# Ashley Walk Bombing Range



## hydealfred

Ashley Walk bombing range was used to test all manner of airborne bombs, rockets and guns during World War Two. The range is located high on a plateau in the heart of the New Forest. The range came into use in 1940 and covered 5000 acres. Ashley Walk was controlled by the Armaments Squadron of the A&AEE located at Boscombe Down. Every type of device designed for airborne delivery was dropped or fired into Ashley Walk between 1940 and 1946. The ordnance ranged from small anti personnel bombs of a few pounds, up to the heaviest bombs of the war. There was a multitude of targets which included wall targets, air to ground, a line target (designed to simulate a railway), a ship target, a submarine pen, fragmentation targets and a range of custom targets. Many target markers were marked by chalk which is alien to the New Forest and had to be imported in. Today where the chalk was used native plants will not grow, hence why the target markers have not become overgrown. 

As well as testing the standard bombs used by the RAF, the 12,000Ib Tallboy, 22,000Ib Grand Slam and the bouncing Upkeep bomb were also dropped at the range. On 13 March 1945 a modified Lancaster bomber dropped the only live Grand Slam Earthquake bomb to be used at Ashley Walk. It penertrated 70 feet and left a crater 130 feet in diameter. The test was a success and the following day a Grand Slam was dropped alongside the Bielfeld Viaduct. The viaduct carried the main railway from Northern Germany to the Ruhr. The resultant explosion brought down seven arches of the viaduct. The main part of the range is littered with bomb craters, many now like small ponds full of water. Throughout the tests bombing accuracy improved. An anecdote from the time goes as follows. Film of an inert bomb approaching a target was required. It was considered that the safest place to put the camera was target centre. This cynical approach cost the Ministry one cine camera after the bomb hit the target centre fair and square. Today the range has returned to a state of peace and quiet and is slowly reverting to nature, although much evidence of the wartime activities remain. The shots were taken in May 2010. 

Aerial View 





Chalk used to mark targets 




Possible Tall Boy crater 




Trenches 




The centre of the X Target 




Target Marker 




Shrapnel 




Shrapnel 




Target centre - The Line Target 




Beneath this mound of earth lies a concrete submarine pen. This was designed to 
simulate those bulit by the Germans on the French Coast. After the war it was found to 
be too difficult to demolish the pen so it was simply buried. 




Concrete edge of submarine pen showing through 




Line target now acting as a footpath 




Observation post 




Internal view of observation post 




What the observers would have seen from the post 




Water filled bomb crater 




Bomb crater with observation post in the background - right 




Main Practice Tower - concrete bases 




Concrete markers near the Main Practice Tower 




Target Markers near the Main Practice Tower




Target Marker 




Further view of possible Tall Boy crater with the submarine pen behind 




This aerial object had come to earth on the range - rather apt !





Thanks for looking.


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## cptpies

Great report Richard, I love the info about the submarine pen, it must be the most bizarre one in the world.


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## hydealfred

cptpies said:


> Great report Richard, I love the info about the submarine pen, it must be the most bizarre one in the world.



Yes you dont really expect to find a German U-Boat Pen in the middle of the New Forest


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## Munchh

Like that a lot. Couple of pool chairs around the Grand Slam crater and we got us a party. 

Can you get into the Sub pen by any chance?


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## hydealfred

Munchh said:


> Like that a lot. Couple of pool chairs around the Grand Slam crater and we got us a party.
> 
> Can you get into the Sub pen by any chance?



OK I'll bring the beer then 

No you cant get in the pen as it is completely buried, which is a great shame. All that is showing are a few bits of the concrete structure. The RAF dropped alot of bombs but never managed to hit it. The Americans with their Sperry S-1 bombsite managed to hit it in May 1943 but without causing hardly any damage to the structure. I dont think any bombs ever penertrated the pen.


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## Munchh

hydealfred said:


> No you cant get in the pen as it is completely buried,....



Yeah a great shame. It's probably empty but I would still've wanted to photograph it anyway. 

By the way, you don't know of anyone who wants to buy an unused shovel do ya?


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## Foxylady

Ooh, excellent find. Great to see something different with such an unusual piece of war history. Good stuff.


