World Wars : local involvement

[tom83]

Hi all.

I would just like to say hi, and compliment your excellent site.

I have a huge interest in the World Wars, and local involvement in them. Burtonwood Air Base, Vulcan Works and various sites in the Area.

I have visited and photographed a few areas, such as the Airbase's at Burtonwood and Appleton ( Also known as Stretton), Croft Military Training Camp, and Risley Ordinance Factory (now Forest Park, Birchwood).

I was wondering if anyone could recomend any other sites in the area, which can be visited and photographed? Even a bunker which I dont know about would be great.

Also, my mum has told me about a Rifle Range behind Collins Green, situated next to Broad Lane Land Fill, does anyone else know about this site? There was a Pill Box just off Broad Lane also.

Anyway, any information would be a great help

Many thanks
Tom

[Steven]

Hi Tom

As far as I know, all the pill box'a in the Newton and Burtonwood areas have been removed, dug up years ago, untill recently there was one still at the back of the concrete hangers at the Burtonwood airbase, but I think thats now been dug up, my father would probably know all about the locations of pill box's in the Burtonwood area. So I will ask him about that.

There are one or two threads on here that refer to army barracks locally, and a few POW camps, located at Haydock, Haydock Park and Burtonwood, I think the largest WWII defence in the area was probably the hill and Anti Aircraft site at the back of the houses at the Vulcan works.



A good number of the air raid shelters in this area, large 100+ person public ones and smaller single family anderson shelters were dug by the boys from Red Bank Reformatory School.



These lads also dug and filled hundreds of thousands of Sandbags for use around the local area.



Considering how many bombs were dropped on the local cities, liverpool, manchester etc, Newton was lucky to have very few bombs dropped onto it, especially with the Vulcan making trains and tanks.

In most cases the bombs that were dropped locally landed and exploded in fields, killing only a few hedgerows, but there were a few fatalities due to Bombing, in Ivy Avenue and Wargrave Road.





There were four people killed at the above bombsites, at 179 Wargrave Road, John Riley (47) his wife Nellie (41) and their daughter Kathleen (16), and John Thompson aged 36 died at 1 Ivy Avenue.

Steven Dowd

[DaveT]

strange how i've never seen that wargrave road picture ste - being quite aware of the events I mean. my nan remembers them bringing out the aforementioned occupants after the bombing

[tom83]

Thanks very much for the information about the defence's behind Vulcan, I shall look into that. The only Pill Box I have found in the area, is near to the Police Station In Birchwood, that stands complete. It was used at the Amunition Factory which stood on Forest Park, Birchwood, where there are 4 of the origional Underground Bunkers still exist and are visable if you know where to look.

I will look into the Haydock Camps also

Thanks very much for the information

[Steven]

There is also the Amunition Factory just up the east lancs from newton


Click here to view

Steven Dowd

[jbmack]

Wasnt Highfield moss at Lowton used for training at some time, I remember finding rifle bullet cases there.

jbmack

[mwheatley]

It was but it was well before the 1st and 2nd world war originally, there is information in the Newton and Makerfield Volunteers article about shooting butts and the reason they were relocated at Highfield Moss:

''One summer evening the 49th were practising at the Golborne butts, and a stray shot found its way over the top of the mound into the sand-field on the south of the Lowton road, striking one of the spokes in the wheel of a cart that was being filled with sand. Captain Birley-who dearly loved a joke-set the tale a-going that his lieutenant, Julius Caesar John Baile, had fired the shot that struck the cart, and poor Bailey had to endure a good deal of chaff in consequence. A few evenings after this occurrence, as Sergeant Dolan and others were going there to practise, the carter accosted them thus: ‘’Are yo chaps gooin’ a-shootin’ to-neet?’’ Yes. ‘’Well, as soon as yore flag goos up, my spade goos deawn! Aw’m clearin’ eawt!’’He was not going to run the risk of being shot''

The butts where then moved to Highfield Moss were a range of 600 yards was obtained. Not sure the exact date this happened but they were disbanded by 1908 so your shell casings could of possibly been older?

[ruzz69]

There is also a huge WW2 ammunition storage depot just off the Rainford Bypass which you can see on Google Earth. They also stored and mended tank convoys there and on the Rainford Bypass during the war.

[jbmack]

Also HMS Ariel Culceth.

[bob]

If you go in the back lanes of Croft, there is a war time pillbox set back of the road, and again there is one on Plank lane near the back off Pennington Flash, i have got pics of these somewhere, and whn i get my PC back on form i shall post them.
bob

[tom83]

If you go in the back lanes of Croft, there is a war time pillbox set back of the road, and again there is one on Plank lane near the back off Pennington Flash, i have got pics of these somewhere, and whn i get my PC back on form i shall post them.
bob

Hi Bob,
thanks for that info, I know of the Pillbox on Plank Lane, but I have no idea where the one in Croft is, do you have directions, or a road name I can use to locate it. Is it near the Croft Army Training camp???

Thanks

Tom

[bob]

Hi,
the pillbox in croft, well i was passing it the other day so i thought i would take a snap, i do not know why i bother! i have a motorola box brownie,
here is the snap i took, and i link in msn live, there was another one close by but it seems to have been knocked down recently,


http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&F ... &encType=1

bob

[bob]

Bunkers,

where there are 4 of the original Underground Bunkers still exist and are visible if you know where to look.

i knew i had a pictures of these somewhere, i was working on the site when the bunkers where opened, i recall seeing what looked like a small jeep half covered in water, but it may have been this trolley in the picture,


bob

[tom83]

Thanks for that Bob, I'll did my camera out and go and find it. Luckily I know Dam Lane well, and its not far from the Gosling Camps.

Thanks again

[Oldbiker]

Whilst on this subject perhaps two rather interesting air raid shelters might be recalled by some folks. They were both underground and similar in design. One was in the park area between Heather Brae and Haydock St----to the right of the footpath if one approached from Heather Brae. It consisted of a concrete ramp down to double doors, made of metal and painted green I think. These opened onto a corridor into which one could turn right or left. These opened into small cells. After about 5 yards they doubled back with more cells. At the end was an iron rung ladder leading up to the ground and capped by a grill. I recall playing in this one as a boy in the 1940s after the war. We always turned left as the grill on the right side was rusted solid. It was a dark wet place but fascinating for us lads. There was a similar shelter in St John's Park in the corner next to Crown St and St John's St. I remember these being filled in during the middle 1950s. If the concrete wasn't broken up it might be possible to excavate one of them and preserve it as part of the town's history to compliment the one at brick built one still standing at Newton which has already featured in this forum. Then again it would probably attract the wrong elements.