WAAF plotters pictured at work in the underground Operations Room at HQ Fighter Command, Bentley Priory, in north-west London. A senior officer studies the unfolding events from the viewing deck above.

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RAF Bentley Priory played a pivotal role during the Battle of Britain as Headquarters Fighter Command.

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From July 1936 to April 1968, Bentley Priory served as the Headquarters of Fighter Command, and from where the Battle of Britain was organised by Sir Hugh Dowding. From 1937 until 1940, Dowding’s Operations Room was in the converted Ante room of the Priory until the underground bunker was opened. It was in the Operations Rooms that Dowding monitored the intelligence required for his vital decision-making in the run-up to the Battle.

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Victory during the Battle of Britain would not have been possible without the tireless work on the ground of 'The Many'. At RAF Bentley Priory, men and women of the RAF and WAAF (Women’s Auxiliary Air Force) worked long shifts under great pressure within the Filter Room and Operations Room, which were pivotal cogs of the newly developed ‘Dowding System’.

 

A Filter Room received information about raids from radar stations across the South East coast of Britain, and ‘filtered’ it – before passing it onto the Operations Rooms at Bentley Priory and at Group and Sector levels across the country. An experimental Filter Room was initially created on the Lower Ground Floor at Bentley Priory, before a Filter Room was created on the Ground Floor in the ‘Ladies Room’ adjacent to the Operations Room. It was moved to a bunker on site, just before the Battle of Britain commenced in 1940.

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The Operations Room at Bentley Priory received information about enemy raids from the Filter Room, which was complimented with information from the Observer Corps once the raids had passed from over the sea to over land. It was important because it gave an overview of the whole country. It was in the Operations Room that ACM Dowding monitored the intelligence required for vital decision making.

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From 1937 until March 1940, the Operations Room was in the Mansion House at Bentley Priory. It was moved into an underground bunker at Bentley Priory, not long before the Battle of Britain commenced.

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The RAF remained at Bentley until 2008. In 2011 it was sold to developers who planned to turn the site into luxury housing.

In 2013 an appeal was launched to turn the Priory House into a museum commemorating its role in the Battle of Britain. The Bentley Priory Museum was formally opened to the public in September 2013 by Prince Charles. It commenced full public access in January 2014, managed by The Bentley Priory Battle of Britain Trust.  The grounds are now Bentley Priory Nature Reserve, a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

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Source: Defence Images / Bentley Priory Museum / Wikipedia

Bentley Priory Museum in 2020

The re-created Filter Room at Bentley Priory Museum