RAF Tarrant Rushton, Dorset Bomb Store

Bomb Store: -
Schedule of Buildings
Bldg. No. - Building - Construction -Type - Drg. No.
93 - Petrol Installation (Aviation) - C (72,000gal) = 9846/41.
94 - Fused & Spare Bomb Store - N 
95 - Latrine - TB - 9026/41.
96 - General Purpose Hut - N
97 - Pyro Store - N - 12725/41.
98to99 -  Incendiary Bomb Store - N - C - 4734/42.
100to103 - Bomb Stores - N - D - 3164/42.
104to107 - Incendiary Bomb Stores - N - B - 4737/42.
108to109 - Components Store - N - 4733/42.
110to112 - Fusing Point Building - N - 4788/42 + 7900/42.
113 - Smoke Bomb Store - N - 4778/42.
114 - General Purpose Hut - N

The bomb store at the far south east of the airfield.
The square at the top left of the picture.s

On the right - an original road that once crossed the down land.
On the left - the road to the bomb store.

The road to the bomb store.
Left:  
111 - Fusing Point Building - N - 4788/42 + 7900/42.
Right 110 - Fusing Point Building - N - 4788/42 + 7900/42.

This is exactly what it would have looked like when fuzing the bombs. Specially trained senior Armourers in the ordnance branch would fuze the bombs and they would be watched over by the Ordnance Officer who was responsible to make sure everything was done correctly.
Fuze/Fuse:
A fuses are basic safety devices widely deployed in electrical circuits.
A fuze is a devise that detonates a munition's explosives.

Bomb Store
104 to107 - Incendiary Bomb Stores - N - B - 4737/42.

Bomb Store.
104 - Incendiary Bomb Stores - N - B - 4737/42.

Bomb Store.
104 - Incendiary Bomb Stores - N - B - 4737/42. Nissen hut 4737/42.

Bomb Store.
104 - Incendiary Bomb Stores - N - B - 4737/42. Nissen hut 4737/42.

Bomb Store.
104 - Incendiary Bomb Stores - N - B - 4737/42. Nissen hut 4737/42. 2010.
And the wall had fallen down.

Bomb Store.
104 - Incendiary Bomb Stores - N - B - 4737/42.
Photograph showing how they would have looked, with the berm of earth between the two huts..

Bomb Store.
31 June 2010104 - Incendiary Bomb Stores - N - B - 4737/42.
Nissen hut 4737/42.
The wall now on the floor and one hoop still standing.

AIR 20-7587.
104 - Incendiary Bomb Stores - N - B - 4737/42.
Nissen hut 4737/42.
The wall now on the floor and one hoop still standing.

Bomb Store.
The two roadways, left the bomb train road and right the bomb delivery road. All traffic one way.

Bomb Store.
100 - Bomb Stores Type 'D'  - 3164/42.
Following the bomb train road along No.100. Two parallel roadways between the 3164/42 store, one is for delivering bombs and the other is for collecting bombs. Each bay could holds 24 tons of bombs.

An order would go out to a station that an operation was on, all the details would be laid out, bombs, fuel loads, routes, codes, etc. Then the bombs would be ordered from storage. In this case it would probably be from RAF Dinton above ground storage/ RAF Chilmark underground storage in Wiltshire. They would arrive by lorry. The lorries loaded with bombs would drive down the parallel road to this one, to discharge their loads into the bomb storage areas. Then the day of the bombing raid, tractors with a train of bomb trailers often driven by M.T. W.A.A.F.'s. The bombs were loaded onto the trailers and trundled around to the fuzing point sheds. Here tail and nose fuzes would be inserted and then they were driven out onto the perimeter track to the aircraft on their dispersals.

Bomb Store.
100 - Bomb Stores Type 'D'  - 3164/42.
This is the delivery road with its distinctive brick wall and four stores and their earth traverse

Bomb Store.1
100 - Bomb Stores Type 'D'  - 3164/42.
The delivery roadway. This was a concrete road and probably under the leaf mould and its still there.

Bomb Store.
100 - Bomb Stores Type 'D' - 3164/42.

Bomb Store.
100 - Bomb Stores Type 'D'  - 3164/42.
Trammelling a way of rolling barrels of beer from a horse drawn wagon to the cellar of a public house. In WW1 the same method was used to roll shells off of lorries & wagons. And then in WW2 the way to remove bombs from lorries down onto the bomb store floor, was to Trammel them. Ropes were tied to the rings set into the wall. (The rings are from farm suppliers to tie animals up at markets). Two ropes tied to the rings and then rapped around a bomb, using the weight of the bomb to roll it down in a controlled way. The bombs were reasonably inert, they needed a fuse to set them . So they could put up with some quite rough handling.

Bomb Store.
100 to 103 - Bomb Stores - N - D  - 3164/42.

Bomb Store.
101 - Bomb Stores - N - D  - 3164/42.

Bomb Store.
101 - Bomb Stores - N - D  - 3164/42.

Bomb Store.
102 - Bomb Stores - N - D  - 3164/42.
Bomb train road.

Bomb Store.
102 - Bomb Stores - N - D  - 3164/42.
24 Ton storage area, blast walls either side.

Bomb Store.
102 - Bomb Stores - N - D  - 3164/42.
Delivery ramp.

Bomb Store.
102 - Bomb Stores - N - D  - 3164/42.
Trammel ring.

Bomb Store.
103 - Bomb Stores - N - D  - 3164/42.

Bomb Store.
103 - Bomb Stores - N - D  - 3164/42.
Delivery wall.

31 June 2010.
103 - Bomb Stores - N - D  - 3164/42.
Delivery wall.

Bomb Store.
103 - Bomb Stores N - D  - 3164/42.
24 Ton bomb store area. Bits found.

Bomb Store.
103 - Bomb Stores - N - D  - 3164/42.
24 Ton bomb store area. Bits found.

Bomb Store.
103 - Bomb Stores - N - D  - 3164/42.
24 Ton bomb store area. Bits found.

Bomb Store.
103 - Bomb Stores - N - D  - 3164/42.
24 Ton bomb store area. Bits found.
Lancaster & Lincoln break shoe. These bits are all left over from Flight Re-fulling days.

Bomb Store.
To the right the roadway taking you around to the Incendiary bomb stores.
Along here there are: - 97 - Pyro Store - N - 12725/41. A Nissen hut. 98to99 - Incendiary Bomb Store - N - C - 4734/42.

Bomb Store.
Incendiary bomb store.

Bomb Store.
99 - Incendiary Bomb Store - N - C - 4734/42.

Bomb Store.
Way out.

Bombing up a Halifax Bomber.
By 1944 nearly all Stirling´s and a lot of Halifax squadrons were being used for Airborne forces. The RAF did not have a dedicated transport aircraft (until the Dakota was brought in). Although these squadrons were used to tow gliders, parachute troops and parachute supplies. They still had to be bombers and back up the Main Force for Bomber Command. So in between being used in airborne training, they could be called onto bombing missions. These were usually attacks on France, V Rocket sites, ports and railways.