A HISTORY OF THE PETROLEUM CENTRE  - WEST MOORS

The Petroleum Centre RLC is a 470-acre site on the outskirts of a Dorset Village.  It is the Army's only such establishment responsible for the re-supply of Petroleum products to the Army in Peace, Transition to War and War. In addition, the depot also holds and issues all Royal Air Force oils and lubricants and it is also responsible for many essential support, training and research functions.

Today the depot is barely recognisable from POL Depot Q-328, its original incarnation. In 1939 the land was acquired from the owner of the Gundry Enclosure in order to build an ammunition depot.  In 1943 the site was handed over to the American Forces who began to develop it as an ammunition and petroleum depot. Although the depot was incomplete, it was activated on the 18 Nov 43, with the petroleum function under the command of Lt John T Kimberley. At its peak the depot held 75,000 tons of gasoline in 5 gallon jerricans and lubricants and diesel in 55 gallon drums.  The depot was the sole storage and shipping agency for petroleum products for the Allied invasion of France, when the outload peaked at 1,700 tons per day. The importance of the site made it a prime target for German bombers who used the rail track as a guide to the depot, fortunately only one bomb landed within 50 yards of the depot.  It was noted that during the Second World War the workforce at the depot primarily consisted of black Americans.  After D-Day the depot received a Presidential Unit Citation in recognition of the important role it played in the Allied Victory.

Towards the end of the War the installation at West Moors contained a Prisoner of War camp for displaced persons.  A first hand account of life in this POW camp was provided by Mr Willy Rau. Mr Rau joined the Panzer Grenadiers in 1939 and served on the Eastern Front where he earned the Russian Campaign Medal.  He was also awarded the Wounded Medal and the Iron Cross Grade II for rescuing 2 injured soldiers from their burning tank in Stalingrad.  Whilst fighting on the Eastern Front in 1940 he was captured in Benghazi and as a POW was shipped first to America and then to the POW camp at West Moors in 1945. Mr Rau recollects that there were approximately 200 people held at this site and that security was minimal, with dog patrols but no security fences. Later the security was increased, with more dog patrols, security fences and powerful search lights, however, he suspects this was to protect the petroleum rather than to restrain the prisoners.  The prisoners were accommodated in Nissan huts where Newman's Close now stands and daily work consisted of assisting the Americans with the running of the depot. After the War, Mr Rau married a local girl called Vera in 1947.  He also continued to work on the depot firstly, building roads and Headquarters on the site and later in the laboratory as an assistant. As he began his new life he threw away his Iron Cross as a gesture and in 1982 he was presented with the Imperial Service Medal for his lifetime's work on the depot.

At the end of the war the British took control of the depot as the Americans left West Moors.  Lt John Butler came from 9 Petroleum Depot at Bicester to take command of West Moors in 1946, Q-328 was renamed No 1 Petroleum Reserve Depot RASC and Lt Col L J Blackiston RASC was appointed the first Comdt.  At this time conditions were still very primitive as there were no proper roads or accommodation buildings, therefore, POW Nissan huts were still in use. On 25 Jun 47 Lt Col A Grieve was appointed Comdt.  He began major building work such as proper roads, the HQ building and concrete bases for storage sites.

On 2 May 49, Lt Col J F Waterfield RASC took over the position as Comdt. During his command the Offrs' Long Petroleum Installations Course began in 1949/50. The course was at this time conducted solely in the Laboratory.  Now all Comdts are pi Officers.

In 1958 the Fairfax Complex was opened in the only building now remaining from POL Depot Q-328 in the Second World War.  It took its name from Fairfax Barracks in Farnborough where the Royal Engineers had a petroleum training facility. The Fairfax Complex was, and still is, a training and trials wing for Petroleum handling equipment. One of its earliest and  most memorable projects was the Flame Thrower Fuel Batch Mixer (FTFBM), much of which is captured on film.

In 1962 the depot started building its own purpose-built Laboratory, however, due to financial constraints, it was not completed or operational until l964.  In Feb 1964 the Depot was renamed the Petroleum Organisation United Kingdom.  On the 15 Jul saw the transfer of the petroleum trade to the RAOC, this brought 47 Coy to West Moors. 47 Coy was commanded by Maj John who later became Brig John "late Godfather of the  Petroleum Fraternity".  47 Coy were well travelled; members were active in Aden in 1967 trialling dracones on Exercise Forsdale MEXE and in Norway in 1968 as part of NATO Exercise Polar Express.

On 1 Nov 71 the depot was renamed, yet again, to Petroleum Centre RAOC.  1970 saw
3 newsworthy events, all for the wrong reasons.  In that year the depot football team made the Guinness Book of Records for the whole team being sent off in the shortest time.  Pte A C Thrower stole a fire engine in order to draw attention to his dissatisfaction with his career; and Pte G Stewart, a cook, attempted to set fire to the depot in order to draw attention away from the fact that he had set fire to his own barrack room.

The subject of fire was again to become national headline news, on Fri 27 Aug 76, due to the hot summer weather there were 6 major forest and heathland fires in the West Moors area, which were advancing toward the depot in a U shape. Ministry of Defence, then civilian fire-fighters, were battling to keep the fire away from the bulk storage tanks. At this point, when disaster seemed inevitable, the wind suddenly changed direction away from the storage tanks and no major petroleum fires occurred. The 1976 fire is commemorated by an oil painting by Mr Les Quaintence, the Graphics Officer at that time, which now hangs in the Offrs' Mess.  Although the fire caused no damage to the infrastructure of the depot many improvements were made in the following years. In 1978-79 extensive improvements were made to the Jerrican filling area and also the bulk storage fuel tanks. Concrete bases were constructed upon which the storage tanks could safely stand.  The contractor made full use of the "hover" method of moving bulk storage tanks.  This method involved the construction of a rubber skirt around the base of the tank that was inflated so that the tank could "hover" six inches above the ground and thus could be easily moved.

1988 the Depot was declared a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).  The heathland, typical of the local area, had been largely left undisturbed, thus allowing indigenous flora and fauna, to thrive in their natural habitat. A large variety of water sources provide an important  breeding ground for at least 25 species of dragonfly catalogued so far, several of these are classified as either rare or uncommon as well as 30 species of butterflies, West Moors boasts 190 species of plants, including many rare orchids, such as the Coral Necklace which is the only site in Dorset where it flowers.

The formation of the Royal Logistic Corps (RLC) on the 5 Apr 93 saw the depot change its name to The Petroleum Centre RLC.

The most recent development at West Moors and the work of the Commanding Officer/Chief Instructor, Lt Col P J Taylorson, was the Dorset Fire Brigade's Training Wing, formally opened on the 6 Mar 96.  This project initiated with the change in the fire status of the depot negated the requirement for the Defence Fire Service to be located on site.  This left a serviceable fire station unused, whilst the Dorset Fire Brigade needed to establish its own training facility. By bringing the Dorset Fire Brigade Training Wing to the old site of the Depot DFS, the Dorset taxpayer was spared £2.5 million.  The Dorset Fire Service gained an excellent facility that allows firemen to train on real petroleum fires and in return the Army has its fire training provided courtesy of the Dorset Fire Brigade on their new facilities. Present at the opening ceremony was Earl Howe, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Defence.

The Petroleum Centre RLC is now barely recognisable from its humble beginnings as POL Depot Q-328 in the Second World War.