# Mustard Gas Foward fillng depot. Norfolk. Feb 12 V. Pic heavy.



## Black Shuck (Feb 19, 2012)

The chemical name for mustard gas is dichlorodiethyl sulphide. At normal temperature it is a liquid, rather like diesel oil in appearance with a smell similar to garlic. It was used as a war gas because it is a 'vesicant' which means that contact with the liquid or vapor will cause blisters on the skin similar to third degree burns and if inhaled will cause serious damage to the lungs which will almost inevitable cause death. Its value in conflict was due to the fact that it does not decompose and will remain active in the ground or on materials it has contaminated for many days, in fact months or even years. This makes it completely different from the effects of chlorine or phosgene which, as gasses, are readily dissipated in the atmosphere.

It is comparatively easy to manufacture given a supply of raw materials which are mostly readily available chemicals and there are really only two effective ways of decontaminating; one is by the application of bleaching powder and the other by burning.

There are two types of mustard gas, Runcol (HT) which is produced by the method used by the Germans in WW1 by reacting thiodiglycol (known as 'Syrup' during the war) with hydrochloric acid and Pyro (HS) which is produced by combining ethylene with sulphur dichloride. Runcol was more expensive to manufacture and was not suitable for tropical storage.

Chemical warfare was developed in Germany in 1915 but the allies were quick to respond with their own production and in the later years of WW1 mustard was used by both sides. Although chemical weapons were banned by the Geneva Protocols of the 1920's this did not stop their use by the Japanese in 1931 and the Italians in 1935 and even Churchill supported their deployment. With the coming of WW2 it was decided that the manufacture of chemical weapons should once again be undertaken to act as a deterrent as Germany would almost certainly be producing them. The whole site was connected by a special rail spur to a long abandoned country branch distribution to the Norfolk Airfields.







This what remains of the long defunct Boiler House.











a lovely rusticated valve in the boiler house.






this is the inside of a " Charging Room" where mustard gas bombs were fitted with an explosive charge. The metal beams once had jibs to lift the bombs from the room to the storage area.






resplendent on a cold winters morning.. light filters through the open charge room door






exterior of charging room,.. there was no way I was going up that ladder!! very wobbly!!..






This is one of the two gas decontamination rooms on the site which doubled up as a mess room. Typical RAF decoration.







Huge storage sheds here were used to store empty mustard gas shells before being filled with the gas. Resivoir for outbreak of fire!! Fancy a dip!!..??











Huge rusted air vent on side of Charge room.






Loading depot which was connected to the now defunct railway line.






looking across the whole site in sepia.











Trackebed of railway branch connecting to the FFD.





















connecting spur from the main line to FFD






Remaining sleeper bolts on the trackbed.






Mixing tank for effluent from FFD.






dilapidated guard house.


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## combat (Feb 19, 2012)

Very interesting thread , mustahave spent some time researching this history


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## Black Shuck (Feb 19, 2012)

Quite a bit.... around a month actually.


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## Krypton (Feb 19, 2012)

looks like an interesting little place


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## jonney (Feb 19, 2012)

Nice one again mate there is the remains of a mustard gas store up on the moors not too far from me but all thats left of it is the bases of the sheds


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## Black Shuck (Feb 19, 2012)

Thanks Jonney... it was bloody freezing out there.


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## Derelict-UK (Feb 19, 2012)

That water pool for fires, I personally would not be hanging around to put a fire out at a mustard gas factory lol, I would be making my cowardly excuses and fleeing


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## jonney (Feb 19, 2012)

It was quite nice at RAF Morpeth (again) today for a change, looks like it was worth braving the cold mate


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## Black Shuck (Feb 19, 2012)

Certainly worth it. When you get a day like we did today in February.. you just have to make the best of it and get out there with the Fuji.!!


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## Bunker Bill (Feb 19, 2012)

A good post, thanks


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## Black Shuck (Feb 19, 2012)

Bunker Bill said:


> A good post, thanks



Thanks for that Bill.. glad I could share it with you all.


