General - vickers/british aerospace underground hospital

[frimleypicker]

i'm new to this site but i thought i'd share a memory.
as a youngster i used to frequent the brooklands racetrack and surrounding areas,british aerospace were still in residence and aircraft were still being built there,fast forward 10 years or so and british aerospace were gone but a lot of the infrastructure was still there,across the road from the main offices was the staff car park which had a labrynth of air raid shelters built into st.georges hill.in this car park was a large ramp which was the entrance to a large underground hospital,i went into it once and it appeared that it could still be used.operating theatres had been mothballed,wards were still in useable condition etc.,that ramp was filled in when the car park was used for the large gym that was built there.there was/is just a large mound there and i was wondering if anybody else remembers it or am i the only old git who used to snoop where he shouldn't have?

 

[Oxygen Thief]

I think you're maybe mistaken?

The underground place at the health club is the Vickers personnel shelter...

http://www.28dayslater.co.uk/brooklands-air-raid-shelter-weybridge-030209.t37032

 

[frimleypicker]

I think you're maybe mistaken?

The underground place at the health club is the Vickers personnel shelter...

http://www.28dayslater.co.uk/brooklands-air-raid-shelter-weybridge-030209.t37032

no,i'm not mistaken.the shelters are the ones i described in my original post,i've been in them hundreds of times.

 

[Oxygen Thief]

I don't buy it. What era was it from? Why is there no record of it? When the factory was bombed in the war nobody was treated there, why not?

 

[TrevBish]

I haven't heard of the hospital but i had a permission visit around the place a fair few years ago. They took me in a few of the shelters there including the tunnel that runs under the test track. There are loads of shelters all over the place. Still there today including a workshop storage area directly under the actual track. I have pictures of it all i think.

 

[frimleypicker]

i can only presume it was built for when vickers was a target in ww2,as to nobody being treated there how do you know?

i wish i'd had the foresight to take pictures back in the day,the whole vickers/bae site was very interesting.all the really interesting stuff was knocked down to make way for the large trading estate and tescos etc.
there was even a farm within the boundaries of the site.

 

[Oxygen Thief]

Well, when the place was bombed there are accurate records as to who was treated where. They were all at external hospitals.

 

[Ordnance]

Welcome, and interesting first post:

What year was your 'explore' as it seems strange it is not documented elsewhere!

It was not un-common for large factories to have 'First Aid Posts' and even a stretcher trolley or two, but I have never seen proof of anything larger or operating theatres which required the services of Surgeons, Doctors & Nurses who were required elsewhere, even on operational airfields which sometimes had larger 'Medical Reception Centres' with perhaps a Medical Officer & Orderlies.

So lets have some dates of visits (month & year will do) and perhaps drawings pinpointing the location better.

 

[TrevBish]

These are the pictures i took. Not that exciting but might help locate something or help you remember!

 

[frimleypicker]

Welcome, and interesting first post:

What year was your 'explore' as it seems strange it is not documented elsewhere!

It was not un-common for large factories to have 'First Aid Posts' and even a stretcher trolley or two, but I have never seen proof of anything larger or operating theatres which required the services of Surgeons, Doctors & Nurses who were required elsewhere, even on operational airfields which sometimes had larger 'Medical Reception Centres' with perhaps a Medical Officer & Orderlies.

So lets have some dates of visits (month & year will do) and perhaps drawings pinpointing the location better.

dates of visits,i cannot remember what i had for breakfast!
every bit of free time i had between 1975 and approx 1990ish.the hospital may have been built by bae rather than vickers,i'm not really sure about that one.
i'll see if i can get a grid reference for where it was,tbh i'm a bit peeved that i seem to be doubted.

 

[frimleypicker]

These are the pictures i took. Not that exciting but might help locate something or help you remember!

those pics bring back memories!the pic of the building at the top of test hill had an aa gun emplacement next to it and was filled with old fairground rides back in the day.the entrance to the pedestrian tunnel/workshops holds some very spooky memories.do the words 'get the bikes' mean anything to mr.neil smythies who i believe is something to do with this site?

 

[Ordnance]

I do not doubt you, but if anything remains researchers need to pinpoint the area, but I think you saw the remains of a 'First Aid Clearing Post' of which there were more than one at Brookland's during the war, as well as smaller 'Sick Bays' in the shelter complex.

Factory ARP & Rescue were tasked to prioritise and disperse the dead and injured to nearby hospitals & mortuaries, and this account of the first 1940 raid shows how it all went wrong, but was more successful on later raids.

http://www.guildford-dragon.com/201...raid-horsley-messerschmitts-september-4-1940/

 

[Miss Mayhem]

Interesting stuff ,
Cheers for sharing

 

[coolboyslim]

Wow very deep conversation and extremely interesting. Can't wait to see what mystery is dug up here. Keep up the good work. Who knows what will be found.

 

[frimleypicker]

i'm trying to find a map which shows the old car park but to no avail.
i've just looked at an aerial view but things have changed a lot in that car park,i'm going to go and have a look.