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RAF Fauld Explosion 1944

jcduncan8

At 11.11 on the 27th November 1944 two explosions occurred at a gypsum mine in Staffordshire killing around 71 people and creating a huge crater. Witnesses said that a mushroom cloud some 50 yards wide and as far as the eye could see was formed, with mounds of earth weighing up to a ton in weight falling back to earth.


The force of the explosion was so great that Upper Hayes Farm completely vanished, the occupants never found. Every house in Hanbury Village was severely damaged, in Tutbury chimney stacks and roofs were shattered and the two church steeples in Burton were cracked, with one later being taken down. Hanbury fields farm was buried under the debris, the plaster factory of Peter Ford and sons which stood at the mine entrance, was almost totally destroyed and much of Brown's Coppice and Queen's Purse Wood along the summit of the bluff also disappeared. Flooding caused by the destruction of a nearby reservoir added to the damage, the water from the reservoir poured into a lime works killing around 31 workers.


The scene of the Hanbury Crater where a bomb blast took place in 1944.. Image: Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent Archive Service


The explosion was one of the largest non nuclear explosions in history, and the largest on UK soil. It was caused by the detonation of around 4000 tonnes of explosives stored in the mine by the military. The old gypsum mine had been purchased by the Air Ministry in 1937 and used for weapons storage during the Second World War. It was also used as a repair centre for defective devices. There were many military staff working there as well as Italian prisoners of war. The exact reason for the disaster was not clear at the time, but it was later announced that the cause of the explosion was likely a site worker removing a detonator from a live bomb using a brass chisel instead of a wooden batten, resulting in sparks.


The exact number of people who died is not really known and many bodies were never recovered. The RAF flew over the crater a few days later and took an aerial photograph, the crater was around 270m by 213m and 100 feet deep, covering 12 acres.


Photo taken by the RAF, image via Wikipedia.


The official report stated that 90 were killed, injured or missing, including 26 killed or missing from the RAF dump, divided between RAF personnel, civilian workers and Italian prisoners of war who were working there. 37 killed (drowned) or missing at Peter Ford and Sons gypsum mine and plaster mill. Approximately 7 farm workers at the nearby Upper Hayes Farm. One diver was killed during search and rescue operations. Some 200 cattle were also killed.


The Hanbury crater can still be seen from the air, but has been mostly been reclaimed by nature, a walk is possible around the perimeter, but the site itself remains the property of the Ministry of Defence and still contains explosives. Signs forbid entry and warn of unexploded bombs.


Hanbury Crater today, image from Google maps.



Signs warn of unexploded bombs. Image from Wikipedia.


Only a portion of the storage facility was blown up and the rest continued to be used by the RAF for munitions storage until 1966.

In 1990, 46 years after the initial incident, it was announced that a memorial stone was to be built to commemorate those who died. The stone used for the memorial was donated by the Italian government and flown to the UK on a RAF plane. It was unveiled on the 25th November 1990.


Memorial stone, image via Wikipedia.


A second memorial was dedicated on the 70th Anniversary of the explosion 27th November 2014. A tourist trail leads to the crater from the Cock Inn pub in Hanbury which was damaged by debris from the explosion.




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