The Fauld Explosion 1944
- Tutbury Remembers
The Fauld Explosion – “the day the dump went up”
The Fauld Explosion (known locally as “the day the dump went up”) occurred at 11:13 am on Monday, 27 November 1944 at the RAF No. 21 Maintenance Unit (21 MU) underground munition storage depot at Fauld, Staffordshire, England.
In an instant, it killed 70 people from Tutbury, Hanbury, Hatton and the surrounding area!
The official report said that of the 70 who were killed:
- 57 were civilians
- 7 were RAF
- 6 Italian Co-operators
18 people were never found
The Tutbury men who were buried in the Churchyard at St. Mary’s Priory Church, Tutbury, are listed at the bottom of this page – unfortunately of the eleven listed in the Bural Register, only seven headstones can now be found.
There is a 2 page (PDF) leaflet available for anyone who wants an overview of what happened – click here to view
For those who wish to know more there are two excellent books available:
The best book about how the explosion happened and the technical issues surrounding the explosion (and other similar ammunition stores) is:
The Fauld Disaster – 27 November 1944: (4.7/5 on Amazon) by Nick McCamley – this is the definitive history of the RAF’s ill-fated excursion into underground storage during the Second World War, culminating in the disaster at Fauld.
An excellent book from the human perspective using information from the families involved is:
Voices from the Explosion: RAF Fauld: (4.5/5 on Amazon) by Valerie Hardy (updated for the 75th anniversary in 2019) includes witness statements from the Court of Inquiry in 1944 and documents declassified in 1974
- Fauld Unfolded: Britain’s Unclear Disaster by Tom Geralds
- After the Dump went up: The Untold Story – Fauld by Mark Rowe
- RAF Fauld Explosion by Ronald Cohn, Jesse Russell
- The Trees Were Burning – The 1944 Fauld Explosion and Other RAF Stories by Mark Rowe
- Tutbury local history website: https://www.helenlee.co.uk/tutbury/fauld.html
- History of the mines: https://www.healeyhero.co.uk/…/indivi…/Fauld-Family.html
- Newspapers: https://blog.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/…/the-fauld…/and other papers (requires membership)
| Name in Burial Register | Age | Tutbury Memorial Survey (TMS) Location | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buried on 2nd December 1944 | |||
| George H POWELL | 7 Church Street | 57 | Buried at Tutbury. No memorial found. |
| Henry SHEPHARD, (Shepherd on headstone) | 15 Burton Street | 73 | Buried at Tutbury. No memorial found |
| Laurence George COKAYNE | 11 Church Street | 50 | C-14-A Vert/Flat/Kerb/White (On wife’s gravestone) |
| George SMITH | 16 Park Lane | 61 | A4-68-F Vert/Flat/Kerb/Grey |
| Ambrose PATTERSON | 96 Green Lane | 40 | Not in TMS |
| Samuel PICKERING | 44 Monk Street | 36 | A4-69-G Vert/Scroll/Kerb/White |
| Buried on 6th December 1944 | |||
| George PRIESTLEY | 13 Park Lane, | 61 | A4-68-E Kerb/Grey |
| Buried on 21st December 1944 | |||
| Joseph BELL, | 32 Burton Street | 39 | Buried at Tutbury. No memorial found. |
| Buried on 9th January 1945 | |||
| Edward WOOLLEY (Christian name also given as Edman) | 3 Cornmill Lane, | 59 | A4-68-B Kerb/White |
| Buried on 13th January 1945 | |||
| William Henry SHEPHARD, | 15 Burton Street | 39 | A4-67-G Vert/Invert V/Kerb/Grey |
| Buried on 6th February 1945 | |||
| William GENT | 8 Monk Street | 43 | A4-66-G Vert/Flat/Kerb/Grey |