Monument record 0944601000 - The Firs, Whitchurch

'The Firs' was requisitioned during WWII for development of secret munitions and known as 'Churchill's Toyshop'. The 'Sticking Bomb', Blacker Bombards and PIAT were devised here (B1).
'The Firs' was built in 1897 on the site of an earlier building of the same name. Between September 1940 and October 1946 it was a workshop of MIR(c) [Military Intelligence Research] (later MD1) and produced 26 different types of weapons including Sticky Bombs, the Blacker Bombard and PIAT (B2).
At least one workshop outbuilding, presumably part of the wartime complex, was still visible on the site in 2005.
February 1946. Here they developed the ‘Spiggott’ Mortar, the ‘Sticky’ bomb, and the ‘Piat’ gun. There were 250 employees including some 120 women (B3).
It was reported in January 1947 that over 60 employees were being dismissed from this Armaments Design Department of the Ministry of Supply. It was rumoured that The Firs would be used to accommodate German scientific workers employed at Westcott (B4).

A Second World War weapons research and development and testing site is visible on historic aerial photograph and was mapped as part of the Aylesbury Vale Aerial Investigation and Mapping project (EBC18604). Located within the grounds of The Firs in Whitchurch village and centred at SP 80479 20386, the site was requisitioned by the War Office in 1939 for use by a division of Military Intelligence Research (MIR) known as Military Intelligence Research (c), MIR(c), who moved there from London following an air raid. The site became a classified weapons research, development & manufacturing establishment, becoming known as. 'Churchill's Toyshop'. The village of Whitchurch was nicknamed 'bang village' because although classified, the explosions from weapons testing could be heard. The site extends south beyond The Firs and into fields to the south, where testing appears to have taken place. Immediately adjacent to The Firs house, at least 19 additional military buildings or huts were constructed, ranging in size from 10 x 3 metres to 36.5 x 6.5 metres, accessed by a network of paths. Many of the buildings that are visible on aerial photographs taken in 1961 have been demolished by 1976, some to make way for new residential housing. The remainder survive until the early 20th century, being demolished between 2009 and 2017 and on aerial photographs taken in 2022, none of the wartime buildings remain visible (7-14).

A Second World War weapon testing and research site is visible on historic aerial photographs and was mapped as part of the Aylesbury Vale Aerial Investigation and Mapping project (EBC18604). Located in fields south of Whitchurch village to the west of the A413 road and centred at SP 80307 20022, this is part of the testing site for weapons that were being developed at The Firs in Whitchurch village. A 3.5 metres wide concrete slab road, accessed by a gateway and a sentry building/guardroom, leads 550 metres W from the A413 to three (munitions?) bunkers, two of which are 6.5 metres square and the third is 11x7 metres. Each bunker is surrounded by a blast wall against which is piled earthwork banks on 3 and a half sides, the entrance to each facing N to the track. These remain extant in 2023. In the field adjacent the A413, the road joins another at right angles that leads N to The Firs. On either side of the road are military buildings and/or structures of uncertain function. Scattered across the weapon test site field are numerous structures of uncertain function, including water filled tanks and ditch, but no doubt relates to the purpose of the facility. Still in situ on aerial photographs taken in 1950, all structures but one have been removed by 1961. However, the imprint of some of the structures remain visible on 2021 dated remote sensing data in the ridge and furrow cultivation. Similarly, in 1950, all the site buildings and what appear to be two communication masts in the testing field remain extant but have been demolished by 1961, along with part of the road that leads to The Firs. The main road from the road to the bunkers remains intact in 2023 (15-21).