Moving to Cheltenham (part 1)

In 1939 and 1940 the War Office bought land at Oakley and Benhall Farms, to the east and west of Cheltenham respectively.

Cheltenham, before GCHQ

On each site, six Government standard Temporary Office Blocks (TOBs) were erected to accommodate units and offices evacuated from London and the South East of England. Although the buildings were not finished until mid-1941, occupation started in October 1940 as the Blitz began in London.

In mid-1942 the British occupants of the Cheltenham TOBs departed and the sites were taken over by the US Army, to become the headquarters of its Services of Supply (SOS). The SOS moved to France in October 1944, and Benhall was at once occupied by an outstation of the Ministry of Pensions (the headquarters of which was at Blackpool).

What followed at Oakley in 1944 is not known, but by June 1946 it was home to a Teacher Training College for Men, followed in September 1948 by an equivalent College for Women. Both these establishments were primarily for re-training ex-Service personnel or other war workers.

Top of page