Bomb storage and preparation
North of the main airfield at RAF Beaulieu is Hawkhill Inclosure. Hidden in these woods were the bomb storage and the bomb preparation areas. Bombs would be taken from the storage bunkers on trolleys. Fuses, fittings and tail sections were installed with all the safety pins put in place prior to taking them via trolley to the main airfield and loading onto the planes.
The roadways where these trollies once travelled are still very visible. The platform like brick wall structures are the preparation areas and these were divided by earthen banks, some of which still survive today.
An interpretation panel has been installed at the location now which can be seen by those using the cycle network. You can see it here
For further reading and articles on Beaulieu Airfield please visit: Beaulieu Airfield Overview
I was stationed at RAF Calshot in 1956 as a Boat Builder. My first detail was when 10 of us were issued with cycles,truncheons and torches. There was a row of huts under the trees facing the road Full of valuable equipment from the war years for us to defend!!
The securing rings below the loading platform were known as trammelling rings, used in the unloading of bombs from delivery lorries. Ropes tied to them would be looped around the bombs before being offloaded and ‘trammelled’ down the slope of the platform ready for fusing and attachment of fins. Tractor towed bomb trolleys would then take the completed bombs out to the aircraft to be loaded.