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Oil Storage Depot at Poole

• Message 1. 

  Posted by Tim of Acleah (U1736633) on Saturday, 30th October 2010

  During WW2 two protected oil storage depots were built at Poole in Dorset, one was for lubricating oil and the other for white oils. During WW2 one of the protected white oil tanks (4,000 tons( was hit by a bomb and destroyed. I have what I believe is a picture of the destroyed tank but no details of when and what exactly happened other than possibly the tank did not catch fire.
  
  Does anyone have any details or more generally of the bombing of Poole during the war?
  
  thanks
  
  Tim
  

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• Message 2

  , in reply to message 1.

  Posted by Triceratops (U3420301) on Sunday, 31st October 2010

  Tim,
  
  I haven't found anything on the oil storage tanks.The only thing I can suggest is to contact the local history site;
  
  
  As to the general bombing in Poole, there are about 70 names on Pooles' civilian Roll of Honour.The largest single incident being a bomb which fell on the canteen of the Bourne Valley Gas Works.[the Luftwaffe target was the Branscombe Viaduct]
  
  Re your book,there is mention of the destruction of 3 Anglo-American Oil Company tanks at Avonmouth near Bristol in early April 1941 on this site about halfway down
  
  

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• Message 3

  , in reply to message 2.

  Posted by Tim of Acleah (U1736633) on Sunday, 31st October 2010

  Triceratops
  
  thanks for the contacts. I will contact the Poole history site to see if they have any information. I have a 1960s Ministry of Power description of the two sites which may be of interest to them. It is notable how little the general public were aware of such sites - I have relatives who have lived in Poole all their lives but were unaware of them.
  
  Thanks also for the links to the bombing of the Bristol area. The tanks would have been above ground ones. There were a lot in the Avonmouth area, there was a huge fire there in 1951, and also above ground tanks at nearby Chittening (Chittening ones ahve since been demolished). I am currently writing about the protected storage sites built in the Bristol area and so the information will come in very useful.
  
  regards
  
  Tim
  

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• Message 4

  , in reply to message 3.

  Posted by Tim of Acleah (U1736633) on Tuesday, 23rd November 2010

  Triceratops
  
  I have had no response from Poole but have found an account of the bombing of the depot in 'The RAF builds for war - A history of design and construction in the RAF 1935 - 1945
  
  Tim

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• Message 5

  , in reply to message 1.

  Posted by bandick (U14360315) on Wednesday, 24th November 2010

  Hi Tim… I have just recently moved from Poole where as a kid I spent time playing on the old flying boats dragged up on the Hamworthy beach for scrapping… as you may imagine, what fun that was. It’s now the royal marine’s base… but there’s a rickerty old wooden construction, known as the oiling jetty in a small car park almost adjacent. It’s hard to find, unless you know it’s there, and that’s the way we liked it as its only small and the only place where you could park next to the water and not have to pay… on the way down to the jetty there’s remains of wartime bunkering facilities within an area that we were always told was too dangerous to enter… there’s a couple of deep freshwater lakes where the marines were said to train… most people swim there now, and the fishing’s quite good too… some say the jetty was for fuelling the flying boats… I’m not really that sure, others say it was for loading clay onto barges…
  
  For such recent history much seems to have been overlooked or forgotten. And what with the laid back manner of the local inhabitants, it really is no wonder.
  
  Sorry you haven’t heard back from the Poole contact, but somehow it doesn’t surprise me… what other sites have you tried… I mean there was quite a military presence there… give www.pooleflyingboats.com a try… I’d be happy to help a bit but don’t know how to post any info.
  
  regards bandick

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• Message 6

  , in reply to message 4.

  Posted by Triceratops (U3420301) on Sunday, 28th November 2010

  Tim,
  
  Disappointing that Poole have not replied,however the important thing is that you've got the information.
  
  Best of luck with your book,it is not a subject I can recall ever seeing a book about.
  
  Trike.

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• Message 7

  , in reply to message 6.

  Posted by Tim of Acleah (U1736633) on Thursday, 2nd December 2010

  Trike
  
  thank you for reply. If you are at all interested in reading more about this, I agree, unusual subject, then you can find the first two chapters posted on a site jigluhood world history (mode). You will have to join the site to be able to read it. It has a search mechanism so is fairly easy to find the chapters.
  
  regards
  
  Tim
  

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• Message 8

  , in reply to message 5.

  Posted by Tim of Acleah (U1736633) on Thursday, 2nd December 2010

  Hi Bandick
  
  thanks for your post and the information about the jetty. Below is part of my book concerned with describing the two depots at Poole.
  
