RAF Daws Hill RAF Daws Hill is a Royal Air Force station on the outskirts of High Wycombe , in Buckinghamshire , England . The base is situatecon Daws Hill Lane , the road between Flackwell Heath and Marlow Hill , High Wycombe , off the A404 road and adjacent to the M40 motorway . An important part of US defence in the United Kingdom in the 1980s , the station was occupied by the United States Navy . It was home to a peace camp in 1982 – 1984 . History . American military forces were first stationed at High Wycombe in 1942 , shortly after the United States ' formal entrance into World War II . So urgent was the action that Wycombe Abbey School , situated on the land that would become the station , was given three weeks to find new facilities ; failure in this effort led to the school ' s closing , until the independent girl ' s school was returned by the US in 1945 . In 1952 , the station , formerly known as Daws Hill House , welcomed US forces again . The following years of the Cold War saw fluctuation in the base ' s importance . Approximately 800 personnel were stationed there when , in 1969 , their numbers were reduced , so that , in the early 1970s , only a small group remained for upkeep of facilities . Then , in 1975 , activity escalated , revitalising the station ' s importance to the American military in Europe . Its nuclear bunker , with 23 , 000 square feet ( 2 , 100 square meters ) of space , housed high - tech equipment for the direction of nuclear bombers and guided missiles . RAF Daws Hill Nuclear Bunker Pictures Use of the station was reduced with the end of the Cold War ; by 1992 , US Defense personnel at RAF Daws Hill numbered fewer than 350 . In 2002 , the UK Ministry of Defence proposed to close RAF Daws Hill some years in the future , turning the 50 acres ( 0 . 2 square kilometre ) of land over to other public and private use and relocating American Naval personnel and activities to other locations near London , particularly RAF Uxbridge . The plan apparently fizzled , however , when the US Navy voiced its preference to remain . High Wycombe , desiring to build at least 400 new houses by 2011 for its growing population , considered the land ideal for up to 600 houses ; but nearby British residents also rejected the proposal because of the changes that it would entail , including increased traffic on relatively quiet roads . The station was home , between 1971 and 2007 , to the London Central Elementary High School , part of the Department of Defense Dependents Schools , with pupils in grades K – 12 . Also at Daws Hill are 70 housing units for American personnel and their families . Other facilities include warehouses and those for vehicle maintenance , as well as support buildings for persons who live and work at the base — e . g . , a bank , a US military post office , a bowling alley , sports grounds and buildings , a small exchange , an automobile refueling station , a social club , etc . Since the US Navy ' s departure from the greater London area , the need for facilities at RAF Daws Hill have greatly diminished and the station is now being vacated . London Central High School graduated its last class in 2007 and is now closed . Other station facilities such as base housing and the shopette and gas station closed in August 2007 .