Buckshees Military Surplus

05/09/2026

20/07/2026

Hidden away on Gisborough Moor is a rare survivor from one of Britain’s most secret wartime defences.

This is the Starfish Decoy Command Bunker, the control shelter for the Guisborough Starfish Site (SF10d), built in 1941 to help protect the industrial heart of Teesside. During Luftwaffe raids, operators inside this bunker controlled a network of fires and lights spread across the moor, designed to convince German bombers that Middlesbrough was burning. The hope was simple - make them drop their bombs here instead.

The bunker stands around 640 metres north-west of the actual decoy fire positions, protected by its substantial blast wall, with the remains of the entrance still clearly visible today. While the fire baskets and lighting arrays have long disappeared, this concrete shelter remains one of the best surviving reminders of the remarkable deception campaign that helped defend Teesside during the Second World War.

Northern Perspectives - uncovering the hidden places where the North’s wartime history still survives in plain sight.

14/07/2026