The Casements took on new significance during the Second World War. When Vice-Admiral Bertram Home Ramsey took command of Channel defences in 1939, he saw the Casement tunnels as an ideal headquarters. Bombproof and discrete, the Casements already had good communications and security. They even had good views, allowing Ramsey to stand on a private, nearly invisible balcony in the cliff-side and see everything between Dover Harbour and France. From this vantage point Ramsey ran the remarkable Operation Dynamo that evacuated 338,000 British troops from the shores of Dunkirk in May 1940.

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As the war continued, all Channel-related activity consolidated under Ramsey's command, and the Casements became a crowded rabbit warren of offices and communications equipment. Ramsey had to expand the tunnels. This he did in two sections. First he added a set of new tunnels above the Casement tunnels, called 'the Annexe' and designed as a hospital with a carefully planned sequence of rooms leading back from an ambulance bay inside the castle. Later he added a lower level, called 'Dumpy', to serve as additional administrative space. All the tunnels were in full use until victory in 1945.

The army finally left Dover Castle in 1958, giving it to the Ministry of Works (now English Heritage) for preservation. But they didn't turn over the tunnels. Instead, they converted them into a Regional Seat of Government for controlling what would remain of south-east England after a nuclear war. This required a major modernization, with new air filtration, power generation, and communications equipment. Dumpy Level held the offices, while the Annexe was converted to barracks and mess halls for the people below. The Casements, made of brick and situated too close to the cliff edge, went unused.

The very existence of these tunnels remained a military secret even as tourists wandered over the castle grounds above them. Then in 1984 the military decommissioned the underground installation and turned it over to the English Heritage staff at Dover Castle. Says General Manager Ken Scott, 'They just handed me the keys and said, "The tunnels are yours now." It was extraordinary. They had just walked away from it, leaving everything in place.' English Heritage found an astonishing wealth of material, much of it stacked in the Casements to get it out of the way: hospital equipment from the Second World War, original telephone exchange equipment from the '30s and '40s, even theatre maps and equipment from Ramsey's operations rooms.

English Heritage has now opened the Casements and the Annexe to the public as 'The Secret Wartime Tunnels'; Dumpy Level still awaits restoration. They have returned the Annexe to its Second World War appearance as a hospital, with original equipment carefully placed to mirror its original location. On tours, smells and sounds assault visitors: gurneys wheel by, footsteps echo, disinfectant reeks from the preparation room, while beef stew odours float from the mess. The transition from the Annexe to the Casements is sudden, from cramped steel-lined tunnels to the cool, tall vaults of the Napoleonic engineers. The Casements house the original telephone exchange equipment that once directed the entire Channel war effort, and the anti-aircraft operations room retains its original furnishings. The vault that contained Admiral Ramsey's office has been cleared but left unrestored, to give an impression of the vast size of the Napoleonic barracks.

Today Dover Castle is a peaceful place. Even on a warm Sunday afternoon, its wide fields and shaded walks easily accommodate sightseers. Its major features are certainly exciting: its great walls and astonishing keep, the six clustered towers of Constable's Gateway, the amazing tunnel systems from medieval, Napoleonic, and modern times, and the beautiful little Saxon church and its tall Roman pharos. But it's also a curiously peaceful place, with long, tree-shaded walks under tall walls and beautiful towers, the spread of wildflowers in the dry moat, and the sweeping views over the town, the cliffs and the harbour. Of the many viewpoints, perhaps the most impressive is the one from the Casements balcony favoured by Admiral Ramsey. Taking in this peaceful view over the busy harbour towards the French shore, it is easiest to forget that in Admiral Ramsey's day, this was England's front line of defence, known as 'Hellfire Corner'.

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