(Image: Rene Verjans – website)

It’s safe to say that the post-retirement prospects of decommissioned RAF fast jets and other aircraft are generally poor. A small number will be maintained in varying states of repair as ground instructional airframes and museum pieces, though the vast majority will be broken up for scrap. Perhaps the least fortunate, however, will find their way onto fire dumps, like the charred remains of this McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom, which perished in the fire pits of Manston as a training aid for the Defence Fire Training and Development Centre.

This particular Phantom FGR2, serial number XV411, was built as an air defence fighter for the UK’s Royal Air Force and first flew in early 1969. During its service life the American-built warplane served with a number of RAF units, including Nos. 2, 14, 19, 56 and 92 Squadrons. But after 92 Squadron was disbanded in 1991, the twin-seat combat jet, powered by Rolls-Royce RB182R Spey 202 engines, was assigned the maintenance serial 9103M and transferred to ground duties.

(Image: Rene Verjans – website; Phantom XV411 at Manston i)

Initially used for crash rescue training, the airframe was ultimately set alight to train the Ministry of Defence’s firefighters. Its mortal remains were photographed in 2008, by which time Phantom XV411 had been reduced to a torched and rusting hulk. Her melted hulk has since been removed and dumped in the grass nearby, presumably awaiting scrapping (see below).

Meanwhile, we reported last year that another F-4 Phantom (ZE360 – the last surviving F-4J to wear RAF markings) had taken her place in the fire area. Despite the fact that this aircraft is now unique, her fate will presumably prove as destructive as that of Phantom XV411.

(Image: Google Earth; Phantom XV411 awaiting disposal)

Like the demobbed aircraft that occupy it, the former RAF Manston also has an interesting history, constructed during World War Two as one of three massive emergency runways built along the east coast of England to allow damaged allied bombers to land safely.

The facility later passed into civilian hands as Kent International Airport before being controversially closed in 2014. The MoD’s Defence Fire Training and Development Centre maintains its small aircraft graveyard to the north of the main site, where inmates include several Panavia Tornados, Harriers, a Nimrod and others, in addition to the Phantoms.

Keep Reading: Browse more in our Aviation archives here.

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(Image: AndreasS – website)

Though Sweden was able to maintain an official policy of neutrality during World War Two, the need for munitions became quickly apparent as fighting swept the continent. To that end, a series of secret production facilities were built deep within the forests of the Scandinavian country. These haunting photographs reveal the remains of an abandoned explosives factory, its vast caverns tunneled deep into the bedrock. Even today, their derelict innards remain home to various eerie wartime relics left behind more than 70 years ago.

(Image: AndreasS)

The classified industrial facility is understood to have been built around the time of the outbreak of World War Two, and remained active throughout the conflict. Operated under a blanket of official secrecy until 1945, it ran in conjunction with other propellant production facilities belonging to the likes of Swedish arms manufacturing company Bofors AB.

(Image: AndreasS)

Though the plant included a network of buildings above ground, the production of nitrocellulose propellant largely took place within this gloomy and intriguing underworld located deep beneath an undisclosed mountain. Unconfirmed reports suggest that a German reconnaissance plane came under fire from Swedish anti-aircraft guns, having strayed too close to the concealed complex at the height of the conflict. But the now-abandoned explosives factories continued to operate at full capacity, its veil of secrecy intact.

(Image: AndreasS)

Production of propellant stopped when the Second World War came to an end. For more than a decade thereafter the plant was maintained in working order should it need to be pressed back into service. It was later mothballed and finally decommissioned in the late 1970s.

(Image: AndreasS)

Though much of its production equipment was stripped out around this time, a variety of wartime relics still litter the abandoned explosives factory’s deep subterranean caverns. Mouldy gas masks and once top secret documents dating to the 1940s lie strewn around the broken remains of acid mixing baths, tiled vats and other laboratory apparatus in dark underground chambers measuring as much as 70 metres in length.

(Image: AndreasS)

The derelict shells of several surface buildings have also survived. But unfortunately this important piece of Sweden’s wartime history has reportedly deteriorated heavily over the past decade. Much of the facility has apparently been looted as vandals have moved in – similar to this abandoned Royal Observer Corps (ROC) post at Ponteland, England.

(Image: AndreasS)

Like so many once tightly guarded military production facilities that have fallen into dereliction in recent times, the abandoned explosives factory seems destined to remain at the mercy of the elements and the destructive nature of vandals – assuming that nobody moves in to preserve it before decay completely takes hold.

Related – RAE Bedford: Historic Wind Tunnels of the Royal Aircraft Establishment

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(Image: AndreasS – website)

Photographed on an undisclosed European artillery range, this abandoned tank is in significantly worse condition than some of the decommissioned fighting vehicle graveyards featured to date on Urban Ghosts. But it’s rather less destroyed than the unfortunate car that lies burnt-out nearby. The rusting military ghost was photographed by urban explorer AndreasS in June 2015. Since its discharge from active duty, the military vehicle has been used as a target on the gunnery range. It’s unclear if the range is still in use, but the abandoned targets have definitely experienced a rough post-retirement existence. Having apparently lain there for years, the derelict tank’s robust hull could endure for decades to come.

(Image: AndreasS)

Related: The Sunken Wartime Tanks and Cars of Truk Lagoon

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(Image: Mark Forest; F-16XL in the NASA Dryden boneyard)

On the north side of Edwards Air Force Base in California, immediately north-west of the world’s largest compass rose, lies a small aircraft graveyard where the stripped out hulks of past research projects quietly await their fate. Parked on a disused ramp near the buildings of their former operator (the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center), various retired types have occupied the boneyard over the years. Though its location has shifted from outside the maintenance hangars to the north side of the NASA complex, a handful of airframes remain constant. Today, those mainly include a cluster of early production F-18 fighters and one of only two highly modified General Dynamics F-16XL aeronautical research aircraft.

(Author’s note: NASA Dryden was redesignated the Armstrong Flight Research Center in 2004 in honour of Neil Armstrong, the first human to walk on the Moon. We’ll refer to it by its old name in this article, since most of the boneyard occupants were retired – or flew – under its previous designation.)

(Image: Google Earth; F-16XL, four F-18As and one YF-18B)

Originally known as the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics Muroc Flight Test Unit, Edwards’ Dryden Center has gone by a variety of names over the years, including the High-Speed Flight Research Station in the 1940s and the High-Speed Flight Station in the ’50s. Throughout its tenure as NASA’s foremost aeronautical research facility, Dryden has operated some of the world’s most innovative aircraft, from the rocket-powered North American X-15 to the unmanned hypersonic X-43 and many more.

