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Nuclear Strike Targets in Scotland
Russian targets in Scotland
Source and date unknown
The following list of Cold War Targets was published in a Glasgow newspaper sometime in the 1970s. We only have this piece of the page, the actual date and paper are unknown.
If anyone seriously thinks Faslane or Coulport puts them at risk, consider that the reality is that EVERY government office in the land was (is?) a nominated strike. Should a nuclear strike occur, you could pretty much wave goodbye to mainland Britain, let alone Scotland.
- Glasgow, Prestwick and Aberdeen airports
- Holy Loch, Faslane, Coulport, Glen Douglas
- Arrochar, Auchendennan, Loch Long , Rosneath
- Glen Fruin, Garelochead, Greenock
- Bishopton, Bothwell Hagh, Cambuslang (Dechmont)), East Kilbride (Calderglen)
- Hamilton (Cameronians), Helensburgh, Inchterf, Kirkintilloch
- Kirk O' Shotts, Lanark (Winston Barracks)
- Machrihanish, Dunoon, Toward
- Benbecula, Lewis, Dounreay , St Kilda, Kyle of Lochalsh
- Perth, Dundee, Edzell, Kinloss, Lossiemouth, Leuchars
- Mormond Hill, Pitreavie
- All TA and similar establishments
Auchendennan refers to the location of a fuel depot near the better known Glenmallan jetty, used to transfer munitions from the nearby Glen Douglas Munitions Depot.
Decades later, many of these seem obscure. Even at the time, some would have been considered obscure. However, in 2000, the invasion of Iraq was supposedly based on current, definitive intelligence, so it's worth comparing the difficulty with which local Soviet agents could obtain and transmit target information to their masters in the days of the Cold War, compared to the relative ease with which similar information can be transferred today.
Soviet mapping
The Soviets had highly detailed maps of Britain, sometimes more detailed than that of Ordnance Survey, and sometimes stolen from Ordnance Survey, who are reputed to have considered suing for copyright infringement (but OS does that to everyone, even the British taxpayer who finances their maps, but still has to pay to use them).
Reference Documentation
Probable Nuclear Targets
From de-classified documentation relating to targeting:
TOP SECRET
JOINT INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE 1967 REVIEW
Annex A to COS 1929/2/11/67
Probable Nuclear Targets in the United Kingdom: Assumptions for Planning:
Para 1 (c) on "Bases for Allied Nuclear Strike Forces": Gareloch, Holy Loch, Rosyth.
Nuclear Targets in the UK
From Struggle for Survival. Governing Britain after the Bomb, by Steve Fox
5. Nuclear Targets in the UK
The following list of 81 probable targets for nuclear attack was prepared by the Joint Intelligence Committee for the Machinery of Government in War Sub-Committee of the Home Defence Committee in 1967.
Most targets were expected to be attacked by both missiles and aircraft, usually with 4 x 500-kiloton airburst weapons. London was expected to be targeted with 10 weapons totalling 9 megatons.
Control centres
- Government (central) - London, Cheltenham.
- Government (regional) - The 12 former RSG sites were considered as possible targets.
- Military - Northwood, Plymouth, Pitreavie, Fort Southwick, High Wycombe, Ruislip, Bawtry.
Bomber bases
- Scampton, Wittering, Waddington, Honiton, Cottesmore, Marham, Coningsby, St Mawgan, Lossiemouth, Machrihanish, Leeming, Gaydon, Finningley, Valley, Bedford, Brawdy, Yeovilton, Lynham, Wyton, Pershore, Boscombe Down, Kinloss, Manston, Ballykelly, Filton, Leconfield, Alconbury, Bentwaters, Woodbridge, Wethersfield, Lakenheath, Upper Heyford.
Seaborne Nuclear Strike Bases
- Bases - Garelock(Clyde)(sic), Holy Loch, Rosyth , Portsmouth, Devonport.
- Communications – Rigby, Criggion, Anthorn, Inskip, New Waltham, Londonderry, Thurso.
Major Cities
- Glasgow, Birmingham, Liverpool, Cardiff, Manchester, Southampton, Leeds, Newcastle, Bristol, Sheffield, Swansea, Hull, Middlesborough, Coventry, Wolverhampton, Leicester, Stoke-on-Trent, Belfast, Edinburgh, Nottingham
Air Defence
Conventional attack targets
From the same source as the above listing:
3. Conventional air attacks
This is a list of military targets “attacked” during a 2½ day period in the conventional war phase of Exercise Hard Rock.
| Abingdon | Clyde | Lakenheath | St Mawgan |
| Alconbury | Colchester | Leeming | Saxa Vord |
| Aldershot | Coltishall | Leuchars | Scampton |
| Conningsby | Lindholme | Sculthorpe | |
| Beaconsfield | Cromarty Firth | Loch Ewe | Sealand |
| Bawdsey | Lossiemouth | Stafford | |
| Bawtry | Donnington (COD) | Lyneham | Stanmore Park |
| Benson | Dover | Staxton Wold | |
| Bentley Priory | Fairford | Machrihanish | |
| Bentwaters | Farnborough | Marham | Turnhouse |
| Binbrook | Faroes | Mildenhall | |
| Bishops Court | Finningley | Mountwise | Upper Heyford |
| Boscomber Down | Forth | ||
| Boulmer | Fylingdales | Neatishead | Waddington |
| Bracknell | North Coates | Wattisham | |
| Brampton | Gatwick | Northolt | West Drayton |
| Brawdy | Northwood | West Raynham | |
| Brize Norton | Hendon | Newbury | Wilton |
| Buchan | High Wycombe | Wittering | |
| Burton Wood | Holy Loch | Odiham | Woodbridge |
| Honington | Wyton | ||
| Catterick | Pitreavrie (sic) | ||
| Chelveston | Immingham | Portlant | |
| Chatham | Invergordon | Portreath | |
| Chilmark | Portsmouth Dockyard | ||
| Kinloss | |||
| Chivenor | Lirkliston (sic) | Rosyth Naval Base | |
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