Monument record MBC45019 - A Second World War roadside ammunition dump, Calvert.

A Second World War roadside ammunition dump is visible on historic aerial photographs and was mapped as part of the North Buckinghamshire Aerial Investigation and Mapping project (EBC18304). Located along both sides of the road between Botolph Claydon and Calvert about 345 metres W of Calvert Cottages and centred at SP 69292 25088, the ammunition storage area comprises 6 rectangular buildings, each about 7.5 x 3 metres, all laid out with long sides parallel with the road, three on either side and extending over about 85 metres. These portable corrugated iron shelters, or hutments, were usually camouflaged and covered stacks of artillery or small arms ammunition. A local eyewitness recalls stockpiles of ammunition in the area that were kept by the roadside in small Nissen-type huts with tarpaulins on the ends. Roadside storage not only made the ammunition easily accessible but dispersed the risk of a large loss of munitions in the event of an explosion, whether accidental or the result of a German air raid. The munitions storage hutments are visible on aerial photographs taken in 1946, but the three on the NW facing side of the road have been demolished by 1947, with the remaining three on the SE facing side of the road demolished by 1949 (1-6).