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Ran into this small ex-World War II army camp when I was en-route to somewhere else (Bowes derelict railway station). The small camp by the A67 was for the personnel of the massive RAF Bowes Moor No. 81 Maintenance Unit which was situated up the hill, due north-west. There's quite a bit on the bomb store at RAF Bowes Moor which I didn't visit. It was used from December 1941 to store mustard gas where 17,000 tonnes of chemicals were stored on 564 acres of moorland. It contained a small sewage plant and across the road from the camp was a large mess-hall. Further up the hill there was a camp hospital whose buildings are now part of a private bungalow. The main storage area had a channel in the fields leading water down to a decontamination unit. Initially the bombs were stored out in the open under tarpaulins or in wooden sheds. However it was found that the sheep on the moorland ate the tarps and disturbed the bombs! Hence sheep-proof fences and gates were added to the entire site. Later, fifty new buildings were added to store the larger bombs. The content of the stored bombs was burnt off after the end of the war, but some apparently leached into the soil. The German nerve gases Sarin and Tabun were also stored here on a temporary basis, until it was shipped by train to the military port at Cairnryan, Scotland, and put on old cargo boats which were sunk in the Atlantic. The Decontam Unit was demolished in the 1950s, as were many other buildings on the site.
Having subsequently looked at Google Earth the size and extent of RAF Bowes Moor has now become apparent and would have definitely been worth a look. It dwarfs the small army camp I photographed below where all that is left are two Stanton air-raid shelters, some hutment footings and a few MoWP 'temporary' buildings. On Google Earth you can identify the roads linking the bomb stores and the concrete floors of the bomb stores off Clint Lane. There are smaller stores to the north-east of the road that have all been levelled. To the south-west there are larger stores which Google Earth appears to suggest still have their walls intact, however Streetview indicates these may have now been levelled. Perhaps the fact I wasn't aware of the bomb stores might have been a good thing. MoD investigations as recent as 2007 and 2011 revealed areas of mustard gas contamination!
Anyhow, here are the pictures of the small Army Camp:
img9406 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img9407 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img9408 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img9409 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img9410 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img9411 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img9413 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img9415 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img9416 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Having subsequently looked at Google Earth the size and extent of RAF Bowes Moor has now become apparent and would have definitely been worth a look. It dwarfs the small army camp I photographed below where all that is left are two Stanton air-raid shelters, some hutment footings and a few MoWP 'temporary' buildings. On Google Earth you can identify the roads linking the bomb stores and the concrete floors of the bomb stores off Clint Lane. There are smaller stores to the north-east of the road that have all been levelled. To the south-west there are larger stores which Google Earth appears to suggest still have their walls intact, however Streetview indicates these may have now been levelled. Perhaps the fact I wasn't aware of the bomb stores might have been a good thing. MoD investigations as recent as 2007 and 2011 revealed areas of mustard gas contamination!
Anyhow, here are the pictures of the small Army Camp:
img9406 by HughieDW, on Flickrimg9407 by HughieDW, on Flickrimg9408 by HughieDW, on Flickrimg9409 by HughieDW, on Flickrimg9410 by HughieDW, on Flickrimg9411 by HughieDW, on Flickrimg9413 by HughieDW, on Flickrimg9415 by HughieDW, on Flickrimg9416 by HughieDW, on Flickr
