The Royal Naval Armaments Depot, Ditton Priors, Shropshire

Shortly after the start of the Second World War, the British Admiralty compulsorily purchased land near Ditton Priors, Shropshire, to store armaments.Using the Cleobury Mortimer and Ditton Priors Light Railway, thousands of tons of shells and high explosives were brought by train to be assembled and stored in specially-built magazines protected by 'batter mounds'.Every weekday, up to thirty buses brought in several hundred men and women from surrounding villages and towns and took them back after work.They all signed the Official Secrets Act. To avoid fires, no smoking and no newspapers were allowed on site, Eating sweets was forbidden as the acetic acid was said to be corrosive.There were no electric lights or heating in the magazines and laboratories.Trolleys laden with ammunition were hauled by small tractors from a railway siding.Trucks carried crates of assembled armaments to naval docks around Britain until, twenty years after the end of the war, the Depot became surplus to the N