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## jonney (Feb 19, 2012)

Black Shuck said:


> Certainly worth it. When you get a day like we did today in February.. you just have to make the best of it and get out there with the Fuji.!!




yeah mate my fuji got warmed up today lol


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## Black Shuck (Feb 19, 2012)

jonney said:


> yeah mate my fuji got warmed up today lol



Good I bet... I was expecting you to don the rubber pants and drool suit when you saw this!!


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## Curious Dragon (Feb 19, 2012)

What a crackin' site with a good bit bit of information too. Thank you so much for going out to this one... not such a bad place to visit now but I bet it wasn't a stress-free experience working there at the time!!


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## Black Shuck (Feb 19, 2012)

Curious Dragon said:


> What a crackin' site with a good bit bit of information too. Thank you so much for going out to this one... not such a bad place to visit now but I bet it wasn't a stress-free experience working there at the time!!



Thanks so much CD.... This was a top secret site back in the 40's. We'd have been shot on sight!!!


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## Priority 7 (Feb 19, 2012)

Nice shots Shuck, love the sepia tone ones adds a little more to the report


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## Black Shuck (Feb 19, 2012)

Priority 7 said:


> Nice shots Shuck, love the sepia tone ones adds a little more to the report



Cheers a lot P7.... I just thought t sort of went together well considering the history. Hope to see you next month fella!..


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## jonney (Feb 19, 2012)

Black Shuck said:


> Good I bet... I was expecting you to don the rubber pants and drool suit when you saw this!!



Well I wasn't going to let everyone know about that matey


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## Black Shuck (Feb 19, 2012)

jonney said:


> Well I wasn't going to let everyone know about that matey



PMSL!!! Oops!! You loves a bit 'o ww2 brick fella.


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## jonney (Feb 19, 2012)

Black Shuck said:


> PMSL!!! Oops!! You loves a bit 'o ww2 brick fella.



brick or concrete mate it don't matter as long as it's ww2


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## Black Shuck (Feb 19, 2012)

I know that much. Hope I didn't dissapont!!... more very very soon.


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## RichCooper (Feb 19, 2012)

Interesting stuff mate thx


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## Black Shuck (Feb 19, 2012)

RichCooper said:


> Interesting stuff mate thx



Thanks Rich hope you liked it.


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## RichCooper (Feb 19, 2012)

Certainly did mate Im another WW2 drooler


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## Black Shuck (Feb 19, 2012)

Me too there's just something so special about the buildings from that era. When it's coupled with an old railway line too... I'm straight there .


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## TeeJF (Feb 19, 2012)

Nice one buddy! Persistance? Oh yes...

I remember a lecture when I was in the TA regarding chemical warfare. It told of how a young couple in France went "tristing" and found themselves in an old shell crater somewhere around Albert on the Somme. She contracted severe burns, on her delectable ass, lower back, and the backs of her thighs and her elbows. He got them on his calves, forearms and... er hmmm.... happy sacks.

Why? A tubular projectile (I think if my memory serves me correctly) known as a Stokes mortar bomb, full of mustard had finally rotted away and leached it's contents into the soil of the crater after 75 years.

Hmmm.... made me very wary about getting ouit of the car and shifting another Stokes Delight barring our way in the middle of the track at the back of High Wood the same year!


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## Black Shuck (Feb 19, 2012)

That isn't such an issue here as the whole site was proclaimed chemical free after a detailed survey at the back end of 1995.


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## TeeJF (Feb 19, 2012)

Black Shuck said:


> That isn't such an issue here as the whole site was proclaimed chemical free after a detailed survey at the back end of 1995.



That's good, probably a case of serious top soil removal. Mustard really is a nasty thing. When they built the stadium in Huddersfield it was on the site of a former chemical plant and apparently workmen there got burns. That's scary after such a long time isn't it.


Just an aside but have you heard about the phos shells rising up due to gassing from the deep water dumping ground off the NW coast of Scotland? The buggers get washed up then sit on the beachs fizzing nastily until EOD can remove them! I wouldn't have believed it until I saw footage of a shell on a beach off Ayr.


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## Black Shuck (Feb 19, 2012)

Eeeeeeekk......


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## UrbanX (Feb 19, 2012)

Fantastic report sir. The brick structure in the first shot looks so well built! 
Keep up the good work. Thanks for sharing


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## Black Shuck (Feb 19, 2012)

UrbanX said:


> Fantastic report sir. The brick structure in the first shot looks so well built!
> Keep up the good work. Thanks for sharing



Thanks X.


