We have seen in Part One of this article (June) that prior to the start of World War II there was beginning to be a realisation in official circles of just how vulnerable parts of London's Underground railway network were to the possibility of flooding from the Thames and the steps that were taken to try to prevent this happening. Naturally little of this was mentioned to the public although when the tunnels were blocked by enormous pieces of concrete a small amount of information had to be released.
Before I go on, it is as well to include a warning that some of what follows is, while factual, of a chilling nature. Once World War II was over, the likelihood of damage to the Underground system by hostile action receded from Governmental minds until the advent of the Cold War after it became known that the Soviet Union had developed a nuclear weapons capability. In the event of a nuclear attack on the UK people were being advised to seek protection by hiding under a table. What actually happened so far as protection of the Tube is concerned is complicated with advances in weapons giving cause for reconsideration of just what precautions should be taken – if any.
Wider protection
According to a Ministry of Transport (MoT) briefing paper prepared in the early 1960s, some ten years previously a review of the earlier precautions against flooding had been conducted and this concluded that, while the World War II gates had been adequate to provide protection against the type of warfare then being experienced, the extent of the blast from a tactical nuclear weapon meant they were located too close to the river to be effective.
As a result of this report the British Transport Commission (BTC) had been authorised to start work, funded by the Government, on a second ring of floodgates, which were to be located sufficiently far from the river as to preserve those parts of the underground system which lie outside the central area. A new type of gate was devised which would close rapidly by gravity and which would carry on closing even if floodwater reached it. Each gate could also be opened individually when danger was not imminent in order to release trapped trains. These new gates were to be installed at the following locations:
4 at Tottenham Court Road – Northern and Central Lines 4 at Kennington – Northern Line on both Bank and Charing Cross branches 4 at Liverpool Street – Central Line, probably at each end of the platforms 2 at Moorgate – Northern Line 2 at Russell Square – Piccadilly Line 2 at Green Park – Piccadilly Line.
