War in Bures

History of Forward Ammunition Dumps or Air Ammunition Parks

The main Air Ammunition Parks were: Barnham, Suffolk (serving RAF Bomber Command), Brafferton, North Yorkshire (serving 4 Group North), Earsham (serving OTUs), Lords Bridge (serving 2 and 3 Groups), Mawcarse (serving Scotland), Norton Disney (serving 5 Group), Snodland (actually at Halling, serving 11 Group F), Southburn (serving 4 Group South), and Staple Halt (serving 11 Group F).
All were completed in 1939-40; Staple Halt was closed in July, 1940 and its role was taken over by Snodland, which was itself replaced by a new park at Newdigate in May 1942. Two more were built during the war: South Witham (serving 1 Group F) was completed in July 1942 and Hockering(2 Group) in January 1943 some five months late.

When the USAAF arrived new Forward Ammunition Supply depots were built for its needs at sites including Braybrooke (Northamptonshire), Bures (Suffolk), Melchbourne Park and Sharnbrook (both in Bedfordshire). Where it was rational the USAAF was given sub-sites at existing depots as well.

After the outbreak of hostilities the demands on the Air Ammunition Parks grew far beyond the planned limits. Total site limits were raised from 1,000 tons to 10,000 tons, and the individual stores designed to hold 56 tons of bombs were each, by 1943, holding some 600 tons of matériel. When the parks were renamed Forward Ammunition Depots in 1941 they became central depots with a number of nearby satellite sites, Advanced Ammunition Parks, to increase holding capacity further. Staple Halt became an Advanced Ammunition Park.

Possibly was taken along the track from Bakers Hall to Lower Jennies

Since investigating the village past, by far the most interesting aspect has been the discovery of a vast war time ammunition dump in and around Bures Hamlet.

During the Second World War, large quantities of munitions were produced and imported and needed to be stored prior to use. In order to prevent large ammunition dumps on airfields being destroyed by Luftwaffe bombing, they needed to be stored well away from these targeted areas. To this end, certain stretches of road were commandeered by the military for use as storage depots.

The USAAF commandeered a vast acreage of land which stretched from Bakers Hall across the countryside to Countess Cross near to Pebmarsh and down to Wakes Colne.
It was given the official designation "Bures Ordnance Ammunition Depot AAF 526", by the Americans.(AAF:- Army Air Force) (526 refers to a Station not a Unit number)

However, Essex County Council records show the area around Bakers Hall farm as "Wakes Colne RAF Station"
Not to be confused with Wakes Colne which was given the name "Wakes Colne HHB, 19th AAA" (Headquarters & Headquarters Battery and Anti Aircraft Battery)

Very few remains are visible today, but hopefully after extensive research the following information will shed some light on this extraordinary site. This area could well have been the largest ammunition dump in the country that utilised normal public roads

Bures was not entirely unique, records indicate there were three Forward Ammunition Depots(FAD`s) in East Anglia, namely:-
1. Bures
2. Barnham (Nr Thetford)
3. Earsham (Nr Bungay)

This event goes back to 1942, when Eric Doe (Farmer) at Pricketts Hall distinctly remembers the arrival of a large American staff car laden with `top brass` parking near to the farm. They wandered around the area, taking a particular interest in a large wood at Butlers Farm, which stood there at the time. Locally known as Nurses Wood, this was felled shortly after the war ended.
Was this going to mean another airfield ?
It became clearer later, Bures Hamlet was to be the site for a Munitions Dispersal Site. The wood at Butlers Farm was especially useful for the storage of incendiary bombs away from the prying eyes of the German Luftwaffe.

The west of the village, fulfilled the requirements of the military in that:
(a)it was a location sufficiently remote from the airfields at Earls Colne and Wormingford which were prime targets for bombing;
(b)it was a location sufficiently close to the railway lines and airfields to reduce transport time and cost;
(c)it was close to a railway line, with links to the main lines
(d) easy access for building materials, Ferriers Farm sand and & gravel pit on site.
(e)the remoteness of the area meant that security could easily be maintained, with little chance of strangers going unnoticed or unchallenged.

Bombs would have been delivered airfields such as Earls Colne, whilst machine gun ammunition would obviously have gone to the bombers, and possibly nearby fighter stations like Wormingford.

The `Dispersal Site` was primarily used to service USAAF bomber airfields in Mid/North Essex, including:-

Earls Colne
Gosfield
Rivenhall
Boreham
Wethersfield
Andrewsfield (Gt Saling)
Gt Dunmow

and possibly these, further towards Bury in Suffolk:-
Sudbury (Acton)
Lavenham
Rougham
Rattlesden

During 1942/3 the number of planned airfields rose dramatically, Essex increased from 6 to 27 with Suffolk increasing 5 to 32. Plans were made for airfields at Assington (Suffolk) and Beaumont (Essex) but they never materialised.
The movement of munitions to supply these bases must have been on a vast scale, it would have been a 24 hour a day operation.

Flying Fortresses (B-17s) of the 94th Bomb Group of the US 8th Air Force, arrived at Earls Colne in May 1943. The B-17s were four-engine, high-altitude heavy bombers.

However their stay was brief, the 8th moving the B-17s into Suffolk in June 1943 in an exchange of bases with groups of smaller, twin-engine B-26 Marauders.

With D-Day approaching, the medium-altitude B-26s were tasked with attacking enemy airfields, railheads etc. in France and Belgium. Consequently the B-17s (Flying Fortresses) were transferred to Rougham, near Bury St Edmunds.

Picture left - typical bomb stack at Framlingham airfield

Earls Colne then became home to B-26 Marauders of 323rd Bomb Group in preparation for D-Day. Their control transferred from the US 8th to the US 9th Air Force in October 1943.

