London Tunnels Expected to Open with Spy Museum, WWII Memorial, Underground Bar

A secret network of tunnels beneath London's Holborn area, originally dug in 1940 as bomb shelters during World War II, is set to open to the public as a major tourist attraction featuring an intelligence museum, a World War II memorial, and one of the world’s deepest underground bars. Though never used as shelters, the tunnels served as a government communications center and base for the Special Operations Executive, a covert unit that conducted sabotage missions under Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s orders. The site also inspired Ian Fleming, a naval officer and liaison to the SOE, who created the fictional James Bond character. Postwar, the tunnels became a secure telephone exchange and housed a Cold War hotline between the Pentagon and the Kremlin, with up to 200 staff working underground. The transformation plans aim to highlight this rich history, relocating Britain’s Military Intelligence Museum there and opening the site by 2028. This unique blend of history and heritage promises to offer visitors a compelling glimpse into London’s wartime and Cold War past.