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## Winch It In (Feb 20, 2012)

Great set pic's as usual and a well-worth bit history to go with it. 
Thanks Black Shuck.


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## Black Shuck (Feb 20, 2012)

Winch It In said:


> Great set pic's as usual and a well-worth bit history to go with it.
> Thanks Black Shuck.



Thanks a lot winch.


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## shadowman (Feb 20, 2012)

Had a look round this place a couple of years ago when the Tank museum moved out.
At the back of the big black shed was a massive Air Compressor in a armoured hut, origional to WW2 facility.
Looking inside the big shed, the amount of filled in holes, pipe ducts,cable runs,and machinery bases, this surley must have been a production facility, not just storage??


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## Black Shuck (Feb 20, 2012)

Yes you're right.... there were three large "pots" at the front of the depot each capable of holding 500 tons of chemical each.


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## urban phantom (Feb 20, 2012)

Wow wot a find verry nice work mate


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## Black Shuck (Feb 20, 2012)

urban phantom said:


> Wow wot a find verry nice work mate



Cheers Urban.... this was completely new to M02W and I.


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## Munchh (Feb 20, 2012)

Black Shuck said:


> Me too there's just something so special about the buildings from that era. When it's coupled with an old railway line too... I'm straight there .



Or a tunnel eh shucky.

Nicely done, looks good mate, more!


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## Curious Dragon (Feb 20, 2012)

TeeJF said:


> She contracted severe burns, on her delectable ass, lower back, and the backs of her thighs and her elbows. He got them on his calves, forearms and... er hmmm.... happy sacks.



I am not sure if I should wince at their pain or forget the seriousness of it all and giggle like a 8 year old!


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## Black Shuck (Feb 20, 2012)

Curious Dragon said:


> I am not sure if I should wince at their pain or forget the seriousness of it all and giggle like a 8 year old!



I wasn't quite sure what to do ether CD!


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## gingrove (Feb 20, 2012)

Great report, there were quite a few of these spread around the country and on RAF camps. I used to work with one of the chaps who did the clearance surveys back in the mid 90s. He said that a lot of the contaminated pipework had been dumped in the pots at the end of the war and buried so he was overseeing the clean up. Thanks for posting


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## Black Shuck (Feb 20, 2012)

gingrove said:


> Great report, there were quite a few of these spread around the country and on RAF camps. I used to work with one of the chaps who did the clearance surveys back in the mid 90s. He said that a lot of the contaminated pipework had been dumped in the pots at the end of the war and buried so he was overseeing the clean up. Thanks for posting



Bloody hell Gingrove!! a tale from someone who has a connection with these places. That's priceless.


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## smiler (Feb 20, 2012)

Well Researched, Well Reported, Well Photographed and Bloody Well Done, I enjoyed it, Many Thanks.


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## Black Shuck (Feb 20, 2012)

Thank you Smiler...... that really means a lot.


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## Black Shuck (Feb 20, 2012)

Me too


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## flyboys90 (Feb 20, 2012)

Its frighting to think what was handled there,great pics & report.


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## Black Shuck (Feb 20, 2012)

Thanks matey.. yes it was very frightening to think what was manufatured here.. BUT.. you have to remind yourself it was the Germans back in 1915 who pioneered the manufacturing and first use of Mustard Gas against our brave boys nearly a century ago.


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## urban phantom (Feb 21, 2012)

Verry nice mate wot a find


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## Black Shuck (Feb 21, 2012)

urban phantom said:


> Verry nice mate wot a find



Cheers Phantom. It was a beautiful day out there, but bloody freezing.


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## Black Shuck (Feb 21, 2012)

Munchh said:


> Or a tunnel eh shucky.
> 
> Nicely done, looks good mate, more!



That may well be up next Muncch!!


