Uttoxeter Online Magazine

In 1937. as a precaution against the growth of Nazi Germany, the Government purchased, from the Duchy of Lancaster, part of a gypsum mine near Fauld in Staffordshire. The mine was to be used as a bomb storage dump. The entrance to the mine was housed within the RAF camp at Fauld, and about a mile away from the more substantial village of Hanbury.

Early in the War an adjacent mine belonging to Peter Ford was also purchased. The workings of the two mines were separated below ground by around 120 yards of rock and earth and, perched high above was Upper Castle Hayes Farm, the home of tenant farmer Maurice Goodwin and his wife Mary.

Were the Goodwins fully aware of the danger that lay beneath them? That the storage dump existed was an open secret. What was not so well known was the huge amount of bombs stored within the chambers and passages of the former mine. In all some 14.975 tons of bombs, including giant American 4,000 pound blockbusters, were being held on a fateful day in 1944. The Goodwins, and no doubt other locals, would have been extremely worried had they been aware of the disastrous history of similar dumps in other parts of the country. To put it in short, explosions were not uncommon.

The discipline within the RAF camp certainly gave an aura of control. In 1944 the bomb store was manned by No. 21 Maintenance unit. Also present were employees of the Air Ministry and the Ministry of Aircraft Production, the Air Ministry Works Department and the Air Maintenance Inspection Department, ( AID ) - being specifically responsible for the inspection of bombs and any maintenance required, they were crucial to the safety of the site.

About 1.033 people were employed at RAF Fauld, half of them civilians, plus a contingent of Italian co-operators seconded to the camp.

The morning, of Monday 27th November 1944 was typical of late autumn, a sharp frost later challenged by bright sunshine, as Doveridge men climbed onto the lorry for the mine. Present that day were Bill Coker, Bill Robinson, Bill Dainton, Bill Hudson, James Haire, Jack Hudson, Jack Freeman, Mr Wall and Mr Langley. Leaving from home at the same time was Frank Beckett who was to witness events from Sudbury Camp where he worked as a joiner.

At about 11.00 am Maurice and May Goodwin locked the doors of Upper Castle Hayes Farm to go to market, setting in their car off down the narrow lanes that bordered the mine workings. At eleven minutes past eleven a single short explosion was heard. This was followed immediately by a very long explosion that reverberated for 30 seconds. The sound was heard over 100 miles away and shock waves were recorded as far away as Casablanca.

The explosion was the largest involving conventional weapons the world had ever known. The effects were devastating. A crater 900 feet across and 80 feet deep was ripped out of the Staffordshire farmland. Upper Castle Hayes farm simply disappeared. Surrounding farms, Hanbury Fields and Hare Holes farm were severely damaged. In nearby Hanbury, buildings were shattered. Fire and shock waves caused further damage. The Cock Inn and the village hall were virtually flattened. By some miracle no one in Hanbury was killed and the village school, with its full intake of pupils, remained intact.

The full force of the blast removed a large part of the hillside above the Peter Ford works. This also destroyed the water reservoir that supplied the mine and six million gallons of water mixed with soil and debris formed a wall of mud and slurry twenty feet high that engulfed the works and a row of cottages.

Thousands of tons of rock and debris which had been blasted 300 feet into the air, fell to earth. A huge shadow blocked out the daylight as three million cubic yards of soil, stone and boulders descended. Houses that escaped the initial blast were now smashed by the debris up to eleven miles away. In the immediate vicinity of the crater the debris lay 20 to 30 feet deep 70 yards from the edge. Trees stuck out of the ground, roots uppermost and, in the nightmare scene, dead and injured animals littered the ground. Around 200 cattle and 100 sheep were killed and many of the surviving cattle died during the night.

The human casualties took longer to assess as the gruesome task of recovery got underway. Rescue workers raced to the scene. Mine rescue, fire brigades, ambulance teams and personnel from the American camp at Foston came to help. Seventy people died and twenty were injured. In the bomb store itself 5 servicemen and 15 civilians together with 6 Italians were killed. Those in the immediate area were atomised. Some died from carbon monoxide poisoning and others from the mud slide, including Maurice and Mary Goodwin in their car. Nine farm workers died, including one man whose legless trunk was found buried head first. By some miracle none of the Doveridge contingent was killed, although one farm worker from the village died whilst driving a horse and cart on one of the farms near Fauld.................

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An extract from "Staffordshire Legends" written by Alan Gibson, the well known local author, first published in 2002. £8.95 from our online bookshop.

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