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Author: Bernard O'Connor
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780557945740
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 242
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Book Description
Shortly after the start of the Second World War, the British Admiralty compulsorily purchased land near Ditton Priors, Shropshire, to store armaments. Using the Cleobury Mortimer and Ditton Priors Light Railway, thousands of tons of shells and high explosives were brought by train to be assembled and stored in specially-built magazines protected by 'batter mounds'. Every weekday, up to thirty buses brought in several hundred men and women from surrounding villages and towns and took them back after work. They all signed the Official Secrets Act. To avoid fires, no smoking and no newspapers were allowed on site, Eating sweets was forbidden as the acetic acid was said to be corrosive. There were no electric lights or heating in the magazines and laboratories. Trolleys laden with ammunition were hauled by small tractors from a railway siding. Trucks carried crates of assembled armaments to naval docks around Britain until, twenty years after the end of the war, the Depot became surplus to the Navy's requirement. Employees were transferred to other depots or accepted redundancy. Arrangements to sell the land back to the original owners were cancelled when the British government allowed the American Army to store 22,000 tons of their armaments. Legal disputes followed and questions were raised in parliament. When the Americans moved out in 1967, most of the land was sold to its original owners. In the 1980s there was a scare when it was claimed that the Russians had allocated two nuclear weapons to target Ditton Priors. Today, part of the Depot has become an industrial estate. The rest is hidden by trees and gradually becoming overgrown by vegetation. Bernard O'Connor's documentary history of the Royal Naval Armament Depot in Ditton Priors uses accounts and illustrations found in local history books, newspapers, government and the construction company's correspondence, websites and interviews with local people who remembered working there.
Author: Bernard O'Connor
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780557945740
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 242
Get Book
Book Description
Shortly after the start of the Second World War, the British Admiralty compulsorily purchased land near Ditton Priors, Shropshire, to store armaments. Using the Cleobury Mortimer and Ditton Priors Light Railway, thousands of tons of shells and high explosives were brought by train to be assembled and stored in specially-built magazines protected by 'batter mounds'. Every weekday, up to thirty buses brought in several hundred men and women from surrounding villages and towns and took them back after work. They all signed the Official Secrets Act. To avoid fires, no smoking and no newspapers were allowed on site, Eating sweets was forbidden as the acetic acid was said to be corrosive. There were no electric lights or heating in the magazines and laboratories. Trolleys laden with ammunition were hauled by small tractors from a railway siding. Trucks carried crates of assembled armaments to naval docks around Britain until, twenty years after the end of the war, the Depot became surplus to the Navy's requirement. Employees were transferred to other depots or accepted redundancy. Arrangements to sell the land back to the original owners were cancelled when the British government allowed the American Army to store 22,000 tons of their armaments. Legal disputes followed and questions were raised in parliament. When the Americans moved out in 1967, most of the land was sold to its original owners. In the 1980s there was a scare when it was claimed that the Russians had allocated two nuclear weapons to target Ditton Priors. Today, part of the Depot has become an industrial estate. The rest is hidden by trees and gradually becoming overgrown by vegetation. Bernard O'Connor's documentary history of the Royal Naval Armament Depot in Ditton Priors uses accounts and illustrations found in local history books, newspapers, government and the construction company's correspondence, websites and interviews with local people who remembered working there.
Author: Geoff Cryer
Publisher: Crowood
ISBN: 1847976921
Category : Transportation
Languages : en
Pages : 252
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Book Description
An examination of four hundred years of railways in Shropshire, from the primitive wagonways of the pre-railway age to the county's current rail network and services. Fully illustrated with almost two hundred monochrome and colour photos, Shropshire Railways is an ideal resource for anyone with an interest in this county with its rich railway history, and home to one of Britain's top heritage railways. Including detailed route maps and a survey of timetables over the years, the book covers the pre-railway age and the coming of the main lines, with the opening of the Shrewsbury and Chester railway in 1848; the 'grouping' of the railway companies from 1923 - the Great Western Railway (GWR) and London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) era in the county; the British Railways period from 1948-1994 - nationalization and modernization, passenger and freight trains, and locomotive sheds; the minor lines, the industrial railways and the heritage railways; privatization and the current main line scene. Illustrated with 205 colour and black & white photographs and maps.