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## gingrove (Feb 21, 2012)

The other thing about these depots that not many people know about, is that apart from filling shells and aircraft bombs there were also things called "Bulk Contamination Vehicles" These were a cross between a petrol tanker and a farm slurry sprayer. If the Germans had invaded the BCVs would have been driven along roads that the enemy had to cross, with the pumps running and laid a 30 odd yard wide belt of Mustard gas in front of the advancing Germans, to cause casualties and slow them down. It's probably just as well the Germans never did invade, as faced with belts of contaminated land in front of their troops they may well have responded with Tabun, Soman and Sarin the first of the nerve agents that we knew nothing about at the time and had no protection against. (Black Shuck I hope you don't mind me posting this, I'm not trying to steal your thunder but I thought that people might be interested) Gordon


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## strokesboy21 (Feb 21, 2012)

very good mate wish i was near to this place


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## Black Shuck (Feb 21, 2012)

gingrove said:


> The other thing about these depots that not many people know about, is that apart from filling shells and aircraft bombs there were also things called "Bulk Contamination Vehicles" These were a cross between a petrol tanker and a farm slurry sprayer. If the Germans had invaded the BCVs would have been driven along roads that the enemy had to cross, with the pumps running and laid a 30 odd yard wide belt of Mustard gas in front of the advancing Germans, to cause casualties and slow them down. It's probably just as well the Germans never did invade, as faced with belts of contaminated land in front of their troops they may well have responded with Tabun, Soman and Sarin the first of the nerve agents that we knew nothing about at the time and had no protection against. (Black Shuck I hope you don't mind me posting this, I'm not trying to steal your thunder but I thought that people might be interested) Gordon



Not at all Gingrove, you fill your boots. That's absolutely fascinating. There was some consternation back in WW2 as Churchill was all FOR the use of Mustard Gas as we'd been so seriously punished back with it in 1915 onwards. Not everyone agreed with the use of it apparently as that would have made us as bad as the Germans themselves.


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## Black Shuck (Feb 22, 2012)

strokesboy21 said:


> very good mate wish i was near to this place



Thanks Strokesboy.


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## Walrus75 (Feb 23, 2012)

Good report mate, very interesting and nice to see buildings like this still standing.



Black Shuck said:


> ... There was some consternation back in WW2 as Churchill was all FOR the use of Mustard Gas as we'd been so seriously punished back with it in 1915 onwards. Not everyone agreed with the use of it apparently as that would have made us as bad as the Germans themselves.


Good job we didn't 'cos if had of started using them we'd have got humped big stylee. Post WW2 it was discovered that the Jerries had somewhere in the region of 250,000 tons of nerve gas (Tabun, Sarin) - quite why they didn't use it is anyones guess although there is some suggestion that Hitler thought that it was a rather distasteful method of warfare having been gassed hmself during WW1. The Allies split up the German stock of chemical weapons and we ended up storing 71,000 bombs full of the stuff for about 10 years on what is now Caernarfon Airport in North Wales. In 1955 and 1956 they were all dumped in the Atlantic - 3 ships were loaded up with the ordnance, sailed out into the Atlantic about 200 miles NW of N Ireland and sunk. And there they lie slowly rotting away... hopefully!


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## Black Shuck (Feb 23, 2012)

Walrus75 said:


> Good report mate, very interesting and nice to see buildings like this still standing.
> 
> 
> Good job we didn't 'cos if had of started using them we'd have got humped big stylee. Post WW2 it was discovered that the Jerries had somewhere in the region of 250,000 tons of nerve gas (Tabun, Sarin) - quite why they didn't use it is anyones guess although there is some suggestion that Hitler thought that it was a rather distasteful method of warfare having been gassed hmself during WW1. The Allies split up the German stock of chemical weapons and we ended up storing 71,000 bombs full of the stuff for about 10 years on what is now Caernarfon Airport in North Wales. In 1955 and 1956 they were all dumped in the Atlantic - 3 ships were loaded up with the ordnance, sailed out into the Atlantic about 200 miles NW of N Ireland and sunk. And there they lie slowly rotting away... hopefully!



Thanks for your input Walrus that's most informative.God knows what would've happened if they had decided to use it!


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## ® Andy (Feb 24, 2012)

A thread full of fascinating history! Top stuff .


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## Black Shuck (Feb 25, 2012)

® Andy said:


> A thread full of fascinating history! Top stuff .



Thanks Andy, hope you liked it.


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