The first women arrived at Greenham Common Royal Air Force Base on the afternoon of September 5, 1981. They had walked for ten days. Their initial demand was a televised debate with the Ministry of Defence about the planned siting of 96 U.S. Ground Launched Cruise Missiles at the base. They chained themselves to the perimeter fence. The authorities expected them to leave within a few days. They stayed for nineteen years.
The camp evolved into a permanent, women-only peace protest. It became a constellation of smaller camps named after the colors of the rainbow, each with its own gate. Protesters used theatrical, non-violent direct action. They encircled the nine-mile base fence with 30,000 women in 1982. They blockaded entrances, cut fences, and danced on missile silos. Their most potent symbol was the act of weaving photographs, children's clothes, and ribbons into the wire, transforming a military barrier into a tapestry of protest.
The British government and much of the press portrayed the women as irresponsible, hysterical, or subversive. The camp endured constant evictions, arrests, and harsh conditions. Its existence, however, made the abstract threat of nuclear war a tangible, daily confrontation. It inspired similar camps across Europe and became a focal point for a global anti-nuclear movement. The women argued that the maternal duty to protect life was inherently political.
The last missiles left Greenham in 1991 after the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. The camp finally disbanded in 2000. Its legacy is not a single policy change but a methodology of protest. It demonstrated the power of sustained, symbolic occupation and reclaimed feminist activism as a central force in the peace movement. The women did not just protest a weapon; they lived in opposition to it.