Pontrilas Army Training Area | |
---|---|
Pontrilas, Herefordshire | |
Coordinates | 51°57′56″N2°52′34″W / 51.96556°N 2.87611°W |
Type | Barracks |
Site information | |
Owner | Ministry of Defence |
Operator | British Army |
Site history | |
Built | 1930s |
Built for | War Office |
In use | 1930s-Present |
Pontrilas Army Training Area is a British Army training camp, located just north of the village of Ewyas Harold near to Pontrilas in Herefordshire, England. Originally developed pre-World War II by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) as an ammunition dump, it was served by the Golden Valley Railway.
During the 1930s, there was a recognition of a need to provide secure storage for munitions within the United Kingdom. The proposal was to create three central ammunition depots (CAD): one in the south (Monkton Farleigh); one in the north of England (Longtown, Cumbria); and one in the Midlands (Nesscliffe).
Beyond these, a series of sub-depots was created by the MoD in the area, to allow further distribution. Each was connected to the national rail network, and was laid out over an extensive area to avoid total destruction should an accidental explosion occur, or the site be attacked by an enemy.
Named Elm Bridge, [1] the servicing railway branch line was just before Abbeydore railway station and the level crossing. [2] Unlike the main CAD's, the initial war-time onsite batch of locomotives and train drivers was provided by the Great Western Railway, which also maintained the extensive onsite network. [1] Always guarded by the Royal Military Police and serviced by regular troops, [3] it was only after the war from 1948 that the Royal Engineers provided the onsite logistics.
After the closure and lifting of the Golden Valley Railway to Dorstone in 1953 and cessation of passenger services, the line was maintained as a freight-only facility to service the depot until its closure in 1957. [2]
Retained as an MoD facility, its remote location and proximity to the Special Air Service headquarters at Hereford meant that it has been utilised as a training base in some form since closure of the depot. [4] Although never confirmed officially, the training facility has been used by various special forces, including "The Det".
Presently managed by QinetiQ on behalf of the MoD, they have installed various facilities which are used in counter-terrorism (CT) and assault training. [5]
In September 2006, Lance Corporal Gordon Campbell of the 1 Assault Group Royal Marines, aged 28, while fast-roping from a helicopter whilst on a training exercise at PATA, fell to the ground and died. [6] [7]
Hawthorne Army Depot (HWAD) is a U.S. Army Joint Munitions Command ammunition storage depot located near the town of Hawthorne in western Nevada in the United States. It is directly south of Walker Lake. The depot covers 147,000 acres (59,000 ha) or 226 sq. mi. and has 600,000 square feet (56,000 m2) 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.
Nesscliffe is a village in Shropshire, England, located north of the River Severn. The village comes under the Great Ness parish.
Pontrilas is a village in south Herefordshire, England, half a mile from the border with Wales. It is in the parish of Kentchurch and lies midway between Hereford and Abergavenny. In 2011 the main village contained 66 residential dwellings, as well as Pontrilas Business Park.
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The Royal Army Ordnance Corps (RAOC) was a corps of the British Army. At its renaming as a Royal Corps in 1918 it was both a supply and repair corps. In the supply area it had responsibility for weapons, armoured vehicles and other military equipment, ammunition and clothing and certain minor functions such as laundry, mobile baths and photography. The RAOC was also responsible for a major element of the repair of Army equipment. In 1942 the latter function was transferred to the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) and the vehicle storage and spares responsibilities of the Royal Army Service Corps were in turn passed over to the RAOC. The RAOC retained repair responsibilities for ammunition, clothing and certain ranges of general stores. In 1964 the McLeod Reorganisation of Army Logistics resulted in the RAOC absorbing petroleum, rations and accommodation stores functions from the Royal Army Service Corps as well as the Army Fire Service, barrack services, sponsorship of NAAFI (EFI) and the management of staff clerks from the same Corps. On 5 April 1993, the RAOC was one of the corps that amalgamated to form The Royal Logistic Corps (RLC).
RAF Credenhill, also known as RAF Hereford, was a non-flying station of the Royal Air Force situated in the village of Credenhill near Hereford, England, United Kingdom. It was commissioned in 1940 and served as home for a range of training schools from 1940 until closure in 1994. The site was subsequently obtained by the British Army.
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Bramley Training Area is a British Army training camp, located south of the village of Bramley, Hampshire. Opened during World War I as an ammunition depot, the site now comprises a field training area and an Army Reserve Centre at Lapraik House, the base for C Squadron, 21 Special Air Service.
Abbeydore railway station was a station in Abbey Dore, Herefordshire, England. It was located on the Great Western Railway branch line linking Pontrilas and Hay-on-Wye. The area is known as the Golden Valley.
Ruddington Ordnance & Supply Depot was a Royal Ordnance Factory filling and storage facility, commissioned in 1940 and built during World War II by the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence (MoD). It was located to the south of Ruddington, Nottinghamshire, and took 18 months to build. In operation it consisted of over 200 buildings employing 4,000 workers at peak. It was decommissioned in 1945, became a storage area for ex-military vehicles which were then auctioned-off onsite, and was closed in 1985. Today the site is located in the Rushcliffe Country Park.
McAlester Army Ammunition Plant (MCAAP) is a weapons manufacturing facility for the United States Department of Defense in McAlester, Oklahoma, US. The facility is part of the US Army Joint Munitions Command. Its mission is to produce and renovate conventional ammunition and ammunition related components. The plant stores war reserve and training ammunition. McAlester performs manufacturing, industrial engineering, and production product assurance. The plant also receives, demilitarizes, and disposes of conventional ammunition components. The plant is the largest, in terms of storage, housing close to one-third of the Department of Defense's munitions stockpile.
Defence Munitions (DM) Glen Douglas is a military munitions depot located near Loch Long, Argyll and Bute, in Scotland. It is operated by Defence Equipment & Support, part of the Ministry of Defence. It was formerly known as RNAD Glen Douglas.
RNAD Trecwn is a decommissioned Royal Navy Armaments Depot, south of Fishguard in the village of Trecwn, Pembrokeshire, West Wales.
National Filling Factory, Banbury, officially called National Filling Factory No. 9. was a British Ministry of Munitions filling factory, constructed during World War I and located in Banbury, Oxfordshire. The production of filled shells began in April 1916 and ended when the factory closed in 1924
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US Navy 7 Naval Ammunition Depot was located at Springhill, near Northam, Western Australia. It was one of three US Naval Ammunition Depots developed across Australia during World War II to support the service's operations in the South West Pacific.