(Image: Mark Forest; F-16XL research aircraft, coded 848)

Some of its most famous planes are now proudly displayed at the Flight Test Center’s airpark. These include the LASRE testbed – an SR-71 Blackbird used to determine the aerodynamic performance of a lifting body design combined with a linear aerospike engine – and NASA’s highly modified McDonnell Douglas NF-15B Eagle technology demonstrator/research aircraft. The latter was itself stored in the NASA Dryden boneyard for a period before being restored for static display. Elsewhere, another long-term Dryden resident – an elderly B-52B known as ‘Balls 8’, which was used as a drop test aircraft – was retired in 2004 and displayed at the North Gate of Edwards AFB.

(Image: Mark Forest; F-18As Nos. 847 and 851)

Most of the retired airframes in the NASA Dryden boneyard are early F/A-18As from the space agency’s mission support aircraft fleet. These white and blue-painted jets are used as chase planes for other research projects, as well as photo and video platforms and, occasionally, research aircraft in their own right. One notable example is NASA’s workhorse F-18 No. 853, which was the subject of an extensive article by Wired reporter Jason Paur and is still in service today.

(Image: Mark Forest; a stored F/A-18A)

But unlike their former stablemate 853, these withdrawn airframes will never fly again. Among those pictured are F-18As 847 and 851 (serial numbers 161520 and 161705 respectively). Alongside is the spares-recovered shell of another old F-18 known as Ironbird/SRA, which was used for full-scale “hardware-in-the-loop” simulations. Also present is an ex-US Navy machine, serial number 162414 (the grey F-18A) and a two-seat YF-18B pre-production trainer (160781). According to EuroDemobbed, all of these aircraft have been stored in the NASA Dryden boneyard since at least 2010.

(Image: Mark Forest; stored F-18A (serial number 161251) known as Ironbird)

Most notable among the motley line-up is the second of only two F-16XL aeronautical research aircraft ever produced, developed from the venerable General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon. The highly modified jet, coded 848 (serial number 75-0747), first flew as a technology demonstrator in 1982 sporting a cranked-arrow delta wing and extended fuselage that distinguished it from production-standard ‘Vipers’.

(Image: Mark Forest; the highly modified F-16XL No. 848)

Both aircraft took part in the Enhanced Tactical Fighter (ETF) competition to replace the F-111, but lost to the mighty F-15E Strike Eagle. They were turned over to NASA in 1988 and used in a series of tests including supersonic laminar flow and sonic boom research. Both aircraft were again placed into stored in 1999 and, despite a proposal to reactivate the first F-16XL, they were retired permanently in 2009. The first F-16XL (75-0749) is now displayed at the Air Force Test Center museum, also located within the Edwards AFB complex. Its twin-seat counterpart, No. 848, however, remains in the boneyard.

(Image: Google Earth)

Despite their forlorn appearance, the dry climate should help minimise corrosion of the stored airframes in the NASA Dryden boneyard, hopefully improving their chances of eventual preservation within the Edwards AFB complex or elsewhere. One notable ex-Dryden airframe to find a new home is F-18 High Alpha Research Vehicle (HARV), which is now displayed at the Virginia Air and Space Center. Hopefully others will follow.

Related: The Abandoned B-52 Bombers South of Edwards Air Force Base

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(Image: NASA)

At an eye-watering $138 million a piece, losing a Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor, the US Air Force’s fifth-generation air superiority fighter, is a costly affair for the military (and sadly accidents have claimed several lives to date). But losing 13 of the ultra-secret, very expensive stealth jets would be unthinkable.

For that reason, NASA came to the rescue of America’s 1st Fighter Wing (1 FW) early last month as Hurricane Hermine swept towards Langley Air Force Base, Virginia. The above photograph shows 13 F-22s crammed into the NASA Langley Research Center’s Category 2 rated hurricane-proof hangar.

Like a high-tech jigsaw puzzle, the fighters were squeezed in around the impressive form of a C-130 Hercules transport and several other aircraft. All in all, some 22 planes were photographed sheltering in the hangar as the hurricane approached.

Thankfully, by the time Hurricane Hermine reached Virginia, its intensity had been downgraded to that of a tropical storm, Foxtrot Alpha reported. But with its 13 Raptors totaling an estimated $1.8 billion, the 1st Fighter Wing clearly wasn’t taking any chances. Luckily NASA had space next door. As NASA Langley tweeted on September 2, 2016: “Happy to help out our neighbors! Your fighters look mighty nice in our hangar. Let’s all be safe this weekend.”

The Hulk of F-22 Raptor 4001 at Hill AFB in Utah

(Image: via Thomas Wharton/F-16.net)

As an aside, the photograph above shows the gutted hulk of an early pre-production Raptor in use as a battle damage repair (BDR) trainer at Hill AFB in Utah. The aircraft, known as Raptor 4001, was one of eight engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) airframes. It was retired from flying duties in 2000 after completing its scheduled tests and is looking decidedly sorry for itself nowadays. Thankfully the operational F-22s pictured top lived to fly another day.

Related: Historic Research Aircraft in the NASA Dryden Boneyard

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(Image: Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Arthurgwain L. Marquez / U.S. Navy)

These impressive photographs show the wreckage of a Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornet being salvaged around two months after the warplane plummeted into the Arabian Sea (watch the video of the salvage operation below). The US Navy jet crashed on May 12, 2015 soon after takeoff from the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt. It’s unclear what caused the accident, but according to Popular Mechanics, an engine malfunction or mechanical failure may have been to blame.

(Image: US Navy)

The Super Hornet was part of a task force dispatched to the region to fight Islamic State as part of Operation Inherent Resolve. Reports at the time claimed that the crash was “not a result of hostile activity” and The Aviationist reported that the two-man crew are understood to have ejected safely. The forward fuselage section including cockpit were recovered first. The salvage ship USNS Catawba later returned for the rest of the wreckage. Five hundred Super Hornets had been built as of fiscal year 2011 at a flyaway cost of $60.9 million.

(Images: US Navy)

After being pulled out of the sea the wrecked Super Hornet was lowered inverted onto a collection of wooden pallets.

(Image: aceebee; F/A-18F Super Hornet 166814 before being written off)

The photograph above shows the same aircraft (serial number 166814) parked on the deck of the Theodore Roosevelt in March 2015, two months before the accident that destroyed the two seat jet. Watch the salvage video here:

Related: Boneyard Bandits: Former Aggressor Squadron F-18 Hornets Await the End

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(Image: Staff Sgt Joshua Strang/USAF; WB-29 ‘Lady of the Lake’)

Located 26 miles southeast of Fairbanks, Eielson Air Force Base is home to the agile F-16 Fighting Falcons of the 354th Fighter Wing and also plays host to Red Flag – Alaska combat training exercises. But some way to the north of the base, beyond the end of the long runway, an iconic piece of US Air Force history lies abandoned in a flooded gravel pit. The object in question is a mighty Boeing B-29 Superfortress, which over the years has garnered the moniker ‘Lady of the Lake’.

The abandoned World War Two aircraft, which is submerged in an artificial pond at the side of Transmitter Road, has been a well-known landmark at Eielson AFB for more than 60 years. Until recently, the identity of the Lady of the Lake had been up for debate, though accounts of how it came to be there had endured within the base’s oral tradition.

