Reasons for Designation
The archaeological remains of the Cold War are the physical manifestation
of the global division between capitalism and communism that shaped the
history of the late 20th century. Cruise missile sites, through their
Europe-wide distribution, testify to the resolve of the principal partners
in NATO to maintain nuclear parity with the countries of the Warsaw Pact.
They also represent examples of leading edge technological innovation
which characterised the western post-War defence industry.
Ground Launched Cruise Missiles (GLCMs) were developed during the 1970s,
bringing together major technological advances in missile guidance systems,
engine technology and warhead miniaturisation. GLCMs, along with Pershing II
missiles (not stationed in England), were deployed in response to the
introduction of Soviet SS20 missiles and were seen as a major
destabilising factor during the early 1980s, a period which has been
described by some historians as the Second Cold war in view of the
escalating tensions between East and West. The deployment of the mobile
GLCM system was also recognition of the increased accuracy of Soviet
weapon systems, making fixed sites vulnerable to attack. GLCMs were
central to NATO's strategy of countering the Soviet SS20s in Europe during
the 1980s, and this is reflected in the massive construction programme to
protect the missiles and launcher convoys.
At the core of a GLCM site are the shelters, each of which housed a Flight
comprising two Launch Control Vehicles and four Transporter Erector Launchers
(each of which held four missiles), giving a total of 16 per shelter. The
number of shelters built on a site varied depending on the number of missiles
allocated. At each site there was one Quick Reaction Alert shelter, which had
an attached crew room that was permanently manned. The heavily fortified
guardhouse, a reserve fire team facility (security), and double fencing are
characteristic of the security surrounding nuclear weapons stores and are
vital to maintaining the integrity of the setting. Purpose built or reused
warhead and explosives stores may also be found along with fire fighting
facilities. Other structures illustrate the imperative to maintain a high
level of serviceability amongst the vehicle fleet. Buildings eleswhere on
the bases illustrate these operations and the importance of securing
command and communication functions to a dispersed missile force under
wartime conditions. Six cruise missile sites were constructed in Europe
during the mid-1980s, two in England, and single bases in Belgium,
Germany, the Netherlands and Italy. The two sites in England are at RAF
Molesworth, Cambridgeshire (which remains an active RAF/USAF installation)
and Greenham Common, Berkshire (which has been decommissioned); both
survive intact.
The cruise missile shelter complex at Greenham Common Airbase was the
longest commissioned of the European bases and is believed to have been the
only one in England to have housed operational cruise missiles with nuclear
warheads. The Greenham Common GAMA complex is internationally important as
one of the key emblematic monuments of the Second Cold War, signifying an
escalation of the nuclear arms race by the introduction of GLCM. Subsequent to
the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty of 1987 most of the
missiles and launchers were destroyed; GAMA remains as one of the few tangible
relics of this technology. It remains a potent symbol of the positive power of
arms control treaties to render advanced military technology obsolete.
The Greenham Common GAMA site additionally includes a group of 1950s Igloo
bomb stores which were reused in the 1980s but which also illustrate an
earlier phase of Cold War nuclear deterrence.
Beyond its significance as an exemplar of the infrastructure of GLCM
technology, the site has a wider cultural significance in the late 20th
century as the focus of mass protest against the nuclear arms race. In this
context the third internal and part of the airfield perimeter fence form an
integral part of the GAMA site beyond the double boundary fence, forming the
object and physical barrier to protestors camped at the so called `Green
Gate'.
Details
The monument includes the Ground Launched Cruise Missile Alert and Maintenance
Area (GAMA), including an earlier 1950s Igloo Bomb Store group, the
surrounding double security fence, a further encircling patrol fence and a
section of the Greenham Common Airbase perimeter fence closely associated
with its defence and connected protest activity. The site lies in the south
west corner of both Greenham Common and the former airbase, occupying a
position on the edge of the common with the land to the north and east forming
a relatively flat open landscape while the ground to the south falls gently
down towards the River Enborne. This river is fed by a north-south running
stream which runs through the GAMA site in a depression known as Drayton's
Gully.
Although Greenham Common was an operational airfield from 1941 to 1946 the
area around Drayton's Gully was not developed until the base was reopened in
1951 to house United States Air Force (USAF) Strategic Air Command (SAC)
bombers. B-47 Stratojets were then based at the airfield with its 3048m runway
and a bomb store for nuclear weapons was built in the Drayton's Gully. The
site remained occupied by the USAF (and briefly the RAF) during the 1950s and
1960s and then became a standby-base in the 1970s. In 1980 it was selected as
one of six bases in Europe for the deployment of Ground Launched Cruise
Missiles and this made the airbase a prime target for Soviet attack. The site
around Drayton's Gully was refurbished and expanded to include the necessary
accommodation, maintenance and security facilities required to house and
protect the missiles, both from possible Soviet air or ground attack and,
subsequently, from peace protestors who set up camp outside the perimeter
fence in a series of camps which made the GAMA complex an internationally
recognised focus of debate about the nuclear arms race.
The GAMA complex consists of a parallelogram, defined by a double security
fence surrounded by a third outer patrol fence, topped with razor-wire and
enclosing an area 495m from east to west by 450m from north to south.
The complex is dominated by six massive earth covered, concrete Ground
Launched Cruise Missile shelters which are located in two east to west aligned
rows of three shelters, within the north east quadrant of the complex. The
shelters all have massive concrete and steel blast doors to each end (north
and south) which when open, form drawbridges across deep external trenches.
Internally the shelters were three lane tunnels, each capable of housing two
mobile launch control centres and four Transporter Erector Launchers (TEL)
which each held four missiles. Together, each shelter could house 16 missiles
and the complex as a whole could hold 96 launch-ready missiles.
The north western sited shelter also contains crew quarters and would have
been manned permanently as the Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) shelter. To the
south, a range of purpose built support buildings were located and these
provided missile stores, minor vehicle maintenance facilities (the main
maintenance buildings were in a separate complex to the east) and a range of
security related structures from guard towers and guard posts to a Reserve
Fire Team Facility (RFTF). To the north of the site, at the gate linking the
complex to the airbase, a guardroom and control room were located along with
fire fighting equipment. The western half of the site is occupied by the
1950s Bomb Store buildings including the five Igloo shelters used for the
B-47 nuclear bombs and their support buildings. These were refurbished as part
of the GAMA complex and provided fuse stores, an armoury and other support
functions.
To the south west is a second gate, which provided direct access through
the airfield perimeter fence, is located. This was named `Green Gate' by the
peace protestors and was the focus of a camp of temporary structures occupied
mainly during the 1980s. Here, the perimeter fence of the airfield around
the GAMA complex became a focus of activity and the fence shows signs of
damage and repairs relating to a number of highly publicised (and sometimes
successful) attempts to penetrate the security of the base. The airfield
perimeter fence, where it runs around the GAMA complex, forms an integral
part of the monument.
Following the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty of 1987, the
cruise missiles were removed between August 1989 and mid-1991 and the USAF
left Greenham in 1992 after which the base was closed. The runway to the
north and many other elements of the airbase have since been removed but the
GAMA complex remains as a physically dominant and intact Cold War monument.
MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.
