During World War II Aberdeen City Council decreed that the majority store of radioactive material used by the x-ray machine at newly built Aberdeen Royal Infirmary should be stored in a bore hole in the Rubislaw Quarry, about 50 meters down.
Due to Aberdeen's size, and its importance as a port, it had become a target for Hitler’s bombs, but with the necessity to x-ray being ever present they needed to be able to access it quickly and therefore its relatively close proximity to the hospital.
If it had sustained a direct hit there would have been a devastating effect on the surrounding areas such as Rubislaw Den and the West End.