The History of Long Marston

Reprinted from Shakespeare Express Issue 14, Autumn 1999, and Issue 25, Summer 2004

The three words "Clear The Ports" spoken in 1940 by the then Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, started a sequence of events that would forever change part of rural Warwickshire by the establishment of the first really large Engineer Stores Depot in the United Kingdom. During the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force from Dunkirk and other French ports the south coast ports soon became completely congested with military stores. Something had to be done to solve the problem before they were overwhelmed. The country was scoured for a suitable site and widespread reconnaissance led to the selection of Long Marston as the site for this important facility. The local conditions made the site difficult to locate from the air. It was also served by the Great Western Railway - with access to two main lines at Honeybourne to the south, and through Stratford upon Avon to Birmingham and Leamington Spa to the north.

The first 300 acres of virgin farm and marshland were speedily requisitioned and the 1st Engineer Stores Depot, as it was then known, began to appear. An internal rail system was essential, and this commenced operating in 1940, run by a section from 192 Railway Operating Company RE. By September, Bailey Bridge components and other essential equipment was contained in 715 railway wagons awaiting storage space.

In 1941, the running of the Detachment was taken over by a section from 154 Railway Operating Company RE; by the end of the year accumulated congestion had been overcome. By 1942 the Depot possessed 45 miles of track, 155 acres of stacking space, 435,600 square feet of covered storage and 5Vi miles of roadway. The railway was constructed and maintained by a gang of 110 platelayers. From then onwards Long Marston provided operational storage for the full range of RE equipment for campaigns in Italy, southern Asia and northwest Europe. In the month of December 1944, a total of 10,027 stores wagons were handled by the Detachment. During the construction of the depot at Long Marston the sub-depot at Honeybourne and other local facilities the traffic on the line was so high that regular civilian services were suspended as the line was given over to the construction and military traffic. This caused severe problems for the personnel who worked on the depot as with the train services suspended and no bus service the only method of getting to the depot was by bicycle. Until accommodation was provided on the depot many of the staff had a long and tiring journey to work and back.

During the Second World War, the Detachment was manned by about 200 men, some of whom married local girls and continued to work there until they retired in the early 80s. The Depot was then served by seven 0-6-OST steam locomotives. Long Marston also controlled sub-depots at Honeybourne, Kingham, Moreton in Marsh and Ashchurch. Traffic, was naturally very heavy; incoming traffic averaged 300 wagons per day and at one period, twelve special trains were being marshalled daily and handed over to the GWR en route to various UK destinations.

The depot and the sub-depots played a full part in supporting Operation Bolero and the subsequent Operation Overlord. Operation Bolero was conceived in late 194 I/early 1942 and its function was to ensure that American troops and equipment could be brought into the UK to support the subsequent invasion. In 1941 the British Military planners were working on a plan called Operation Roundup, this was for an attack at Le Havre during the middle of 1942. Although this operation never came to fruition, the need to move American equipment became more apparent. To support Operation Bolero the Honeybourne sub-depot at Sheenhill was handed over to the Americans. It became one of the main American medical stores depots. Although controlled by the Americans, the locomotives were supplied and serviced by the main depot at Long Marston. The locomotives allocated to Sheenhill were kept busy and were coaled and watered on site and only returned to Long Marston for maintenance work that could not be carried out on site.



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