Secrets

Just watched a late night TV programme about AT&T's nuclear bunkers in USA.

All of the stuff about them which is still restricted state secrets in UK, is now in the public domain in USA.

I hope this means that next time round, UK releases all the same material from constraints of Official Secrets Act.

I suspect though that this will not happen, as government here uses this legislation to bury its mistakes. (And waste of taxpayers' moneys)

Nowt do with security.

There are some stories which I would love to share before I pass away.

Intriguing Ena, but be careful what you say and who to, they may ' send the Boys round '

I am bound by Official Secrets Act because I would have been privy to other people's conversations. Although in reality, I recall not one iota of what had been said in any of them.

Nevertheless, I would always respect the confidentiality of other peoples communications, if I were to recall any such material, my lips are sealed for life.

But, where you have secrecy, it seems that you get some bizzare consequences. I have C&P this , which I posted in 2017, as it does not identify any function of the place:


In relation to Official Secrets Act, I recall many decades ago, being posted to work in the nuclear bunker at Goosnargh.

I had already signed the official secrets act, as a requirement of my employment, nevertheless, to go there, I had to sign it again, and my boss also had to countersign that he believed I was cognisant of the implications of my acquiescence in signing.

So, I had to then ask, HOW do I get to this secret place? I was only sixteen years old, so did not drive.

Rather surprised at the answer: "Go to Preston Bus Station, catch the Goosnargh bus, ask the conductor to put you off at Q A C Y "!

Their existence is no longer secret, but I know for a fact that I am not permitted to tell anyone what the facility did.

Not even to comment on the accuracy or otherwise of the information circulating in the public domain concerning their functioning.

When I first started to work for the Ministry of Defence back in 1972. I'd just started working at the now defunct San Sebastian Barracks in Soest, West Germany, and was visited by someone who swore me to the Official Secrets Act up to Secrecy, following checks on my family members who may have been in involved in politics, or had been involved in any criminal acts.

However, when I went to work at Ebrington Barracks in Londonderry in 1974, I was re-graded up to Top Secret because of the work I had to do which sometimes involved working alone in what was called the "War Rom" where I was locked in and there were no windows, plus I had access to the Operations Room where a lot of "stuff" went on and where I watched some of the riots on the streets, including covert operations.

At one point, a Captain asked me if I could remember what the Top Secret documents referred to and I answered truthfully with an absolute no.

This was a long time ago now, and I thought swearing to the OSA lasted for 25 years as a lot could change in that time; but I never breathed a word of what I did to anyone, including my husband, as he knew better than to ask so, even if I did remember any of it, I certainly wouldn't say a word, even almost 50 years later.

I know that you cannot reply to my posting, but under emergency Civil Defence Powers, there would have been a regional government in operation for the northwest of England in Preston, so would the regional government been based at that bunker, I personally don't think so, because that site was used as an early warning radar site in the early days of the cold war, so as that function became defunct, I am going to guess and say that Goosnargh was used as a military communications centre, possibly using the masts at the nearby MOD Inskip

For every person that says “I have signed the OSA” there must be 1000 people who have signed it but don’t even mention the fact and take it to their grave

My dad was RN an engineering officer. He signed it in 1962 at age 24. He told me about it when he was 82. Even then he wouldn’t tell me why he signed it. I will never find out either because he took it to his grave too.