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The planning of the pre-war storage was finalized in 1938, with three underground depots – one each in northern, central and southern England – each of around 25,000 tons capacity; these served eight surface forward depots, termed Air Ammunition Parks (renamed Forward Ammunition Depots in 1941).
The RAF Fauld explosion was a military accident which occurred at 11:11 am on Monday, 27 November 1944 at the RAF Fauld underground munitions storage depot in Staffordshire, England. It was one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in history and the largest on UK soil.
Over the years, BHOD was used for storage and testing of chemical weapons, including sarin [4] and mustard gas. [5] Additionally, during World War II, the site also held Italian prisoners of war. [3] The Depot was closed on June 30, 1967, and the Igloo community was abandoned. [1]
The chemical weapons originally stored at the depot consisted of various live munitions and storage containers each holding 1 short ton (2,000 lb; 910 kg) GB or VX nerve agents or HD blister agent. All munitions had been safely destroyed by 2011 and base closure operations were still ongoing as of 2022.
The depot covers 147,000 acres (59,000 ha) or 226 square miles (590 km 2) and has 600,000 square feet (56,000 m 2) storage space in 2,427 bunkers. HWAD is the "World's Largest Depot". It is divided into three ammunition storage and production areas, plus an industrial area housing command headquarters, facilities, engineering shops, etc. [1]
The hidden structures were abandoned after the war and eventually forgotten, archaeologists said.
The RAF used Harpur Hill as an underground munitions store. In 1938 the Air Ministry bought Harpur Hill Quarry from ICI . 11 tunnels were built (concrete galleries covered by waste quarry stones) and dug into the hillside from 1938 to 1940 by McAlpine (at a cost of £6,500,000) to house munitions (ammunition and weapons) and ordnance (bombs and ...
Extensive WW II armaments depot lines using underground Chilmark Quarries and above-ground storage at satellite site at Dinton, Wiltshire. RAF Fauld Depot railway: by 1979 [1] 2 ft (610 mm) Fauld, England: Underground ammunition store during WWII with supply railway. Royal Arsenal Railway [3] [13] [14] 1873 1966 18 in (457 mm) and 1 ft 11 + 1 ...