Air Defence System In Scotland 1938-1946 Book Launch

WW2 Operations Room Hosted Book Launch

Some events feel like they were always meant to happen in a particular place. This was one of them.

Barnton Bunker welcomed Ian Brown to launch his new book: Air Defence In Scotland 1938-46 in the very room that once played a role in the story he spent years researching.

The book

Ian's book charts how Scotland's air defence system was organised during the Second World War. It's a detailed account of how all those elements connected, communicated, and worked together under enormous pressure.

At the heart of that system were sector stations. Scotland was divided into geographic areas called sectors, each responsible for controlling the fighter aircraft in their patch. From 1943 to 1945, one of them was located here in the surface building at Barnton Bunker.

The location

For Ian, the chance to launch the book here wasn't just convenient. It was personal.

"This is a place I have wanted to visit since, well, for as long as I can remember. Certainly since the 1990s. To have the opportunity to launch this book in the operations room of the surface building, which was used as one of these sector stations during the war, there couldn't be a more perfect location."

Around 40 guests joined him on the night. Colleagues, researchers, people who contributed information to the book, and the artist behind the cover illustration, who travelled all the way from Dornoch in the Highlands.

More than a venue

Evenings like this are exactly what we hope Barnton Bunker can be, a living space where history is actively explored, celebrated, and shared with the community.

Ian and his guests spent the evening in a room that, over 80 years ago, would have been alive with the tension of wartime operations. That continuity between what this place was and what it's becoming is something we don't take lightly.

We're incredibly grateful to Ian for choosing Barnton Bunker for his launch, and to everyone who came along on the night.

Air Defence of Scotland 1938-46 by Ian Browne is on sale now, available here at the bunker!

If you'd like to find out more about Ian's work click here.

Barnton Bunker is available for book launches, film, photography, community and creative projects. Interested? Get in touch at info@barntonbunker.com