(Image: Joanie Hunt)

For decades, all that was visible of the sunken B-29 from the roadside was the starboard wing, the distinctive metal lattice of the cockpit and the tip of the vertical stabiliser. The latter is adorned with faded bumper stickers and pockmarked by modern bullet holes, reminders that the Lady of the Lake may be abandoned, but isn’t forgotten.

For years, it’s been widely held that Eielson’s last Superfortress was dragged to the its watery resting place in the 1950s for use in aircrew evacuation drills. But its role as a crash rescue trainer eventually came to an end when the airframe sank deeper into the mud, becoming dangerous. After that, the enigmatic B-29 was abandoned where it lay.

(Image: Ins1122)

That could have been the end of the story. But a recent underwater survey of the wreck uncovered strong evidence of its identity, confirming long-circulating rumours that the Lady of the Lake was an aircraft of historic significance. In August 2014 the Daily News-Miner spoke with base historian Jack Waid, who’d spent years working to trace the submerged aircraft’s history.

During the meticulously-planned survey, divers recovered the wireless operator’s desk, which sported artwork and, crucially, the aircraft’s serial number: 44-62214. Armed with this information, Waid was able to confirm an Eielson AFB legend that the Lady of the Lake was the aircraft that detected the first evidence of Soviet atomic testing in 1949 – despite the US belief at the time that the Red Army was decades behind in nuclear weapons technology.

(Image: USAF; a B-29 in flight during World War Two)

B-29 Superfortress 44-62214 entered service with the United States Army Air Force in 1944, one of almost 4,000 of Boeing’s state of the art World War Two heavy bombers to roll off the production line. The Superfortress was later converted to a long-range weather reconnaissance aircraft, redesignated WB-29. But after she was damaged beyond economical repair in a ground accident 1954, 44-62214 became a hangar queen and was cannibalised for parts.

There’s no known record of the aircraft being towed from storage at Eielson AFB to its watery grave nearby, but it’s likely that the move took place in 1955 or 1956. Of course, the result is the same: the last surviving example of a WB-29 model Superfortress, which detected a landmark Cold War event, abandoned in a flooded Alaskan gravel pit.

(Image: Ins1122)

As the modern F-16 fighter jets scream overhead, it seems likely that Eielson’s much-abused ghost plane, the Lady of the Lake, will likely remain submerged for years to come.

(Image: USAF; modern scenes at Eielson as an F-16C overflies the base)

Related: The Rediscovery and Salvage of Downed B-17 Bomber ‘Swamp Ghost’

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(Image: Keith Burton)

On the gloomy tidal mudflats of coastal Kent, the rusting hulk of a German U-boat lies where it ran aground almost a century ago. The abandoned submarine, known as SM UB-122, was commissioned by the German Imperial Navy during the final year of World War One. But the fearsome Type UB III submersible, which was capable of carrying 10 torpedos and 34 men, became beached on the River Medway in southern England after being surrendered to the British on November 24, 1918 under the terms of the Armistice with Germany.

U-boat SM UB-122 is now understood to be the only German submarine wreck to be completely visible off the UK coast at low water. The 183-foot-long diesel-electric vessel was one of around 25 surrendered German subs sailing up the Medway for scrapping at the end of the First World War. But the vessel ran aground on the Kent mudflats and hasn’t moved since.

(Image: Keith Burton)

Several other abandoned U-boat wrecks are also thought to haunt the surrounding shallows. But the rusting hulk of UB-122 is the only one still visible. One-time terror of the sea turned scrap metal, the rusting submarine is now a popular sight for military enthusiasts willing to brave the mud at low tide.

Mark Dunkley of English Heritage told the Daily Mirror that more than 100 Germany Imperial Navy U-boats were surrendered to the British at the end of World War One. He added that their engines were often salvaged before their hulls were recycled.

(Image: Keith Burton)

Many more sunken wrecks can also be found in the waters off the Kent coast. But according to Mr Dunkley: “this one was never fully scrapped and has remained in the Medway since. People can go and see it beached there near Hoo at low water. But beware of the mud. I’ve got stuck before.” He added: “There are no plans to move UB-122. It’s not under any threat and will just stay exactly where it is.”

Built in Bremen by AG Weser, UB-122 was one of 201 Type UB III U-boats planned for German naval service during the Great War. Only 95 vessels were completed, however, and 37 were lost at sea. Type UB III U-boats carried a crew of 34 and could cruise for almost 9,000 miles.

The type is thought to have sunk 519 merchant vessels and warships between 1916 and 1918, including the Royal Navy King Edward VII-class battleship HMS Britannia, which was torpedoed just two days before the Armistice. Submarine UB-122’s record is less impressive, however, having completed only two patrols with no recorded victories.

(Image: USN; UB-148)

The grainy image above shows another Type III class U-boat, UB-148,  revealing how UB-122 would have looked before she foundered on the Medway.

Related: 10 Abandoned Submarines, Bases & Sub Pens of the World

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(Image: Cpl Dave Blackburn RAF; Tornado GR4 fuselage loaded onto C-17)

This photograph, taken by Royal Air Force Cpl Dave Blackburn, shows the empty fuselage of a Panavia Tornado GR4 strike jet being loaded into the cargo hold of a massive C-17 Globemaster transport aircraft. The image was captured at Kandahar Airport, Afghanistan, on February 19, 2010. The aircraft’s serial number is unidentified and the reason for it being stripped down for return to the UK via C-17 is uncertain. But clearly, it was unable to make the return journey under its own power.

Unlike the wreck of Tornado ZA466, whose fuselage was air-freighted back from the 1991 Gulf War in pieces, this Tornado was wheeled into the cargo hold on its undercarriage, though other major components have been removed. Wings, vertical stabiliser and tail planes have been stripped in order for the aircraft to fit onto the transport. The twin engine bays are also empty (presumably to save weight, while the engines could act as spares for other Tornados in theatre).

(Image: Sgt Jack Pritchard; an RAF C-17 Globemaster)

RAF Tornado GR4s, equipped with Brimstone missiles and Paveway IV laser-guided bombs, arrived at Kandahar International Airport in 2009 and 2010 to replace the Harriers that had been deployed there since 2004. The jets flew more than 5,000 sorties and notched up 33,500 combat hours against Taliban forces. British operations in Afghanistan, codenamed Operation Herrick, finally came to an end in December 2014.

It seems likely that this Tornado GR4 sustained damage during one of those combat operations (or in a training sortie) to an extent that it could not be repaired on site. We’re unsure whether the aircraft was returned to flight status in the UK or was considered to be damaged beyond repair and dispatched to RAF Leeming for RTP. Another (more unlikely) explanation is that the fuselage came from an already withdrawn Tornado jet in use as a battle damage repair (BDR) trainer for military engineers in theatre. Such training aids do, after all, take up precious hangar space on US Navy aircraft carriers.

If you know the serial number of this particular Tornado GR4, or the story behind the above photograph, please drop us a comment below.

