savernake forest a report for the national mapping ... - English Heritage

Figure 18 - Extract of mapping showing clusters of munitions stores (purple) and earthen banks (red) along
the main rides and drives within Savernake in relation to the ‘Y’ Site gas storage area. These were recorded
from wartime photographs taken in 1944 and 1946. OS background map: © Crown Copyright. All rights
reserved. English Heritage 100019088. 2009.
Until the summer of 1943, all military supplies, equipment and the ammunition stores
were transported by rail to Marlborough (Savernake Low Level) Station or to Savernake
High Level Station on the M&SWJR to the south of the forest. From there everything was
transported by lorry into the forest. This was inconvenient to say the least and
Marlborough goods yard was becoming inadequate for handling the increasing volume of
ammunition destined for Savernake. A dedicated spur (North Savernake Mileage Sidings)
off the existing M&SWJR was opened in August 1943 enabling rapid transit of ammunition
onto waiting trucks to be transported the short distance into the adjacent forest (Day
2007). To the west of the forest the line of the main and later branch lines were visible
on aerial photographs from the 1940s, but all lines have long since been removed. There
were several incidents involving the ammunition stores, but the worst by far occurred
after the war on 2 nd January 1946 when Savernake was being cleared of both allied and
captured enemy ammunition stores. Destined to be dumped at sea, a consignment of
ammunition was being prepared at the Mileage Sidings by drilling holes in the crates to
hasten sinking. Whether this was the cause is not certain, but there were two massive
explosions involving the outgoing train and an inbound train bearing ammunition from
South Wales, resulting in the deaths of eight soldiers and the serious injuries to several
others. The Mileage Sidings were seriously damaged and two craters were caused by the
©ENGLISH HERITAGE 43 29-2009