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Plans have recently been announced for a new museum of military intelligence inside an underground tunnel complex in central London, dating to the Second World War.
The Kingsway Exchange Tunnels were built in Holborn between 1940 and 1942 as deep-level air-raid shelters to protect Londoners from the Blitz. However, the changing nature of the war resulted in the tunnels being repurposed as a base for the Special Operations Executive, an organisation created in 1940 for the purpose of spying, sabotage, and reconnaissance in Nazi-occupied Europe. The tunnels later became a telephone exchange, and were used for a secure hotline connecting the White House to the Kremlin during the Cold War, before eventually being decommissioned in the 1980s.
The c.8,000m2 area is now owned by a company called The London Tunnels, which plans to restore this historic space and turn it into a tourist attraction. As part of the project, The London Tunnels has partnered with the Museum of Military Intelligence – currently located in Chicksands, Bedfordshire, and accessible by appointment only – to create a permanent exhibition in the tunnels showcasing the history of espionage and military intelligence.
Text: Amy Brunskill
