Ozorak - Underground structures of the Cold War : the world below

In addition to the various media I have mentioned in my introduction, some of what I have learned has come from individuals whom Ive met on my many trips. Some of those persons have imparted knowledge to me that was not available from the Internet, and to them I tip my hat. Others have been nice enough to drive me to places not accessible by public transport, or have made my trips less costly by sheltering me. Among these individuals, I thank David and Andrea in London, Mike G. in Manchester, along with Rupert Allason, Dan McKenzie, James Fox and Paul Stokes of the United Kingdom. I also thank John Bex of Alconbury Developments. In Poland, I am grateful to Marta and Pawel of Wroclaw, Joanna Lamparska, Professor Janusz Miniewicz and Tomas. In Estonia, Mati un, Jiri and Francoise were of great help. I also thank the Estonian Police for allowing a visit of the former KGB bunker by Lake Paunkla. In Germany, there was Werner Bochert of Zossen, Claus Rhling of Urft, Burkhard Baumgartner of Kerkel, Tomas of Eichental and Frank Tausche and Diethelm Markowski of the Finow air museum. In Switzerland, it was Jean-Christophe Moret and Rudolf Steinmann, the former who takes care of Battery A46 at Martigny, and the latter who gave me a tour of the Bloodhound missile site near Zug. Liz Laan of Ottawa was kind enough to proof-read the Canadian chapter, and John Clearwater, also of Ottawa, provided valuable assistance, as did Dave Peters and Bob Borden of the Diefenbunker museum. Architect David Warne of Toronto also helped, as did the Newmarket Historical Society and Orianna of Aurora. I am also grateful to Warrant Officer Doug Powell of the Canadian Forces for allowing a tour of the only remaining Cold War bunker in operation in Canada. In Sweden, I must thank Lars Hansson of Nykping for driving me around his area, and volunteers at the Sve air museum for giving me a peek inside the former air control centre there. I also thank Sven Scheiderbauer in Norway, along with acquaintances from Russia, China, Spain and Sweden. In France, I thank Stphane Brard of the Defence Historical Service in the splendid Chateau de Vincennes in Paris.

In the United States, I thank Mark Morgan, Charlie Simpson of the Association of Air Force Missileers, Gary Powers Jr, Pavel Podvig and Bob Norris of the Natural Resources Defense Council. (In fact, anyone interested in learning more about nuclear weapons and targeting is encouraged to read the NRDCs The US Nuclear War Plan. A Time for Change , which he co-wrote with McKinzie, Cochran and Arkin.) I am also grateful to Joe Kaufman from Texas for opening a door hitherto closed to me. Muchas gracias JK.

Where governments are concerned, very few provided any kind of help, but I must thank at least SAC Historian Jerry Martin, Kay Goss and Catherine Light of FEMA for help provided years ago, and Karin Hirsbrunner of the Swiss Office of Civil Protection. I am also grateful to the Library of Congress for allowing the reproduction of missile site-related photos.

The lack of co-operation from the various governments (along with NATO) that I have just mentioned came from all sides. STRATCOM would not confirm to me whether the Major Attack Options that I describe in the American chapter are still called as such. FEMA still will not say anything about Mount Weather, even though everyone and their grandmothers know whats there, although it has provided information to me on the underground Federal Regional Centers. And the British government will not release a harmless photo of a blast door at RAF Neatishead, nor will it say anything about its long-closed nuclear weapons depots in Germany. I expected this kind of secrecy from the Russians and the Chinese, not from the British and Americans. Always in the name of national security, they say.

Another problem I have had to deal with is censorship. For years, one had a birds eye view of the NATO bunker outside Lisbon on the Internet, until someone covered it. Similarly, one could also see the location of the Polish bunker in the Pyry forest in Warsaw on the net relatively clearly until recently, but now that particular part of Pyry is blurred out. Also, the French government has blurred out satellite images of its active air bases. I also remember that, years ago, photos of the SAC bunker at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana were available on ebay, but the photos soon mysteriously disappeared. I doubt very, very much if any of this would have really hurt national security.