It played an important role in the American war, especially during the 12 days and nights of the Ha Noi – Dien Bien Phu air battle 40 years ago. Recently, the bunker was restored by the Thang Long Heritage Preservation Centre and was officially opened to tourists.

The bunker was built at the end of 1964 in a total area of 64km2 with cement blocks measuring a total of 1,000 cubic meters. The top of the bunker is 1.4m above the land and its walls are 0.4m thick. With a system of air conditioning, filtering and ventilation, the bunker was considering one of the most modern of its kind that could provide shelter from atomic bombs.

The basement has three rooms with the largest covering 34m2. It was equipped with four booths. Each booth was installed with three telephones, a system of monitoring the air routes of both the US and Viet Nam aircrafts, a war map, an alarm and loudspeaker. This was the ongoing work of the team in combat duty by the Department of Operations, the General Staff in charge, responsible for direct reply to President Ho Chi Minh when he asked and monitored hostilities in the northern battlefield as well as the Indochina war and made proposals to the General Staff of combat plans.

The two remaining rooms are tactical briefing room, covering 20m2, which is near the door of the bunker to the east and the motor, covering 10m2 which is near the door of the bunker in the south. The tactical briefing room is the place where the warfare commanders organized continuous meetings and commended the fight against the US, particularly the Ha Noi-Dien Bien Phu air battle from December 18-29, 1972.

Forty years have passed since the Paris Peace Accords were signed (1973-2013), and the bunker was opened to the public. The Thang Long Heritage Preservation Center restored the whole space of the relic, including wooden walls and ceiling and paper maps. The cadres of the centre collected 185 out of 197 artifacts and materials such telephones, work diaries and utensils for the display in the bunker.

The opening of the warfare bunker helps visitors both at home and abroad understanding the historical period of the brave fight and the victory of the army and people of Viet Nam in the war against the US./.
 

The door of the bunker is made by two-layers of steel that could provide shelter from bombs, toxic gas and radioactivity

A system of monitoring air routes of the invaders

Four telephone booths were used to make contact with soldiers in battle

The ongoing work of the team in combat duty by the Department of Operations