Related: Multi-Role Combat Aircraft: RAF Panavia Tornado Prototypes & Pre-Production Aircraft

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The late 1930s and early 1940s saw an unprecedented level of construction in Britain. Across the land, pillboxes sprung up, defensive lines were dug, concrete bunkers and gun emplacements emerged and austerity airfields dominated rural regions as the entire nation was moved onto a war footing. At any moment, the tanks of Nazi Germany could roll over this green and pleasant land, and it was up to the British people to stop them.

Of course, this eventuality didn’t happen. World War Two ended without a single Wermacht troop carrier landing on Britain’s beaches or a single Panzer tank rumbling along country lanes. Yet the manic construction boom that accompanied the Second World War didn’t fade into history. On the contrary, large swathes of defensive structures still exist across the British Isles, attesting to the darkest hour in the UK’s modern history. Here are 10 examples of often-hastily-built structures, each designed for a crucial purpose in the defence of Britain during World War Two and later the Cold War, that endure today.

The Defence of Britain: Anti-Tank Blocks

(Images: Mike Searle (1, 2, 3, 4); defences at Fairbourne, Studland & Poole Harbour)

If you’ve ever been to a British beach, you’re probably familiar with the strange concrete cubes that line so many of them. Sturdy, squat blocks, they dot the shoreline up and down the country; lone sentinels staring out to sea. You may be unaware of what they really are. These great concrete cubes were anti-tank blocks designed to halt the German advance.

Interestingly, many were set up in places you wouldn’t expect a Nazi invasion force to land. The beaches of Wales have a staggering number of old anti-tank blocks, thanks to the fear among Britain’s high command that Germany would use neutral Ireland as a place from which to stage an invasion. As unlikely as that sounds now, back then there was a unsettling precedent. The Nazis had rolled through supposedly-neutral Belgium as part of their invasion of France. Not expecting an attack from that quarter, French defensive lines on the Belgian border were woefully unprepared. Britain’s surviving anti-tank blocks are an enduring reminder that Britain wasn’t going to be fooled that easily.

Defensive Tunnels and Shelters

(Images: Disco-Dan; Fan Bay Deep Shelter in Kent)

In November 1940, Britain stood braced for the worst. The catastrophe of Dunkirk had happened. The Battle of Britain was in full swing. The likelihood of a German invasion through the English Channel was at an unprecedented high. In response to this threat, London ordered the construction of a deep set of defensive tunnels and shelters inside the White Cliffs of Dover. One hundred days later, Britain’s newest defensive line was ready.

One example was the Fan Bay Deep Shelter; the work of a nation not prepared to go quietly. If the Channel fell, officers and troops would repair to the tunnels and begin a viscous bombardment of enemy ships, mercilessly pounding the Nazis before they could reach the shoreline. Abandoned in the 1950s, the tunnels were eventually filled in with debris following an arson attack in the ’70s and then completely forgotten about. In 2014, the National Trust acquired the land and accidentally rediscovered them. Fast-forward two years and the wartime tunnels have been excavated and are finally open to the public.

Spigot Mortar Emplacements

(Images: via Wikipedia; IWM; top: spigot mortar at Elvetham Heath)

Inland, the nature of defenses changed perceptibly. Whereas those constructed around the coast often seemed like desperate ‘last stands’ or haphazard blocks designed to impede immediate progress, inland defences tended to be designed to inflict as much damage on the enemy as possible. Enter the Spigot Mortar emplacement.

A relatively small, oddly-shaped roofless bunker equipped with a vast concrete pedestal, the spigot emplacements were intended to hurl explosive mortar shells towards advancing enemy troops. Small teams could get in, set up, fire a mortar and bug out before advancing Germans knew what hit them; a useful advantage in a hypothetically occupied Britain torn apart by guerrilla warfare. Many still dot the countryside, from the fields outside Aldershot in Hampshire, to the edges of overgrown woodlands on the south coast. Although none ever saw action, they must have been a comforting sight to those living nearby.

Rusting Allan Williams Turrets

(Image: via Wikipedia; Surviving Allan Williams turrets at Cockley Cley Hall in Norfolk)

Like the Spigot Mortar Emplacement, the Alan Williams Turret was designed to slow down a Nazi invasion by inflicting maximum casualties on the enemy. A rotatable metal pillbox, sits above a deep pit with room for three people. Able to spin on ball bearings, it would afford British fighters some protection while allowing them to strafe passing Germans. Like the Spigot Emplacement, it was also flexible. The Turret could be set up in two short hours, and completely disassembled in just 30 minutes.

During the course of the war, over 200 Allan Williams Turrets were constructed and deployed across the country. But post-war shortages meant nearly all of them were subsequently scrapped. Today, only a handful survive, mostly in Essex, Dorset, Norfolk, and on the Isle of Wight. The majority of them are now recognized as important historic artifacts.

Ruck Machine Gun Posts

(Images: Gaius Cornelius (1, 2); HM Government)

One of the quirks of preparing the whole of Britain for invasion at such short notice was the regional differences that sprang up in defensive equipment. The Ruck Machine Gun Post (also known as the Ruck Pillbox) was one such variation. Designed by midlands resident James Ruck, it became a defensive structure of choice throughout Lincolnshire and along the east coast, without really catching on elsewhere.

To Ruck’s eternal credit, the design was a masterpiece of simplicity. Essentially a concrete tube dug into the hillside and reinforced with sandbags, paving slabs and earth, it allowed a team of men to quickly take shelter and empty their machine-guns out the entrance at incoming enemy troops. Deliberately unsophisticated, the design was valued for its ease of construction and disassembly, allowing a large defensive line to be built quickly at very low cost.

Today, only five Ruck Machine Gun Posts are known to exist. The rest are thought to have been dismantled or lost to coastal erosion; victims of their own temporary nature. The example above (top) is at Holbeach in Lincolnshire.

Type 22 Pillboxes

(Images: Palmiped; Gaius Cornelius; Type 22 pillboxes at Kelling and the Basingstoke Canal)

Wandered the British countryside and you could well encounter an abandoned pillbox. What’s more, it’s quite likely to be an old Type 22 defensive structure. Of the thousands constructed in the invasion panic of 1940-41, nearly 1,350 are still standing, keeping watch over Britain’s peaceful fields and meadows, just in case another threat should one day arise. Made of concrete and based on a regular hexagonal plan, these World War Two pillboxes were the most-important line of defence between the oceans and major cities like London.

Indeed, it’s around the capital that Type 22 pillboxes are most common. Surrey, Hampshire and Berkshire are scattered with them, as are Essex and Kent. Dug deep into woodland, they speak of a paranoia over the type of fighting Britain was expected to face: an apocalyptic vision of total war where the only possible outcome was destruction on a grandiose scale. Visited now, these strange, empty structures seem almost peaceful places, perfect for meditating and watching the birds – a far cry from their intended purpose.

