Monument record MBC47964 - ROADSIDE AMMUNITION DUMPS, BOTOLPH CLAYDON

A Second World War roadside ammunition dump is visible on historic aerial photographs and was mapped as part of the Aylesbury Vale Aerial Investigation and Mapping project (EBC18604). Located on the south side of the roadside between Middle Claydon and Botolph Claydon villages and centred at SP 72356 24733, the ammunition storage area comprises 5 rectangular buildings, each about 5 x 3 metres, all laid out in 2 pairs and a single building, all with long sides perpendicular to the road, and extending over about 46 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 1947, but all have been demolished by 1949 (1-5).