Older Newbury locals will be aware that this market town suffered its share of punishment by the Luftwaffe during the Second World War. A tragic incident occurred one afternoon on 10 February 1943 when a rogue German bomber dropped eight high-explosives and terrorized the streets of Newbury with turret gunfire. This sudden and devastating attack claimed fifteen lives, including three schoolchildren. It also destroyed St. John’s Church, St. Bartholomew’s almshouses, and the Senior County School.
Yet, few people are aware that Newbury’s neighbouring town of Thatcham also became heavily targeted. This smaller town was bombed even worse than Newbury during the summer of 1940.
The first bombardment of Thatcham commenced in July 1940, but the worst was yet to come. At night on 16 August 1940, enemy raiders unleashed two high-explosive bombs fifty yards south of Thatcham House, close to where the Burdwood Centre is today. Lieutenant Colonel Vernon Watkins Urquhart happened to be standing in his front garden. One of the bombs struck the vicinity and a piece of shrapnel pierced his chest, killing him instantly. He was on leave at the time. The blast also inflicted considerable damage to his house. His wife was resting inside but was thankfully unharmed.
Why did these attacks happen? The reason for this is as follows.
The United States Army requisitioned the royally acclaimed Newbury Racecourse from the British Military in August 1942. This then became the G45 Ordnance Depot, one of the largest supply dumps in the United Kingdom. The ‘G’ designation stood for ‘general’ because, in addition to storing military supplies, this site held scores of foodstuffs, clothing, cigarettes, furniture, medical equipment, gasoline, and building materials. Thirty-seven miles of railway track was laid across the course to connect it with its sister site at Thatcham.
The Thatcham branch of the depot stood west of Thatcham Railway Station and stretched to where the Nature Discovery Centre is today. Lt. Urquhart served as its Commanding Officer until his untimely death. Collectively, both sites comprised almost nine million square feet of open and closed storage space and serviced up to 125,000 troops per day during the summer of 1944. Both depots performed a vital role in supplying petrol for the Allied invasions of North Africa and Normandy. Together with the RAF-USAAF airbase located at Greenham Common, these sites formed a concentrated military presence in West Berkshire. This did not go unnoticed by the Nazis.
By Spring 1949, ownership of Newbury Racecourse had (finally) been transferred back to the Racing Authorities. All military surplus was sold at auction. Hundreds of yards of concrete and metal had to be bulldozed and the damaged grounds re-turfed. RAF Greenham Common remained in service for many decades, playing an active role during the Cold War until its eventual closure in September 1992.
