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Ideal present for Christmas "Secret Eastcote" book

Secret Eastcote this Friends of Eastcote House Gardens book provides details of when the former Government site in Eastcote [RAF Eastcote] served such an important role as an outstation for the code breaking operations at Bletchley Park in WWII. This includes personal memories from former Wrens when the site was designated as Pembroke V ‘the concrete ship in dry dock’. Eastcote also played a vital role in WWII when Lady Anderson’s house, Eastcote Place was used by RAF Northolt as an Alternative Operations Room and later by the U.S. Army Air Force. Andy Weller is grateful for the generous cooperation of the RAF’s historian at RAF Northolt in bringing this story to life.
After the war RAF Eastcote was the first home for GCHQ during the Cold War. The site then operated in two parts. At the Eastcote Road end all branches of the U.S. military at some time used the site. At the Lime Grove end the site was used for UK Government purposes. These aspects are covered in the book and the author Andy Weller worked on the site in the 1980s.
Below are just a few excerpts to give you a flavour of the book.
“Nestled amongst the well established residential streets of Eastcote and well hidden from through traffic there now sits a new housing estate. Many of Eastcote’s older residents, and indeed some of the new occupants of these homes, will be well aware that this was previously the site of a military base housing British and American armed forces at various times. But most will be completely unaware of the nature of the work undertaken within this base during the Second World War and it’s links to the previously top secret world of Bletchley Park and it’s code breakers now immortalised in the film ‘The Imitation Game’ starring Benedict Cumberbatch in the role of Alan Turing.
This publication is intended to capture this very important part of Eastcote’s history and tell the story of some of its occupants and neighbours.”
“One week after the Luftwaffe bombing of RAF Biggin Hill and the Sector Operations Room on 30th August 1940 orders were issued to create and to disperse airfield based Operations Room assets to off-base Alternative Operations Rooms (AOR).
In respect of flight operations out of RAF Northolt (Z Sector), Northolt Camp B was created and to this end the government used wartime powers to acquire Eastcote Place. The creation of Northolt Camp B lagged behind the creation of AORs at other airfields and by the time Camp B became operational on 28th February 1941 that period of the war known as the “Battle of Britain” had come to an end and the Luftwaffe had changed its mode of operations over Britain’s skies from attacking airfield assets to bombing cities.”

The book is not just about Eastcote in WWII. The government site upon which the Pembroke Park Estate was built hosted many agencies and functions. It was the first home of GCHQ during the Cold War. The site then was divided in two. For the UK government it housed the Census Office and the Department of Trade and Industry. The other end of the site was used by the US military and this is also covered extensively in the book, including the American School attended by Victoria Principal.
Priced at £10 all money goes to the Friends of Eastcote House Gardens. Copies of the book are available from lesley.crowcroft@gmail.com. andy_weller@hotmail.co.uk 


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