Abandoned Beehive Pillboxes

(Images: Andrew Curtis (1, 2); Anthony Foster)

With the fate of the nation at stake, there wasn’t always time to construct defensive lines from the best possible equipment. This abandoned ‘beehive’ pillbox near Dunstan Steads, Northumberland, shows how ingenuity overcame such challenges. Constructed from concrete-filled sandbags, it’s an effective solution to what was then an urgent problem, and one of several such designs in the area.

Despite the seemingly-temporary nature of the beehive pillboxes, a handful of them have survived all the way into the modern age. This, of course, was one of the great advantages of concrete. It might take only a couple of days to throw up a pillbox (or other structure in the defence of Britain, but it would take over 70 years for the result to fall apart. Even pillboxes made out of sandbags could be relied upon to temporarily withstand a Nazi bombardment. Decades later, they’re still present.

Stop Lines & Anti-Tank Islands

(Image: Gaius Cornelius; Hedgehog removable anti-tank barrier sockets near Crofton)

(Image: Gaius Cornelius; abandoned wartime railblock defence near Donyatt)

(Image: Gaius Cornelius; ‘hairpin’ anti-tank obstacle, Narborough)

(Image: John Spooner; ant-tank mine sockets on Blacksmith’s Bridge, Basingstoke Canal)

By 1942, Britain had been divided; if not politically, then certainly geographically. Fifty Stop Lines had been carved through the countryside, effectively dividing the nation into a series of blocks. The logic was brutally simple. If one line was broken, that ‘block’ could be quickly abandoned and subsequent lines reinforced, halting Nazi invaders in their tracks. Consisting of a mixture of natural and man-made defences, they would’ve made a Blitzkrieg-style raid on Britain far more difficult.

The vast bulk of these Stop Lines were made up of features like canals, rivers, and steep-sided banks. To make up the gaps between them, pillboxes, deep ditches, IEDs, concrete anti-tank blocks and posts, and gun emplacements were established. Where bridges or roads existed, explosive charges were planted that would be detonated in event of a retreat, blowing the path sky-high. It was hoped that these would effectively delay the German invasion indefinitely.

Today, large swathes of these lines are still visible, in the form of pillboxes, anti-tank posts, and other abandoned World War Two defensive detritus. Given their nature, it’s likely some traces will last hundreds of years to come.

Coastal Searchlight Emplacements

(Images: Gaius Cornelius; Tony Atkin; abandoned coastal searchlight batteries)

It’s worth remembering that not all British wartime defences involved either places to shelter or aggressive means for eliminating enemy troops. More subtle, sometimes creative solutions were also required. One such example was the deliberate flooding of Romney Marsh ahead of Operation Sea Lion, meaning the German troops would be bogged down and trapped. Yet another example was the proliferation of coastal searchlights.

Somewhere between a deterrent and a useful piece of kit, the searchlight emplacements were hastily constructed up and down the coast to shine bright spotlights out onto the inky black seas and prevent a maritime attack under the cover of darkness. With their powerful searchlights tracking up the edges of Britain’s beaches, any landing German troops would have immediately found themselves shot to pieces by a barrage of machine-gun fire.

Like their pillbox brethren, the concrete coastal searchlight emplacements make for intriguing ruins, oddly-shaped concrete boxes, waiting for an invasion that will thankfully never come.

Into the Cold War: Royal Observer Corps (ROC) Monitoring Posts

(Image: Endrick Shellycoat; Skelmorlie ROC Post, North Ayrshire, Scotland)

Although the Royal Observer Corps (ROC) played a decisive role in the defence of Britain during World War Two – most-notably monitoring and spotting enemy planes in the Battle of Britain – their distinctive monitoring posts weren’t actually constructed until the Cold War. By then, their role had switched from mere aircraft detection to something much-more sinister. From within their outposts, the ROC were to detect and report upon any nuclear explosions and the subsequent fallout.

Between 1958 and ’68, some 1,563 underground monitoring posts were constructed across Great Britain. Spaced eight miles apart, they were grubby, chilly, utilitarian places that were designed not to protect their occupants from the fallout of a nuclear attack, but to keep them alive just long enough to report the explosion and begin the process of retaliation.

(Images: Ian Gate; John C. Hughes; abandoned ROC post at Ponteland, northern England)

Thankfully, these ROC posts were never used for their original purpose. By the end of the Cold War, they had all been abandoned. Today, they continue to dot the British landscape, reminders of when the whole country faced the frighteningly real prospect of nuclear annihilation.

Related: Google Earth reveals the Ghostly Images of Britain’s Wartime Airfields

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(Image: Jonathan Haeber – website)

Amid the crumbling ruins of an abandoned toy store (presumably in the USA), urban explorers found shelves full of forgotten enamel hobby paints in a scene that would make any model maker melancholy. The Floquil Model Paints lay on filthy dust-covered surfaces amid scenes of total dereliction, where other unwanted toys lay strewn about the decaying shop. The banner at the top of the shelf states: “Classic military colors for miniatures: authentically matched enamel – the choice for professionals.” The photograph above, by Jonathan Haeber, was taken in January 2013. We’re unsure whether the location remains derelict, its discarded model paints still stacked in neat rows. Somewhat randomly, the toy shop also featured a similarly abandoned Laser Tag arena, which you can see here.

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(All images by Martin Briquet Photography)

Urbex photographer Martin Briquet, who several months ago uncovered a vast graveyard of decommissioned Italian Army tanks and armoured personnel carriers, recently stumbled across another forgotten military facility every bit as impressive. Known to the urban exploration community as “La Casse Mirage”, the undisclosed location in France featured row upon row of abandoned Armée de l’Air warplanes, from fighter jets and ground attack aircraft to massive military transports.

(Images: Martin Briquet Photography)

Among the withdrawn aircraft awaiting their fate were high-performance Dassault Mirage combat jets, Fouga CM.170 Magister jet trainers, Anglo-French Sepecat Jaguars and the gutted fuselages of Transall C-160 transport planes. A sizable number of Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jets also awaited their appointment with the scrap man.

(Images: Martin Briquet Photography)

Though largely empty hulks that hadn’t flown for years, Briquet’s impressive photographs revealed that some aircraft were in far better condition than others. Some of the decommissioned French Air Force planes remained relatively intact, though many more lay dismantled on neglected runways, their severed wings and tail surfaces dumped on the surrounding concrete.

(Images: Martin Briquet Photography)

What seems like hundreds of abandoned aircraft, including helicopters, lie quietly awaiting scrapping. And it’s understood that this entire ghost fleet could be gone by the end of the year. According to Martin Briquet, the military airfield where the derelict hulks are stored has been closed since 1997, but the location remains under military control.

(Images: Martin Briquet Photography)

Despite the vast amount of defunct military hardware lying out in the open, the facility dubbed La Casse Mirage by local urbex photographers is said to be active only at certain times. Clearly, the dismantling operation has a long way to go, and processing this number of redundant aircraft carcasses is no small task.