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## night crawler

That was a good report about something I doub't many people know about, I certanly did not. That bomb crater was huge and I love to see the submarine pen.


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## hydealfred

Munchh said:


> Yeah a great shame. It's probably empty but I would still've wanted to photograph it anyway.
> 
> By the way, you don't know of anyone who wants to buy an unused shovel do ya?



I'm just pricing up the JCB hire


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## borntobemild

fascinating stuff. thanks


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## strangechap

Hey, that's a great review. Good job!

I've spent a lot of time on those particular ranges.

Did you find the ship target or the illuminated target? There is quite a lot left of those. The ship target is a massive concrete base with bolts sticking out and the illuminated target is a circle of concrete boxes with bits of conduit.

There is a really great book called 'Ashley Walk: Its Bombing Range, Landscape and History' which I have. It's an incredibly interesting read and has maps and aerial photos.

I'm afraid I have to disagree with you on one of your points though. According to the book, the grand slam crater is on the Pitts Wood side of the uboat pens. I don't think the crater you have there is the grand slam one. Sure, it's big, but there are a couple of craters of a similar size. You can't see the real crater anymore, its filled in and overgrown. I originally thought that was it, but on closer examination, I'm fairly sure its not. (sorry) I was talking to one of the rangers last week who is a local historian as he confirmed what I'd worked out. The grand slam crater is to the north east of the pens. If you look on google earth, follow the straight target line to the pens, carry that on over the pens, then just before you reach the path, you can see a darker area of vegetation. I believe it is there.


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## cardiffrail

Different and interesting report there. Thanks. I have a mate in Southampton who is into wartime history, I will have to go on a trip there sometime.


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## hydealfred

strangechap said:


> Hey, that's a great review. Good job!
> 
> I've spent a lot of time on those particular ranges.
> 
> Did you find the ship target or the illuminated target? There is quite a lot left of those. The ship target is a massive concrete base with bolts sticking out and the illuminated target is a circle of concrete boxes with bits of conduit.
> 
> There is a really great book called 'Ashley Walk: Its Bombing Range, Landscape and History' which I have. It's an incredibly interesting read and has maps and aerial photos.
> 
> I'm afraid I have to disagree with you on one of your points though. According to the book, the grand slam crater is on the Pitts Wood side of the uboat pens. I don't think the crater you have there is the grand slam one. Sure, it's big, but there are a couple of craters of a similar size. You can't see the real crater anymore, its filled in and overgrown. I originally thought that was it, but on closer examination, I'm fairly sure its not. (sorry) I was talking to one of the rangers last week who is a local historian as he confirmed what I'd worked out. The grand slam crater is to the north east of the pens. If you look on google earth, follow the straight target line to the pens, carry that on over the pens, then just before you reach the path, you can see a darker area of vegetation. I believe it is there.



I concur with what you say about the GS crater and have amended the report to reflect this. I have the book you mention and there does appear to be a larger crater on Page 10 than the one I show. I can only conclude the shot I have is of a Tallboy bomb crater as I doubt there would not be much else that would make such a hole. I have noted other reports on the net that now appear to be incorrect with regards to the position of the GS crater.


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## strangechap

I was gutted when I realised that wasn't the 'right' crater. I was convinced it was. The second time I went back I searched high and low further north of the sub pens and was disappointed that I couldn't see anything more definite.

I wonder how many Tallboys they dropped? Can't have been many as they were quite a bomb!

Glad you have the book. I found it a ripping read and used the maps a lot when I explored up there.

FYI the ranger I spoke of is doing a tour of the ranges in October. I went on his 'Stoney Cross' airfield tour a couple of weeks back around Ocknell Plain and it was incredibly interesting. Being local, he has access to people living in the area so his tours are laced with local anecdotes which add a bit more flavour. If you go to the Forestry Commission website, you can call them and book. I can't see the Ashley Walk tour listed, but I'm sure if you called them they would know about it.

http://www.newforestnpa.gov.uk/visiting/tours_and_trails.htm

Tim


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## smiffy

A really great report, really good...gotta be on eof the most interesting I've seen on here for months....many thanks.!


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## Walrus75

hydealfred said:


> Yes you dont really expect to find a German U-Boat Pen in the middle of the New Forest


Much the same as you wouldn't expect to find an Atlantic Wall in the middle of a scottish moor. 

