Britain had secret plans to BLOW UP the Channel Tunnel with a nuclear bomb in case of a Soviet Invasion, archived files reveal
The Ministry of Defence was so worried it drew up orders to block the tunnel from Britain to France - even though it would devastate Kent
BRITAIN had secret plans to blow up the Channel Tunnel in case of a Soviet attack, archived files have revealed.
The Ministry of Defence was so worried it drew up orders to block the tunnel from Britain to France - even though it would devastate parts of Kent.
Old files show that officials considered sabotaging the tunnel - which had yet to be built - in the 50s, 60s and 70s.
The scheme - which was kept a secret from France - was seen as a "100 per cent effective way" to destroy the tunnel with a bomb. Another option included flooding the entire tunnel through the roof.
Officials later rejected the nuclear option because of the destruction it would case to Kent and the surrounding coastlines.
Winston Churchill himself even referenced the idea of destroying a possible tunnel in a 1914 note written when he was First Lord of the Admiralty.
He advised: "Means of flooding the tunnel should be provided.
"In strained relations, or on any sign of danger, the lifting of the drawbridge would afford absolute security, and the flooding of the tunnel could be considered at leisure."
And some of the discussions were happening at the same time Britain was trying to join the European Economic Community (EEC)
A letter from March 1969 - - said that the plans were for "UK EYES ONLY".
It asked whether it would really be acceptable if "for overt preparations to be made to destroy our only link with France and the remainder of the Continent … when the UK is endeavouring to become a member of the Common Market and to convince continental Europe that we have shed forever our island mindedness?"
Ministry of Defence official Michael Legge said in 1974, however, that the Tunnel would be "irrelevant" in a nuclear war.
He wrote: "If we ever reach a situation where Warsaw Pact conventional forces reach Calais without a strategic nuclear exchange having occurred, then I think the Channel Tunnel will be an irrelevance.
"Warsaw Pact air and maritime superiority should by then be adequate for invasion by other means."
The first reference to the nuclear option was found in a 1959 document - when the Tunnel project was being proposed.
It says: "Nuclear weapon development has rendered the proposed tunnel vulnerable throughout its length.
"The tunnel could be totally destroyed for defensive purposes if necessary."
But dozens more documents over the following years discussed the pros and cons of the arrangements - and whether it could be kept a secret from the French.
The idea for a tunnel between Britain and France was first mooted in the 1800s - but serious considerations between both governments only began properly in the 1950s.
Years of studies and deliberations followed, and the decision to build was made in 1964 - before being scrapped in 1975 due to concerns over our EEC membership.
The idea was revived back in the 1980s, it finally began construction in 1987 and opened in 1994.