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All the United Kingdom England Liverpool Martins Bank Building

Martins Bank Building

Most of Britain's gold reserve was secretly stashed here after the start of World War II.

Liverpool, England

Added By
Gavin
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The old Martins Bank in Liverpool.   John Bradley
The old Martins Bank in Liverpool.   John Bradley
Where gold was lowered into building.   Gavin / Atlas Obscura User
Martins Bank Building   SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
Martins Bank Building   SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
Martins Bank Building   SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
Martins Bank Building   SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
Martins Bank Building   SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
Martins Bank Building   SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
Martins Bank Building   SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
Martins Bank Building   SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
Martins Bank Building   SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
Martins Bank Building   SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
Martins Bank Building   SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
Martins Bank Building   SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
Martins Bank Building   SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
Plaque   Xavixavir / Atlas Obscura User
The green door   Xavixavir / Atlas Obscura User
  rbenn250 / Atlas Obscura User
Bank door, near the plaque.   Gavin / Atlas Obscura User
Plaque.   Gavin / Atlas Obscura User
  SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
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About

It may no longer be a working bank, but this regal structure once stored an enormous amount of gold. Back when it was Martins Bank, the building played a key role in the world's most ambitious movement of wealth.

After the start of World War II, much of Great Britain's gold reserve was secretly stashed inside this bank to hide it from a feared German invasion. About 300 tons (280 tonnes) of gold was carted out of London in three heavily guarded trains. Once the cache arrived in Liverpool, it was lowered down into the bank’s vaults via a nondescript hatch right outside the bank building.

Moving all the gold was part of a wider clandestine project called Operation Fish, which was the largest movement of wealth in world history. The gold hidden within Martins Bank was kept there for safekeeping until it could be sent overseas as part of Winston Churchill’s plan to ship most of the United Kingdom’s wealth to Canada to keep it far from Nazi hands.

A plaque outside the building commemorates the bank’s role in the operation and marks the hatch through which the gold entered the building. The event was also dramatized in the 1993 film The Bullion Boys.

Related Tags

Plaques Banks Gold World War Ii Money Military

Community Contributors

Added By

Gavin

Edited By

SEANETTA, Kerry Wolfe, rbenn250, Xavixavir

  • SEANETTA
  • Kerry Wolfe
  • rbenn250
  • Xavixavir

Published

June 13, 2018

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Sources
  • http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-3442341/The-historic-bank-hid-nation-s-gold-World-War-II-set-luxury-hotel-spa-following-50million-investment.html
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Fish
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_reserves_of_the_United_Kingdom
Martins Bank Building
Exchange St W
Liverpool, England
United Kingdom
53.407086, -2.992042
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