Public urged to help locate hidden wartime 'Scallywag' bunkers

[tiv]

The various locations in the area.

 

[QRK2]

More information in here:

http://corsham.thehumanjourney.net/pdfs/MODCOVBA_MOD_Corsham_Indesign_Report_240310.pdf

 

[HE117]

I believe that was another nearby complex they were in at Monkton Farleigh, not to far away.
Now secure document storage

Used to be an Army Central Ammunition Depot until the 70s. (CAD Corsham) which was split between Tunnel, Eastlays, Ridge and Monkton Farleigh quarries. They were built between the wars as a response to the growing air threat and the need to move ammunition manufacture and storage away from Woolwich.

It was abandoned for two main reasons.. firstly the quarries were damp and needed huge amounts of air conditioning to keep the humidity within reasonable limits. The other reason was that there was a fundamental shift in the 70s from storing ammunition in loose boxes on to pallets. The quarries were designed to handle loose boxes using conveyor belts and rope hauls (...and lots of people!). The costs to redesign the depots to accommodate MHE was judged to be prohibitive. There was also a shift from using rail to move ammunition to using road transport. The quarries were again set up more for moving stuff by rail.

The depot was full of wartime ammunition stock with very little residual life so the decision was taken to rebuild Kineton as a palletised ammunition depot and lose Corsham. Most of the holdings went into the Irish sea, with the balance going to Kineton and Longtown.

 

[jagman2]

Used to be an Army Central Ammunition Depot until the 70s. (CAD Corsham) which was split between Tunnel, Eastlays, Ridge and Monkton Farleigh quarries. They were built between the wars as a response to the growing air threat and the need to move ammunition manufacture and storage away from Woolwich.

It was abandoned for two main reasons.. firstly the quarries were damp and needed huge amounts of air conditioning to keep the humidity within reasonable limits. The other reason was that there was a fundamental shift in the 70s from storing ammunition in loose boxes on to pallets. The quarries were designed to handle loose boxes using conveyor belts and rope hauls (...and lots of people!). The costs to redesign the depots to accommodate MHE was judged to be prohibitive. There was also a shift from using rail to move ammunition to using road transport. The quarries were again set up more for moving stuff by rail.

The depot was full of wartime ammunition stock with very little residual life so the decision was taken to rebuild Kineton as a palletised ammunition depot and lose Corsham. Most of the holdings went into the Irish sea, with the balance going to Kineton and Longtown.

I think I've been in all of them except Eastlays which is a bonded wine warehouse these days.
Monkton Farleigh has a very impressive Colas sparkproof floor throughout (a particalr kind of tarmac I think) which still bears the imprint of stored shells.
The rail platforms in Tunnel Quarry are seriously impressive but quite low roofed, the other side of Box Tunnel (Spring Quarry) housed shadow factories and late the alternative seat of government

 

[ACAB]

IIRC, the plan was for the units to wait until after Britain had been occupied, then carry out acts of resistance such as sabotage and assassination. Targets would have included senior Nazi officers and any British VIP's who collaborated with them. I believe that certain NATO units were designated similar roles had the Cold War ever turned hot.

Given that these units were expected to operate without any support beyond what they managed to stockpile in their bunkers, and the inevitable brutality of the Nazi's response to their actions, it would not have ended well for them.

Ironically, the Nazis themselves had a similar program, Operation Werewolf(no relation ). These units were trained by the SS to carry out acts of terror against the Allies in occupied Germany. It was spectacularly unsuccessful, with only a few missions carried out, none of them achieving any great impact.

I disagree. To wait until the whole of the UK was occupied would seem to defeat their raison d'être. As I understand it, they were to activate as and when the Germans reached their AOR and to harass the hell out of them.

 

[Yokel]

I disagree. To wait until the whole of the UK was occupied would seem to defeat their raison d'être. As I understand it, they were to activate as and when the Germans reached their AOR and to harass the hell out of them.

That is what I assumed - it was to interference with the invaders' supply lines, a tactic that would later cause the Germans problems in the Soviet Union. Because Britain is an island with hundreds of ports, I asked the question about coastal hides and watchers to look out for follow on forces being brought into ports.

 

[ExREME.TECH]

As I mentioned we covered Corsham in one of our Underground Britain series. Fascinating place. One of the crew pinched a MoD bakerlite telephone.