Soon after D-Day, on July 21st 1944, the 323rd Bomb Group moved out of Earls Colne to Beaulieu in Hampshire to follow up the invasion. Earls Colne was then idle until September when it was handed to the RAF and operated with Albemarle and Halifax aircraft.

At the same time Bures would have changed its designation from an 8AF to a 9AF unit.

The most common size of bomb stored were 100 and 500 pounders, but the Fortresse`s operating from Earls Colne could carry 2000 lb bombs.
Bombs arrived at Earls Colne or White Colne railway stations, where they were offloaded and transported to the dispersal site. The Earls Colne road was especially busy with transporters delivering munitions from the railway station whils`t others, were loading up ready for delivery back to the airfield.

The USAAF used 6 wheel GMC open lorries with a canopy for transport.
The bombs were transported unarmed. There would have been a metal plug installed in the nose and tail fuse insert, to prevent damage to the internal threads and to keep out moisture. Many of these plugs have been found on land at Butlers Farm. The bombs would then have been fused just before loading onto the aircraft or even in flight.

The network of roads were constructed by a large number of negro USAAF servicemen. Local residents can still recall how they were made to work outside under atrocious conditions, with little consideration given to their welfare. At Butlers Farm they would queue up at the farmhouse in the hope of getting some additional food and water.

The walls along the side of the road were pushed over into the ditch to produce small areas of hard standing along the verges approximately 50-100 yards apart for use as storage bays. In other places the ditch was filled in with rubble.
Hardcore for the roads was obtained from the brick rubble cleared from the bomb damaged houses in London. A large number of lorries constantly travelled between London and the surrounding countryside supplying the demand for the road base material.
Hardcore/rubble was also transported by train to White Colne railway station via Cambridge. The majority of this was used for runway building at Wormingford & Earls Colne airfields.
Vast concrete mixers provided the top surface layer. The amount of aggregate, hardcore and cement must have been on a gigantic scale, when you appreciate the amount of road and storage sites that were constructed.
The sand and aggregate was obtained locally from local pits at Ferriers Farm and Alphamstone.

One local resident recalls it was near impossible to use the local roads after seven in the morning, because of the number of sand & gravel lorries. Lorries rumbled thro` the village from early morning until dusk.
Airfield construction was mainly carried out by UK contractors such as Costain, Bovis and French.
Costain was the main contractor at Wormingford.

Roads which were just cart tracks, such as those near Daws Cross, incapable of carrying any substantial weight were just covered with a layer of concrete. A typical example is the road between Daws Cross and Countess Cross, this before the war was just a narrow dirt track, but it was widened and a skim of concrete poured over the top, it has no base material whatsoever.

Evidence of these dispersal bays are still known locally as the "bomb dumps", can still be seen today.

Photo shows a typical road constructed by USAAF together with concrete bay.
A bay further up the road has been broken-up as can be seen by the pile of concrete.

Munitions of all kinds were then transported along the roads and stacked on the areas of hard standing,
The stacks were then covered in camouflage netting. Hawthorn and other trees along the roadside were left and acted as further camouflage to prevent detection from the air.
Guard Posts were placed at strategic points along the access roads, where travellers were stopped and questioned as to the nature and reason for their journey. Even the local school children were issued with passes allowing them to traverse the area.

A local resident, recalls the Germans dropping an incendiary device, west of the searchlight along Colne Rd. Difficult to know if the enemy was trying to locate the searchlight position or the munition dumps. Fortunately, the incendiary fell on the wrong side of the road, any nearer to the village and the dispersal site would have been lit up for all to see.

On another occasion a V1 rocket fell on farmland between Bakers Hall and the railway line, breaking numerous windows. Gordon Webber recalls on that evening, one almighty bang as the rocket plummeted into the ground opposite Bakers Hall where he lived. With the family safely tucked away he ventured outside to see smoke and flames pouring out of the crater. The American soldier who was in the guard post on the corner, was lying flat on the floor and muttered something like "Gee, what was that?"

Many people think that living in the countryside was well away from the war, but in fact an area housing thousand of bombs had its own worries. Many a night a "doodlebug" could be heard with its familiar drone flying over the village. It was quite a relief to hear it disappear into the distance and not cut out directly above the dispersal site.

It was not uncommon to store munitions alongside the road. This picture was taken along the Colne Rd, just outside the village, clearly shows stacked bombs ready for dispersal.

100lb bombs were fitted with a carrying handle that two men could lift.

With the bulk of the 9AF operating on the Continent by the end of 1944, administrative control of Bures would have passed to an organisation called USSTAF (United States Strategic Air Forces in Europe), which would have overseen distribution of surplus munitions.

It`s likely that, just after the war, the RAF's No. 95 Maintenance Unit (MU) were involved in clearing the ordnance and taking it to Ridgewell airfield for disposal. This MU and others, were similarly involved with the bomb storage sites at Earsham and Barnham

Even after the war ended, bombs were still in place some three years later. According to the ex Station Manager at White Colne station they were loaded back into wagons and transported to docks such as Harwich. Here they were loaded onto ships and finally dumped out to sea, possibly of the coast of Scotland.

We know from records that bombs were taken over to Ridgewell airfield where they were stored until the early 1950`s. They were then taken to Gt Yeldham railway station by 10 ton lorries for transportation, again possibly to Harwich.

Acknowledgment to:
Eric Doe, Gordon Webber, Trevor Riches, Arthur Kemp
Ida McMaster & Paul Roberts for their assistance
Ravensfield Farm, Peyton Hall, Bramble Farm
Norman Wells of Pebmarsh