Template:Did you know nominations/Down Street tube station


 * The following is an archived discussion of the DYK nomination of the article below. Please do not modify this page. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as |this nomination's talk page, the article's talk page or Wikipedia talk:Did you know), unless there is consensus to re-open the discussion at this page. No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was: promoted by Fuebaey (talk) 02:30, 26 December 2014 (UTC)

Down Street tube station

 * ... that Prime Minister Winston Churchill used the closed Down Street tube station as a secret bunker during World War II?
 * Reviewed: Minerva Armored Car

Improved to Good Article status by DavidCane (talk). Self nominated at 00:35, 7 December 2014 (UTC).


 * Symbol voting keep.svg Article was promoted to Good Article status within the last five days. All relevant sources are offline and are accepted in good faith for accuracy and close paraphrasing. QPQ verified. If the citation to Churchill calling Down Street "the Barn" were more prominent then a more irreverent hook like "...Churchill stayed in the Barn..." might be a suitable alternative, but the current hook is fine. As an aside, I'd consider replacing the 1912 map with either the File:Down Street Map Mockup.png (easier to read) or a diagram explaining the reworking of the west side to create access to the siding. It's a little unclear in the text. Good read through and through. I'd heard of Down Street but didn't know the details. Mackensen (talk) 14:11, 7 December 2014 (UTC)
 * I was going to make a similar suggestion:
 * ALT1 ... that early in World WarII, Winston Churchill took refuge in the Barn?
 * EEng (talk) 16:33, 7 December 2014 (UTC)
 * That does not link to the article and would require a surprise piped link. I think that "secret bunker" is more hooky. If you want to include the code name you could have:
 * ALT2 ... that during World WarII, Winston Churchill used a secret bunker at Down Street tube station code named "The Barn"?
 * --DavidCane (talk) 16:44, 7 December 2014 (UTC)
 * Sorry, fixed ALT1 to link to article (and "surprise piped links" are OK in hooks). The problems with ALT0/2 are that I don't see anything in the article saying its use was "secret", nor does it say the Barn was a "code name", merely that Churchill called it that. If I may say I think ALT1 is more clickworthy -- most people with any interest in WW2 know that tube stations were used as shelters, but not barns. EEng (talk) 21:27, 7 December 2014 (UTC)
 * I'm happy with any of the suggestions, though, given the war context, I think it is implicit that it was a secret bunker. Emmerson and Beard refer to and have quoted fairly verbatim as a source a Times newspaper article on the subject of Down Street's wartime use that I have traced to the 15 Jan 1946 issue (nr 50350, p. 2). This article ends with the sentence "the fact that Mr Churchill and his Cabinet colleagues were using [Down Street] as an air-raid shelter was at that time one of the most carefully guarded secrets of the war." This sentence smacks of journalist exaggeration, but seems to have a foundation of truth. --DavidCane (talk) 01:56, 9 December 2014 (UTC)
 * I have little doubt it was intended to be secret, and wouldn't be surprised if it actually was fairly secret. But you're right a statement like that needs a more soberly stated foundation. Sometimes wartime "secrets" were actually open secrets. EEng (talk) 03:33, 9 December 2014 (UTC)


 * Let's go with ALT 1 then.--DavidCane (talk) 22:06, 16 December 2014 (UTC)


 * Symbol question.svg Do you mind signing off on ALT1? Fuebaey (talk) 07:25, 25 December 2014 (UTC)
 * Symbol confirmed.svg fine by me. Mackensen (talk) 19:55, 25 December 2014 (UTC)
 * Thanks. Merry Christmas.--DavidCane (talk) 20:32, 25 December 2014 (UTC)