Nice report, very interesting.
There's a hell of a lot of bomb craters scattered across the whole area.

I just noticed something whilst I was having a closer look on GE...






The bombing target (No2 target Wall) has got 6 rings around it so that it looks like an archery target (kind of!): http://www.flashearth.com/?lat=50.939734&lon=-1.709128&z=16.5&r=0&src=msl Was the vegetation in that area completely removed to provide a 'bulls-eye' to aim at I wonder? There doesnt appear to be many craters within it though.

And my eye was drawn to this too --> http://www.flashearth.com/?lat=50.929893&lon=-1.720441&z=18.6&r=0&src=msl


Found this site which adds some meat to the bones (explained what the 'Wall Targets' were) --> http://www.atlantikwall.co.uk/atlantikwall/awall_use/ashleywalk01/html/page01.htm
And the end sequence on this bit of film shows what must have been happening on Ashley Walk range with the Highball version of the bouncing bombs (hopefully without the crashing bit!) --> http://www.yapfiles.ru/show/18047/fd4e3f9eae506d041c95ad15ebb31e96.flv.html


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## and7barton

I just wonder how deep that big crater is today.....after so long.
The blurb says it was 70 feet deep when fresh. After 60 plus years, how much would it have reduced in depth ?


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## hydealfred

Walrus75 said:


> Much the same as you wouldn't expect to find an Atlantic Wall in the middle of a scottish moor.
> 
> Nice report, very interesting.
> There's a hell of a lot of bomb craters scattered across the whole area.
> 
> I just noticed something whilst I was having a closer look on GE...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The bombing target (No2 target Wall) has got 6 rings around it so that it looks like an archery target (kind of!): http://www.flashearth.com/?lat=50.939734&lon=-1.709128&z=16.5&r=0&src=msl Was the vegetation in that area completely removed to provide a 'bulls-eye' to aim at I wonder? There doesnt appear to be many craters within it though.
> 
> And my eye was drawn to this too --> http://www.flashearth.com/?lat=50.929893&lon=-1.720441&z=18.6&r=0&src=msl
> 
> 
> Found this site which adds some meat to the bones (explained what the 'Wall Targets' were) --> http://www.atlantikwall.co.uk/atlantikwall/awall_use/ashleywalk01/html/page01.htm
> And the end sequence on this bit of film shows what must have been happening on Ashley Walk range with the Highball version of the bouncing bombs (hopefully without the crashing bit!) --> http://www.yapfiles.ru/show/18047/fd4e3f9eae506d041c95ad15ebb31e96.flv.html



The No2 target wall was surrounded by concrete which was removed in 1991, I think this accounts for the lack of cratering within the target wall area. I'm not sure what the circles surrounding the wall were for. There was a lodge in the general area of the Flashearth view although I cant be sure that what is shown is this lodge. Some good video clips on the link. I think if I had been the pilot dropping these bouncing bombs I would have been hauling back very quickly on that control column to gain alot of height fast


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## Walrus75

hydealfred said:


> The No2 target wall was surrounded by concrete which was removed in 1991, I think this accounts for the lack of cratering within the target wall area....


As recently as that, blimey! Interesting to note that No3 Target Wall was too solid to demolish so all they did was undermine the foundations, topple it over and bury it; a bit like brushing dust under a rug 




strangechap said:


> Did you find the ship target or the illuminated target? There is quite a lot left of those. The ship target is a massive concrete base with bolts sticking out and the illuminated target is a circle of concrete boxes with bits of conduit.



Any chance of a Flash Earth link for the location of these two please? They sound rather interesting.


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## strangechap

*Illuminated Target and Ship Target*

Here are my pics of the targets...

Light Box:





Part of the circle of lights. There are some parts of conduit exiting the boxes in places. The generator was half a mile away on a hill.





Ship target...

















The Flash earth linky for the Illuminated Target is:

http://www.flashearth.com/?lat=50.914197&lon=-1.729728&z=16.4&r=0&src=msl

I need to check on my GPS track for the location of the ship target, but haven't had a chance yet.


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## sheep21

Really well explained report of such an important site. A pity the U-Boat pen is burried but thats life I guess. Thanks.







Quite a mess a tallboy makes, eh?


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