Somerset Historic Environment Record

Details

A military establishment survives in good condition. {1}

Shown in the area between the railway and the road on Luftwaffe photos in 1940. {2}

Used by the American army as General Depot G-50. One of eighteen general depots, there were also smaller ones known as Q-xxx which distributed supplies to troops. The accommodation included warehouses, Romney huts, open storage areas and rail sheds. Several cold storage depots were sited outside the main area. The site had extensive rail marshalling yards to facilitate unloading of wagons bringing supplies from the west coast ports. From the rail wagons the goods were rolled over conveyors and loaded onto pallets. These were placed on trailers and hauled into the storage areas. {3}

The site and building plans were drawn on 20-23 May 1940 and construction can be seen well underway on APs a month later (June 26). {4}

Files in the Public Record Office relate to the closure of 3 Supply Reserve Depot in 1966. Historical notes prepared for the celebrations of its 25th anniversary in 1965 (which coincided with its transfer from the Royal Army Service Corps to the Royal Army Ordnance Corps) state that the Depot began its life in July 1940 as 3 Supply Reserve Depot, RASC. It was taken over by the USA forces in 1942 as "G50 Depot" and reverted to 3 SRD RASC in 1945 and following the closure of 2 SRD RASC in 1963 it was the only Supply Reserve Depot in the United Kingdom. The base, which produced composite ration packs, was closed in October 1966 and its functions transferred to the Royal Navy Victualling Stores. {6}

A World War II prisoner of War camp on the site of a United States Army Stores Depot. Aerial photographs taken in 1943 clearly show the layout of the US Army Stores Depot. Features visible include numerous "seagull" trenches, warehouses, defensive structures, including pillboxes and sentry posts, and American lorries. The larger warehouses, near to the railway, were painted with camouflage paint and a small area of buildings, in the centre of the depot, were camouflaged with netting. Aerial photographs taken in 1947 show that the northern part of the camp had been converted to a prisoner of war camp in the latter part of the war. A perimeter fence, with sentry towers at regular intervals, encloses a polygonal area measuring 410m by 415m at its widest parts. It was centred at ST 2004 2640. There appear to have been no new buildings constructed in the interior suggesting it may have been a tented camp. A number of buildings half way along the southern side of the perimeter appear to be the main access point to the camp at ST 2006 2627. The seagull trenches in this area appear to have been filled in by the time of the POW camp and some show on later photographs as cropmarks. Much of the depot buildings remain in use today but the area of the POW camp is now returned to farm land. At its greatest extent the whole complex extended over an area measuring 1030m by 430m between the railway and Courtlands. It was centred at ST 2012 2620. The western part of the camp was built over during expansion of the village of Norton Fitzwarren in the post-war period. {10}

The area between the road and railway, the Taunton Supply Reserve Depot that later became Taunton Trading Estate, is currently being demolished for development. {13}

Information from Royal Army Service Corps Training Volume I (1937) shows that before the Second World War the 'Supply Reserve Depots' were the principal home supply installations. They were responsible in peace for the provision, inspection, storage and turnover of war reserve supplies. (The term 'supply' included food, forage, petrol, lubricants for vehicles, fuel, light, disinfectants and hospital supplies which were provided, collected , distributed and accounted for by the RASC.) The reserves held at these depots in peacetime consisted generally of those items of supply which could not be obtained in sufficient time to meet requirements on mobilization. On mobilization, the depots were responsible for putting into effect the arrangements for completing delivery and dispatch overseas of the various commodities required by the Field Force. With the exception of petrol, frozen meat and coal, all items despatched overseas from Great Britain would have normally passed through these depots. {14}

Plan prepared for the disposal of the site in 1966. {15}

Monitoring of a pipeline construction in the field to the north of the road recorded features, principally paths and roads relating to the depot. {16}

Construction is shown underway on an aerial photograph of 6 July 1940. The site has been levelled and several buildings, including the HQ (27039) and one storage shed (27027) nearing completion. {18}

Works in connection with D-Day expansion listed as due for completion by 31/3/1943 but not essential for first contingent of US forces. Described as having 75,000 sq feet of covered storage, 300,000 square feet of open storage and a camp for 1250 men. {20}

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References

Former National Record of the Historic Environment

The information below was transferred from the NRHE in January 2020. It was not checked and may have been out of date. It may also duplicate information and sources in the HER. All enquiries about the sources mentioned should be made to the Historic England Archive There is other information in the HER that is not displayed here, which principally relates to the people associated with the creation of the record. Details can be provided.

NRHE cross reference: DoB Anti Invasion Database UID: S0012450

NRHE archive material: 1352762: EH: The Quantock Hills AONB NMP, ST 22 NW [Aerial Survey record. Material still held by Aerial Survey]

NRHE archive material: DEB01: Defence of Britain [This material has not yet been fully catalogued. Copyright, date, and quantity information for this record may be incomplete or inaccurate.Box files containing the record sheets gathered from participants in the Defence of Britain Project. The project recorded, with the help of volunteers, the remains of military structures in Britain. The collection is arranged by county and split between anti-invasion and non anti-invasion defences. The record sheets record the visible structures and include location details, structure type and purpose and include photographs.]