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Hidden Underground Radio: Wakehurst's Wartime Secret
15 Mar
Summary
- A secret underground radio station was hidden for over 80 years.
- It was used by nine female officers of the Auxiliary Territorial Service.
- The station had an escape pod and was part of a secret network.
A remarkable secret has emerged from the woods near West Sussex's Elizabethan mansion, Wakehurst: a hidden underground radio station that remained undiscovered for over 80 years. This clandestine facility, unknown even to the owners of Wakehurst Mansion, operated in complete secrecy during World War II.
The station was manned by nine female officers from the Auxiliary Territorial Service, who worked in shifts within its cramped confines. It was part of a top-secret communications network, equipped with an escape pod, designed to transmit vital coded intelligence and intercept enemy messages in the event of a German invasion.
While the Canadian army occupied Wakehurst Mansion during the war, this subterranean radio station maintained no connection to the house. Its existence was an astonishing secret, with the women serving diligently and remaining hidden from all.
Decommissioned and sealed in 1944, the station's entrance was later investigated by Archaeology South-East in 2010. Though excavation revealed an intact entrance shaft, attempts to breach the reinforced cap proved unsuccessful, leaving much of this wartime marvel preserved underground.