As someone else said there's still a classified Signals bit. One of the 'bunkers' was recently utilised by criminal types for growing weed. Plod raided the place and carted off a load of Chinese illegals. (these 'facts' might need checking)

*poorly edited

Not Vietnamese?

 

[Cutaway]

Not Vietnamese?

They're not all from Cu Chi.

 

[Werewolf]

I disagree. To wait until the whole of the UK was occupied would seem to defeat their raison d'être. As I understand it, they were to activate as and when the Germans reached their AOR and to harass the hell out of them.

My bad; that's exactly what I meant. I phrased it incorrectly.

 

[Slime]

I believe that was another nearby complex they were in at Monkton Farleigh, not to far away.
Now secure document storage

Yes, my error in clarity.
The talk was on Burlington, the kids went into Copenacre (from memory).
No need for an ammunition conveyor in Burlington

 

[Slime]

I think I've been in all of them except Eastlays which is a bonded wine warehouse these days.
Monkton Farleigh has a very impressive Colas sparkproof floor throughout (a particalr kind of tarmac I think) which still bears the imprint of stored shells.
The rail platforms in Tunnel Quarry are seriously impressive but quite low roofed, the other side of Box Tunnel (Spring Quarry) housed shadow factories and late the alternative seat of government

I’ve always thought the painting/murals in the aero engine shadow factory were very impressive, and even more so as only a few paint colours were available to use.

 

[jagman2]

I’ve always thought the painting/murals in the aero engine shadow factory were very impressive, and even more so as only a few paint colours were available to use.

Yes very, I have pictures somewhere, I'll have a rummage and see if I can find them

 

[Signalman]

I just accidentally found this map of my local hide (central Pembrokeshire, just north of Tenby - Templeton Training Area is the airfield at the bottom). I posted this in the earlier thread on the subject:

 

[Signalman]

And the Google Earth version:

 

[Tricky1982]

The posts are quite old but if you search on this urbex forum you can find several of these auxiliary bunkers folks have found

Report - - Arundel Auxiliary Unit base-09/11/08 | Underground Sites

Report - - Auxiliary Unit Observation Post - Great Limber, Lincs -24/3/08 | Military Sites

Report - - Auxiliary Unit Hideout Hellingly Feb 08 | Military Sites

Report - - 6/4/08 - Auxiliary Unit Operational Base. Swallow Lincs | Military Sites

Report - - Auxiliary Unit Zero Station Telham Feb08 | Military Sites

 

[wheelchairwarrier]

further to my last a visit to the suspected location(s) may have bourne fruit, I say locations plural as the primary search location has produced strong metal detector responses, hopefully from the wriggly tin used .
But a few hundred mtrs away another strong indication. The ground is too wet to explore safely at the moment.
Brother has spoken to a few folk and has some anecdotal info that the group may have had more than one bolthole .
Deffo a summer search.

Brother came home with info that the suspected second location used as a store had been dug into a hill side and has the name of someone who should know where it is.
Interestingly the name is of an ex neighbour, going to ring him tomorrow .

 

[Bacongrills]

The Germans might have instituted as policy like in occupied France where a resistance attack meant the entire local village was shot or sent to a concentration camp.

 

[Listy]

The Germans might have instituted as policy like in occupied France where a resistance attack meant the entire local village was shot or sent to a concentration camp.

Highly likely. But it wouldn't have effected the outcome, by that point the Aux Units were in their hides, and would be at work. They were only expected to survive and opperate for two weeks. The over-all idea seems to have been to slow the German advance by whacking logistics targets, and putting the fear of god into the Germans (Bit like how the US saw the Jungle in Vietnam, or the British in the Far East in WWII).

 

[CptDanjou]

The Germans might have instituted as policy like in occupied France where a resistance attack meant the entire local village was shot or sent to a concentration camp.

Quite a deterrent too .

 

[Red Hander]

Quite a deterrent too .

I wonder sometimes about the moral dimension of resistance. Partisans attack Germans and scoot back to the forest, etc. The Germans execute 20 villagers. The partisans know this will happen. The Germans are morally responsible for the crime, but what about the partisans who carried out the attack that brought retribution on others? I don't know the answer myself. Would i resist if others paid for that with their lives?