RAF Fauld explosion

The RAF Fauld explosion was a military accident which occurred at 11:11am 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.
Between of ordnance exploded, mostly high explosives. The explosion crater with a depth of and across is still visible just south of Fauld, to the east of Hanbury, Staffordshire. It is now known as the Hanbury Crater.
A nearby reservoir containing of water was obliterated in the incident, along with several buildings including a complete farm. Flooding caused by the destruction of the reservoir added to the damage directly caused by the explosion.
The exact death toll is uncertain; it is believed that about 70 people died in the explosion and the resulting flood.
Cause.
The cause of the disaster was not made clear at the time. There had been staff shortages, a management position had remained empty for a year, and 189 inexperienced Italian prisoners of war were working in the mines at the time of the accident. In 1974, it was announced that the cause of the explosion was probably a site worker removing a detonator from a live bomb using a brass chisel rather than a wooden batten. An eyewitness testified that he had seen a worker using brass chisels, in direct contravention of the regulations in force.
Effects.
No. 21 Maintenance Unit RAF Bomb Storage dump consisted of old gypsum mine workings which had been made into storage for a variety of ordnance; in addition to shells and bombs, the specifications included several types of weapons and up to 500 million rounds of small arms ammunition. Up to exploded, including of bombs packed with high explosives. At 11:15 hours on 27 November 1944, two huge explosions took place at the dump. Eyewitnesses reported seeing two distinct columns of black smoke in the form of a mushroom cloud ascending several thousand feet, and a blaze at the foot of the column. According to the commanding officer of 21 M.U., Group Captain Storrar, an open dump of incendiary bombs caught fire and it was allowed to burn itself out without damage or casualties. Property was damaged within a radius of of the crater.
Debris and damage occurred to all property within a circle extending for . Upper Castle Hayes Farm completely disappeared and Messrs. Peter Ford's lime and gypsum works to the north of the village and Purse cottages were completely demolished. The lime works was destroyed by the flooding after the destruction of the reservoir dam. Hanbury Fields Farm, Hare Holes Farm and also Croft Farm with adjacent cottages were all extensively damaged. Debris also damaged Hanbury village. The crater was by in length and deep, covering .
Casualties.
At the time, there was no careful tally of the number of workers at the facility. So, while the exact death toll is uncertain, it appears that about 70 people died in the explosion. The official report said that 90 were killed, missing or injured, including:
Two hundred cattle were also killed by the explosion. Some live cattle were removed from the vicinity but were dead the following morning.
Aftermath.
A relief fund organised by the local people made payments to victims and their families until 1959.
Much of the storage facility was annihilated by the explosion, but the site itself continued to be used by the RAF for munitions storage until 1966, when No. 21 Maintenance Unit was disbanded. Following France's withdrawal from NATO's integrated military structure in 1966, the site was used by the United States Army between 1967 and 1973 to store US ammunition previously stored in France.
By 1979 the site was fenced off and the area is now covered with over 150 species of trees and wildlife. Access is restricted as a significant amount of explosives are still buried deep in the site; the UK government has deemed their removal too expensive to be feasible.
On 13 September 1990, 46 years after the initial incident, it was announced that a memorial stone was to be built to commemorate those who died, to be paid for by the public because Hanbury Parish Council did not have the necessary funds. The stone used for the memorial was donated by the Italian government and flown to the United Kingdom on an RAF plane. It was unveiled on 25 November 1990. A second memorial was dedicated on the 70th anniversary of the explosion, 27 November 2014. A tourist trail leads to the crater from the Cock Inn pub in Hanbury, which was damaged by debris from the explosion.
The maintenance unit was the subject of several paintings under the collective title "the bomb store" by David Bomberg, who was briefly employed as a war artist by the War Ministry in 1943.
References.
Notes