  'Two of the smaller ports that had new storage depots built close to them were Poole in Dorset and Preston in Lancashire. Poole had two storage sites constructed, one for white oils and one for lubricating oils. Site 1, which had four 4,000 ton tanks for white oils, was located on high ground to the west of Poole Harbour while Site 2 had three l lubricating oil tanks with a total capacity of around 2,000 tons. The whole facility was designed for receiving by sea or rail and delivery by sea, rail and road.
  
  
  The storage tanks for Site 1 were camouflaged by being planted with gorse and conifers. As one of the tanks was later to be destroyed by enemy action, the camouflage was not completely successful. However, given the level of bombing on Poole during the war, the hit may have been entirely fortuitous. The concrete pumphouse was also protected by being built underground and covered over with earth. An 8 inch white oil and a 10 inch lubricating oil pipeline ran from Site 1 to a small jetty about 150 feet long with berthing dolphins at the end of the jetty. Poole harbour is an extremely large natural harbour but also very shallow and this limited the maximum size of tanker that could berth there to only 500 tons. As a result eight tankers would be needed to fill just one white oil tank.
  
  Two 6 inch white oil pipelines and one 10 inch lubricating oil pipeline ran between Site 1 and Site 2 which was located about half a mile away. In 1942 a Royal Marine Commando Depot was built with Site 2 included within the compound and overlooking the depot. Site 2 was equipped with pump houses for both white oils and lubricating oils and a rail gantry for both receiving and loading white and lubricating oils. There was also a small road gantry on Site 2 but the main road gantry with six loading points was located on Site 1. '
  
  
  There were large numbers of such depots built all around the country with very few people aware of them. I had cousins leaving in Poole from the bid 50s onwords who had no idea about these storage depots. I am including details of all the sites that formed part of the system in an appendix, where I am able to identify them, but my main interest in the Poole site was due to it being one of the only two semi-buried tanks to be destroyed as a result of enemy action.
  
  
  I am writing this book because I consider it importnat that a system that played such an important part during the war should not be forgotten.
  
  regards
  
  Tim
  

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• Message 9

  , in reply to message 8.

  Posted by bandick (U14360315) on Thursday, 2nd December 2010

  
  Searching through old maps etc at the mo… and contacting a few old friends… I’ll post again later.
  
  bandick...
  
  ps how well do you know the area...?

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• Message 10

  , in reply to message 7.

  Posted by Triceratops (U3420301) on Sunday, 5th December 2010

  Tim,
  
  I've taken a quick look on jiglu,that is a lot of research you've carried out.Very interesting so far.
  
  Can I make one suggestion? I couldn't see any mention of the fuel itself,thinking particularly of the change fron 87% octane to 100% octane in 1940. From memory, I think the first shipments came from the refinery at Baton Rouge ,and I've a vague recollection of Adolf Galland mentioning in his autobiography that this, plus the introduction of the three blade Rotol propeller improved the Hurricanes' performance by 25% over the Hurricanes he had fought during the Battle of France.
  
  Dug about on the net and found this which might be of use as it contains some info on fuel stocks and usage.
  
  Trike.
  
  
  
  

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• Message 11

  , in reply to message 10.

  Posted by Triceratops (U3420301) on Sunday, 5th December 2010

  From memory, I think the first shipments came from the refinery at Baton Rouge 
  
  Aruba............... should have read the link.

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• Message 12

  , in reply to message 9.

  Posted by Tim of Acleah (U1736633) on Sunday, 12th December 2010

  Hi Bandick
  
  When I was a kid in the late 50s and early 60s we used to stay with an aunt in Parkstone Poole for our summer holidays but have hardly been to Poole since so cannot say that I jnow the area. Storage depots usch as this one were often left off maps deliberately. Later it was decided they could be shown but would only then appear when the map was updated. There is a depot, no longer operational in the Wirral where on the electronic 1:1250 map the site appears but on the adjacent map, which has not been updated it does not. This resulted in athere being only part of a main storage tank shown.
  
  regards
  
  Tim
  

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• Message 13

  , in reply to message 10.

  Posted by Tim of Acleah (U1736633) on Sunday, 12th December 2010

  Trike
  
  on the 100 octane fuel. I am aware of the importance of it and the official history, which is probably my most important sourse, has quite a bit about it. However, I must admit that I did not include anything about it. I would agree with your comment that it really should be mentioned and will go back and revisit it. I can remember reading how German pilots were shocked by the improved performance of the Spitfire compared to when they encountered them over Dunkirk.
  
  At the moment, when I get a chance to write, I am busy finishing off the third chapter which covers the building of the first pipelines in England but not PLUTO which will form a separate chapter. I also need to update the second chapter with the comments on it that I have received so far.
  
  Thanks for your comments and your suggestions on 100 octane.
  
  regards
  
  Tim
  
  
  

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