey. Don't see too many of these, can be the devil to find - been searching myself! Thanks


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## Munchh (Jun 30, 2011)

Very good first post, more of the same please.


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## gubbins (Jul 5, 2011)

Thanks guys for your words of encouragement for my first post. 

I'm going for a mooch about up North Wales where there's a good chance of finding a similar unrecorded site.

It won't be a wasted journey if I can't find it on the first visit. There's definitely a formidable Home Guard defence site a couple of miles away which may be good enough for another report.


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## RichCooper (Jul 5, 2011)

Great first report mate  love to find one of these sites


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