(Images: Martin Briquet Photography)

Even so, Briquet believes they may soon be gone, meaning that these mesmerizing photographs could be the last we see of this vast airplane graveyard. Not many people get to walk among the rusting carcasses of once-mighty military warplanes. These amazing photographs are evidence of what an awesome experience doing so must be.

(Images: Martin Briquet Photography)

If you enjoyed this article, don’t miss our in-depth feature covering: 21 Abandoned Airplane Graveyards (Where Aviation History Goes to Die)

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(Image: Navy Photos; wrecked German U-boat U-118 on Hastings beach)

The Battle of Hastings (1066), in which the Norman duke William the Conqueror defeated Anglo-Saxon King Harold Godwinson, was a defining moment in British history that placed the Sussex town firmly on the international map. But there’s another event for which Hastings is remembered: the time an abandoned German U-boat washed up on the beach there during the early hours of April 15, 1919.

The First World War vessel, a Type UE II mine-laying submarine, had been launched on February 23, 1918 and took part in the First Battle of the Atlantic. But its career was short-lived and the U-boat, serial number SM U-118, was surrendered to Allied forces exactly one year later at the Royal Navy base of Scapa Flow on Orkney.

(Image: via Wikipedia)

Two months after her surrender, U-118 was being towed through the English Channel bound for France for scrapping when the hawser snapped and she was cast adrift. The next morning, residents of Hastings awoke to find the giant form of the abandoned submarine aground on the beach in front of the Queens Hotel.

(Image: Hastings Observer)

During her relatively short time at sea, under the command of Kapitänleutnant Herbert Stohwasser, U-118 had managed to sink two British ships: the steamer Wellington and tanker Arca. But on that spring morning in 1919, the once-feared U-boat was poised to become an unlikely tourist attraction on the Hastings seafront.

Various attempts were made to re-float the stranded vessel, ranging from the benign to the extreme. When three tractors failed to dislodge the hulk, a French destroyer gave it a shot – literally – with her powerful guns. But the proximity of U-118 to the town and, perhaps more importantly, the breakfast tables of the Queens Hotel, prevented the use of further explosives.

(Image: Hastings Observer)

The stranded submarine, meanwhile, was becoming increasingly popular. People flocked from miles around to gawp at her rusting carcass, and the Admiralty soon gave the town clerk permission to allow people onboard in return for a small fee. Within two weeks £300 (£13,200 today) had been raised for the Mayor’s Fund, to provide a welcome homecoming for Hastings men arriving back from the Great War.

(Image: via Wikipedia)

VIPs were shown inside U-118 by local coastguards, chief boatman William Heard and chief officer W. Moore, but tours stopped after both men grew sick and died several months later. The cause was initially attributed to rotting food which remained onboard following the U-boat’s surrender at Scapa Flow. But an inquest later determined that noxious gas released by the U-118’s damaged batteries was responsible for the men’s deaths.

(Image: via Wikipedia)

Tours of the sub’s rusting innards were quickly halted. But still visitors poured into Hastings to have their photographs taken alongside U-118. Finally, when local residents became fed up of the intrusion, not least children pelting rocks at the once-mighty German U-boat at all times of day, the decision was taken to break her up.

U-118 was sold for scrap and dismantled between October and December 1919. The town of Hastings was presented with the U-boat’s 5.9 inch deck gun, but before long wave action had covered it in shingle. The weapon was recovered in 1921 and, despite calls for its to be mounted on a plinth and preserved as an enduring reminder of this offbeat slice of Hastings history, it too was scrapped.

(Image: via Wikipedia; scrapping of Hastings U-boat SM U-118)

It’s understood that part of U-118’s keel may remain buried beneath the Hastings seafront to this day. But the monstrous form of the abandoned World War One U-boat is now consigned to period photographs, local history and folk memory. With the dismantling of the abandoned U-118, the only German U-boat wreck still visible on the UK coast is that of UB-122, a Type UB III submarine whose deteriorating hulk can still be seen amid the tidal mudflats of the River Medway.

If you enjoyed this article, be sure to check out our round-up of abandoned submarines, bases and sub pens around the world. You can also explore more military ghosts here.

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(Image: Peter; 40th anniversary tail fin of Tornado ZD788)

During the summer we featured the redundant carcass of Panavia Tornado GR4 ZA600 following RTP at RAF Leeming, in Yorkshire. The popular 41 (Test and Evaluation) Squadron stalwart had been withdrawn from service in April 2015. Its empty hulk was photographed in June this year awaiting scrapping after being “reduced to produce”.

However, ZA600 wasn’t the only withdrawn Tornado GR4 dumped outside at Leeming that day. Lying on wooden pallets nearby was the commemorative tail fin of ZD788 (098), along with stacks of wings and various other parts. It’s uncertain whether ZD788’s fuselage had already been reclycled, or remained indoors when these photographs were taken.

First flown on October 3, 1984, Tornado ZD788 was built as a GR1 model before later undergoing the Mid-Life Upgrade (MLU) programme to GR4 standard. The 31-year-old aircraft made its final flight to Leeming in North Yorkshire on September 9, 2015.

(Image: Simon Mortimer; ZD788 (as “Marham 07”) landing in 2015)

Hopefully 788’s tail fin – commemorating 40 years of the Tornado (1974 – 2014), from the earliest Panavia prototypes and pre-production airframes to the most up-to-date Tornado GR4 model – will be saved for posterity.

The above image shows Tornado ZD788, complete with 40th anniversary tail, during more active times. With more and more GR4s reaching the end of their flying lives, it’s likely the only ones (other than a couple saved to date) with a chance of preservation will be those still in service when the last Tornados are withdrawn at the end of the decade.

Keep Reading: Browse more in our Panavia Tornado archives

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(Image: Tim Symons; Rowtor Target Railway)

Dartmoor, the wild south Devon upland which is said to have inspired Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Hound of the Baskervilles, is home to many abandoned industrial tramways and narrow-gauge railways. Among the most unique is the Haytor Granite Tramway, which was built in 1820 to connect the quarries of Haytor Down to the Stover Canal. This haunting relic of the past is distinctive in that its track is carved from rock, much of it still extant today.

According to the Dartmoor Society, the wind-lashed moorland is rich in derelict 19th century mining railways, many of them obscure and barely recorded. But Dartmoor has also played host to a surprising number of military tramways over the years, employed to tow targets across the park’s various live firing ranges. One of the best surviving examples is the abandoned Rowtor Target Railway, which is understood to be maintained by enthusiasts.

(Images: Tim Symons)

The track, which is estimated to be about 500 yards long, consists of a straight section running from east to west, with a dog leg on the east side. To the west is a small engine shed with space for two locomotives. All four sets of points remain intact and two loops, one at either end, allowed target trains to run continuously.

(Image: Tim Symons)

The Rowtor Target Railway is clearly visible on Google Earth (see below) and lies at the heart of the exposed moorland, several miles due south of Okehampton railway station. Despite its high level of preservation, and the fact that a preserved mid-20th century Wickham trolley remains hidden away inside the rugged engine shed, many people seem unaware of this intriguing military relic.