Author: Edward Hampshire
Publisher: Seaforth Publishing
ISBN: 139904124X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 707
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Book Description
During the period covered by this new book the Royal Navy faced some of its greatest challenges, both at sea confronting the increasingly capable and impressive Soviet Navy, and on shore when it faced policy crises that threatened the survival of much of the fleet. During this remarkable period, the Navy had rarely been so focussed on a single theater of war – the Eastern Atlantic – but also rarely so politically vulnerable. The author sets out to analyze shadowing operations and confrontations at sea with Soviet ships and submarines; the Navy’s role in the enormous NATO and Warsaw Pact naval exercises that acted out potential war scenarios; individual operations from the Falklands and the 1990–91 Gulf War to the Beira and Armilla patrols; the development of advanced naval technologies to counter Soviet capabilities; policy-making controversies as the three services fought for resources – including the controversial 1981 Nott defense review; and what life was like in the Cold War navy for ratings and officers. The book, the first to cover this subject in depth for more than thirty years, will make use of the full range of archival sources that have been publicly available over the last two decades, but of which little use has been made by historians. This work is destined to become a definitive naval history of the period, and also provide a fascinating and gripping narrative of a navy under threat from many directions but which survived and eventually prospered, winning a remarkable victory in the far South Atlantic more than 7,000 miles from its expected battleground in the North Atlantic. Elegantly written for a wide audience, it will be a very significant volume for professional and enthusiast alike.
Author: William Page
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : England
Languages : en
Pages : 572
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Book Description
Author: Richard K. Morriss
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Railroads
Languages : en
Pages : 84
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Book Description
Author: Duncan Campbell
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 388
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Book Description
Author: Samuel Bagshaw
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Shropshire (England)
Languages : en
Pages : 730
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Book Description
Author: Bernard O'Connor
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781470951283
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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Book Description
Author: Wayne Cocroft
Publisher: Historic England
ISBN:
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 356
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Book Description
A substantial overview of the gunpowder and explosives industry from the earliest surviving physical remains of the 17th century through the transformation of the industry in the 18th century and the growth of the chemical explosives industry in the 19th century and the urgent, large-scale demands of the 20th century. The aim of this highly accessible and well-presented volume is to aid the identification of buildings associated with the industry, to help their conservation and to promote understanding amongst archaeologists, historians and the general public. Cocroft examines key factories, notably the Royal Gunpowder Factory at Waltham Abbey, many of which have been cloaked in secrecy until recently, parallels in North America and on the Continent and the distinctive design of buildings created for the First and Second World Wars. Includes a gazetteer and a glossary.
Author: Kenneth G. Wynn
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1473847680
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 3288
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Book Description
Since it was first published in 1989, Men of the Battle of Britain has become a standard reference book for academics and researchers interested in the Battle of Britain. Copies are also owned by many with purely an armchair interest in the events of 1940.The book records the service details of the airmen who took part in the Battle of Britain in considerable detail. Where known, postings and their dates are included, as well as promotions, decorations and successes claimed flying against the enemy. There is also much personal detail, often including dates and places of birth, civilian occupations, dates of death and place of burial or, for those with no known grave, place of commemoration. There are many wartime head-and-shoulders photographs. Inevitably the high achievers who survived tend to have the longest entries, but those who were killed very quickly, sometimes even on their first sortie, are given equal status.The 2015 third edition will include new names and corrected spellings, as well as many new photographs. Plenty of the entries have been extended with freshly acquired information. The stated nationalities of some of the airmen have been re-examined and, for example, one man always considered to be Australian is now known to have been Irish.
