Savernake Forest and the Second World War
| Tue, 4 Dec 2007 08:26 Mr Blue Sky |
Savernake Forest near Marlborough played its part in the successful outcome of the Second World War. It served as an extensive ammunition dump for both British and American forces. Ordnance is inherently dangerous and, sadly, a number of accidental explosions occurred with some loss of life and considerable property damage. A few physical signs still exist in parts of the forest and this gallery contains images of those relics or the locations where the explosions took place. In some images there are links to other sites with additional information or images. NOTE: I keep this gallery locked to stop the verbally incontinent who occasionally surface from messing it up. If anyone wants to add an image please contact me via my profile page.             Slideshow |
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| Mon, 24 Dec 2007 11:48 Mr Blue Sky |
In the explosions of 2nd January 1946 two soldiers of the Pioneer Corps lost their lives. Here are their graves
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| Fri, 19 Jun 2009 14:46 Mr Blue Sky |
This image shows the road through Cobham Frith on the north-eastern fringe of the forest. |
| Wed, 26 May 2010 14:38 Mr Blue Sky |
Cobham Frith is idyllic at this time of year. In the war years this part of the forest was used for rather specialised and highly-secret weapons storage. It was called 'G' site and was used to stockpile chemical weapons. Both ends of the 'new' road (see previous post) through Cobham Frith were closed to non-military traffic in order to help keep secret the nature of the weapons being stored. Reasons for the secrecy include the relatively recent use of poison gas in the Great War and the revulsion not to say fear that would be engendered in the general population if it were known that similar materials were being stored not far from the towns of Marlborough and Hungerford. |
| Sun, 11 Nov 2012 23:09 Mr Blue Sky |
These images show a long-disused water storage tank installed in 1942 to provide water in the event of a fire. It was one of several such tanks in the forest the remainder of which no longer seem to exist.  |
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