(Image: Tim Symons)

Rowtor (or Row Tor) isn’t the only abandoned target railway on Dartmoor. Other examples at Reddaford are said to pre-date the First World War, their rails and bunkers still visible. Military target railways were also built on other gunnery ranges across the country, including the Otterburn ranges in Northumberland, where ruined tracks slowly rust amid the burned-out carcasses of abandoned tanks.

(Images: Google Earth; Tim Symons)

For those at the opposite end of the British Isles to Dartmoor, explore the Duchal Moor Railway, known as the “Grouse Moor Line”, which was built in 1922 and has lain derelict since the 1970s.

The post Explore Dartmoor’s Obscure Rowtor Target Railway appeared first on Urban Ghosts Media.

(Image: National Archives; SM UB-86 and another wrecked German U-boat)

It seems that U-118 and UB-122 weren’t the only abandoned German U-boats to wash up on British shores, though only the hulking wreck of the latter survives today in the tidal mudflats of the River Medway. The photograph above, from 1921, shows the wreck of SM UB-86 and another unidentified German submarine of the Great War stranded off the coast of Falmouth, Cornwall.

SM UB-86 (foreground), a Type UB III U-boat of the Imperial German Navy, was launched on October 10, 1917 after less than a year of construction. Built by AG Weser of Bremen, the 183-foot-long submersible, which could reach a surface speed of 13.4 knots and had a range of more than 8,000 nautical miles, was commissioned into naval service that November.

Equipped with 10 torpedoes, a 3.46 inch deck gun and a compliment of 34 officers and men, SM UB-86 packed a powerful punch. This was demonstrated on August 17, 1918 when she torpedoed the cargo steam ship Denebola two miles off Gurnard Head near the Cornish fishing town of St Ives.

Having been fatally struck by two of the self-propelled weapons, the stricken SS Denebola (which ironically had been built in Germany in 1899) soon slipped beneath the waves with the loss of two of her crew. The others escaped in a life boat and were later rescued by a patrol vessel.

(Image: whatsthatpicture; another unidentified U-boat wreck, possibly UB-131)

Along with the remainder of the Imperial German Navy, submarine UB-86 was surrendered to British forces on November 24, 1918 at the Royal Navy’s Scapa Flow base, in accordance with the terms of the Armistice that brought the First World War to an end. It’s understood that the abandoned German U-boat later ran aground off the coast of Cornwall while under tow to France for scrapping, along with at least one of her sister ships.

A contemporaneous caption, which accompanied the 1921 image, stated (presumably incorrectly): “A most remarkable post-war incident was the washing up on the rocks at Falmouth, England, of two German U-boats. They were cast up but a few feet apart; both had been sunk during the war. International News Photos., 1921.”

Whether the caption was falsely reported for post-war propaganda purposes, or if it was simply an error, is unclear. But it’s been noted that both vessels lack deck guns and periscopes, making them more likely to have been cannibalised hulks that ran aground on their way to the breakers than wrecks washed up remarkably close to one another. Either way, the photograph makes for a fascinating post war document as Europe tried to rebuild.

U-boat SM UB-86 is pictured closest to the camera. The vessel behind remains unidentified, though it’s likely to be one of the following: UB-97, UB-106, UB-112, UB-128, or UC-92, which also ran aground near Falmouth in 1921 and were dismantled where they lay.

Related: 10 Abandoned Submarines, Bases & Sub Pens of the World

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(All images by Samuel King Jr/USAF; wrecked F-16B 78-0097)

Despite the impending arrival of its stealthy fifth generation replacement, the F-35 Lightning II, the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon remains one of the world’s most capable multi-role combat aircraft. But most of those early model ‘Vipers’ that first wowed airshow crowds back in the late 1970s and ’80s have long been withdrawn from service. After standing idle for years at the famous Davis-Monthan AFB boneyard in Arizona, in 2014 long-retired F-16s began taking to the skies again as QF-16 Full Scale Aerial Targets to replace the last QF-4 Phantom drones. This dramatic series of images reveals the impact of flight termination tests conducted on one hapless F-16 airframe before the FSAT project got underway.

The defunct Viper in question was 78-0097, which was blown apart on the range at Eglin AFB in August 2010. The goal of the test was to ensure that unmanned QF-16 target jets could be safely destroyed should their missions need to be terminated. It also sought to determine a range safety debris footprint, according to Eglin’s public affairs team.

At around 11:15 on the morning of August 19, 2010, the 780th Test Squadron blew the decommissioned warplane apart. The event was overseen by the QF-16 special program office.

As the explosion occurred, a ball of flame erupted from the centre of the pole-mounted aircraft, followed by thick black smoke and a deep, rumbling boom. As the smoke cleared from the wreck, F-16 78-0097 was found to have been blown in half directly behind the tandem cockpit, its canopy perspex clouded, the front undercarriage hanging limp beneath.

“We’re taking these non-operational aircraft and reusing them, recycling if you will,” said Kevin Diggs, QF-16 test and evaluation lead, at the time of the explosive trial. “We find a better purpose for them in making them flight worthy, which gives our weapons designers the opportunity to test our advanced weapons against a modern aircraft.”

The fourth generation F-16 may now be a dated design but remains a formidable aircraft in both the fighter and strike capacities. Having languished in desert storage for years, older F-16s are now being dusted off and returned to flight in a bid to provide the next generation of fighter pilots and ground defences with a highly capable adversary.

Maj. Wayne Chitmon of the 82nd Aerial Targets Squadron said: “It’s sad to see an F-16 destroyed like this”. But added: “At the same time, however, it’s exciting to know the fourth generation ability of the F-16 will enhance the warfighters’ capabilities.”

78-0097 was an early block 1 F-16B which first flew in September 1979. The two-seat aircraft initially served with the 310th Tactical Fighter Training Squadron at Luke AFB, Arizona. It’s mangled form is seen here in the markings of its final operator, the 40th Flight Test Squadron at Eglin in Florida. It’s unclear whether the remains have since been removed, or left on the pole for posterity.

Fan of the Fighting Falcon? If so, don’t miss the almost-unique F-16XL and other defunct relics in the NASA Dryden boneyard at Edwards AFB.

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(Image: INNES; Westland Whirlwind XD165 wreck)

Resting unceremoniously on its port side on the fire dump at the former RAF Llandwrog, now Caernarfon Airport, lies the mortal remains of Westland Whirlwind XD165. The abandoned helicopter hulk is little more than an empty fuselage today. Its once-busy flight deck is now an empty space, its cockpit instruments long since stripped out. The engine, rotor blades and undercarriage have all gone, as has anything else that could possibly have been reused elsewhere. Its yellow Search & Rescue can still be seen, peeling away from its corroded form. For aviation enthusiasts, and helicopter fans in particular, Whirlwind XD165 is a sorry sight.

The 62-year-old machine first flew on July 9, 1954 and was delivered to the military the following month. When its flying life came to an end, XD165 was delivered to No. 1 School of Technical Training at RAF Halton for ground instructional duties, reassigned the maintenance serial 8673M. According to Demobbed, the Whirlwind later travelled to Netheravon in 1992 and Wattisham in 1993. By December 2000 she had passed on to Storwood before arriving at the Yorkshire Helicopter Preservation Group in Doncaster in November 2005.

(Image: via Google Earth; Caernarfon Airport, formerly RAF Llandwrog)

Sadly, her preservation appears to have been short-lived. Less than a year later, in March 2006, Whirlwind XD165 had left Doncaster and taken up permanent occupancy on the Caernarfon Airport fire dump in Gwynedd, Wales. She’s pictured here earlier this year, a neglected hulk in a flooded corner of the old wartime military base.

RAF Llandwrog opened as an RAF Bomber Command training base in January 1941 and closed in 1945 at the end of the Second World War. The abandoned bomber base has been a civil airfield since 1969.

Sad as they are, fire dump aircraft and crash rescue training articles can be surprisingly photogenic, including SEPECAT Jaguar XX845 hulk at Predannack.

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(Image: phshatiy; the abandoned Soviet ghost town of Boží Dar)

Less than 30 miles northeast of Prague, amid what’s been described as one of the fastest growing suburban areas in the Czech Republic, lies an abandoned Soviet ghost town that was left to decay after the end of the Cold War. When Vice explored the ruins of Boží Dar, located just over a mile from the town of Milovice, they found a crumbling Red Army airfield and long-derelict accommodation blocks, the full history of which even locals seemed uncertain of.

(Images: phshatiy; Tiia Monto)

Vice reports that the USSR took over the base in the Nymburk District (which was previously used by the Austro-Hungarian Army and later the Luftwaffe during World War Two) in 1968. Once the Soviet Union had moved in, a town was built at the site in order to cement their claim on the airfield.

(Images: phshatiy; Google Street View)

The Soviets called it Boží Dar – meaning “God’s Gift” in Czech – and security at the closed town is said to have been especially tight and oppressive. It’s rumoured that no-one was allowed to enter or leave the base other than high ranking Soviet officials. Vice also reported that the residents of nearby Milovice had been unaware that Boží Dar even existed. Soviet paranoia also allegedly led to the closure of Milovice’s sewage treatment plant in order to prevent waste levels giving away the population size at Boží Dar.

(Images: FOB1C)

This may be something of an urban legend, however; Prague Wandering writes that, despite the fact that the base was tightly guarded and sealed off from its surroundings by a heavy barbed-wire fence, and that large parts of its infrastructure like the reservoir were located underground, a healthy black market quickly developed between Russian personnel and local Czechs.

(Image: FOB1C)

Those living in the Nymburk District today believe that secrecy surrounding Boží Dar was due more to a rumoured stockpile of nuclear weapons, than any attempt to prevent Russian forces mixing with locals. Before the Velvet Revolution, the USSR maintained as many as 74 military sites in what was then Czechoslovakia. Though Russia refuses to confirm or deny whether nuclear weapons were kept on Czech soil, it’s widely believed that a number of nukes were indeed in country.

(Image: Tiia Monto)

One of those rumoured locations was the Central Group of Forces complex near Milovice. A 2008 interview with the Group’s former commander, General Vorobyov, seemed to confirm the one-time presence of nuclear weapons at Boží Dar, despite the Russian government’s official stance.

(Image: Tiia Monto)

When the Berlin Wall fell and the Soviet Union began to crumble, the writing was on the wall for Boží Dar. The Red Army packed up and left in 1991, and over the years the abandoned military base has been looted and vandalised. Anything of value has been ripped out.

(Images: Google Earth)

Rusting aircraft hangars lie empty, their surrounding taxiways strewn with weeds. Nearby, the forbidding Cold War accommodation blocks stand derelict, comprising a haunting military ghost town just a stone’s throw from the Czech capital. Boží Dar, neglected and heavily polluted, was handed over to the Czech government in 1992. But despite various proposals, the abandoned base has stood empty in the 24 years since.

(Image: Google Street View)

Now, derelict walls are scrawled with graffiti and impromptu art projects, but traces of military life at Boží Dar endure. There’s a school, where the children seem to have been referred to by numbers rather than names. Elsewhere, the defunct wellness spa stands empty, the movie theatre has been looted of all its seats and the entire complex is littered with old Soviet-era newspapers.

(Image: Google Street View)

Quarter of a century after the Cold War base was abandoned, many potentially hazardous military relics continue to appear. Though much of the live ammunition discarded by withdrawing Soviet forces was removed after the Velvet Revolution, it’s not unheard of for dog walkers and other visitors to stumble upon more ordnance and even land mines – making the abandoned Soviet ghost town of Boží Dar a terrifying place on a whole other level.

Keep reading – if military history and neglected relics are your thing, explore our feature covering 12 abandoned Cold War airfields of the former Soviet Union. 

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(Image: Luke Joyce/website; Corroding Sea Harrier ZD581)

There’s an eerie dystopian atmosphere to this photograph by Luke Joyce, which perfectly captures an abandoned Sea Harrier FA2 aircraft in its post-Royal Navy purgatory. The derelict Fleet Air Arm jet hasn’t flown since 2002. For the past 12 years, its corroding hulk has occupied a windswept dispersal on a remote Cornish airfield.

The British Aerospace aircraft, serial number ZD581, represents the naval version of the iconic Harrier Jump Jet, a family of first and second generation strike fighters that operated from UK bases and aircraft carriers from the late 1960s until 2010. Harriers IIs remain in service with the US Marine Corps to this day, designated AV-8B.

ZD581 first flew in 1985 as a Sea Harrier FRS1. In that configuration it represented the type in 1989 at the Staverton airshow in Gloucestershire. The above video shows the aircraft in action.

In 1996 she was sent to British Aerospace’s facility at Dunsfold Aerodrome for conversion to FA2 standard, returning to flight in November 1997. Coded 124, Sea Harrier ZD581 remained on charge for a further five years. She was retired to MOD St Athan in Wales for storage in 2002.

In 2004, after two years languishing in a hangar and with many of her parts removed to keep more active Jump Jets in business, the jet was condemned to the isolated wartime dispersals of Predannack Airfield on Cornwall’s Lizard Peninsula.

(Image: via fourfax.co.uk; stored RAF Harrier IIs before their controversial sale)

She’s now used as a crash rescue training aid with the Royal Navy Fire Fighting School, along with several other unfortunate machines, including SEPECAT Jaguar XX845. Unfortunately, since this photograph was taken, the Sea Harrier has attracted the unwanted attention of vandals, rather like the infamous A1 Lightning (the cockpit of which is now an exciting restoration project).

Related: 21 Abandoned Airplane Graveyards (Where Aviation History Goes to Die)

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