US Army Dump Dig-NEW DATE!

[Paul B]

A bit of historical background for the site....

From the location it would appear to be the tip for the Honeybourne Depot, which housed a number of US Army depots during WWII.

The primary site was General Depot G-24, which as the title suggests held all types of stores for distribution to smaller dedicated Ordnance and Supply depots around the UK.
Alongside G-24 was Medical Depot M-104M, one of the first US Army depots to open in the UK, which was in operation from 18th March 1942 to 25th March 1945.
Medical supplies continued to be held on site, and after VE Day much of the US Army ETO medical stock was concentrated at Honeybourne, so much so that G-24 was converted into a dedicated medical supply depot and retitled Medical Depot M-424 on the 27th June 1945.

It was also home to two Army Post Office units. APO 135 between the 12th January 1944 and the 3rd August 1944 when it moved to Le Mesnil Vicot in France, and APO 124 between 19th May 1944 and 19th October 1944 when it moved to Mens in Belgium.

By 1946 the depot had been returned to British control, and it would appear that the medical supplies were also handed over at the same time. An entry in Hansard gives an insight into this:

Honeybourne Depot (Stores Disposal)
House of Commons Debate 03 November 1947
Ministry of Supply

Mr. De la Bère asked the Minister of Supply what steps the Government are taking to safeguard the substantial amount of Crown property which is lying at or near Honeybourne, near Evesham, Worcestershire, in view of the numerous losses which occurred during 1946–47; and whether, as much of this is urgently needed by the public, steps will be taken to sell and distribute it without further delay.

Mr. J. Freeman:
Security arrangements at this depot are the responsibility of my right hon. friend the Secretary of State for War who informs me that it is very difficult to guard as it covers 345 acres and the perimeter fence is 4½ miles long. The guard consists of 48 soldiers and 5 night watchmen.
We are already disposing of the stores, most of which are medical supplies and instruments. More than half of them have already been transferred to the Ministry of Health or sold to universities and research institutes and we hope to clear the depot completely early in 1948.

All the best,
PB

[jimpy]

hi,can you give the postcode again as i just typed the one given into AA routefinder & it says its not a valid postcode????
thanks,
Al

Ive got the same problem Allan

[Paul B]

The Royal Mail postcode index suggests you try WR11 8TP.

All the best,
PB

[bikerboyzx6r]

The Royal Mail postcode index suggests you try WR11 8TP.

All the best,
PB

Beat me to it! Yep 8TP

[jimpy]

Thanks guys

[ALLAN PRICE]

aha!cheers guys!

[mike35uk17]

Cant wait!
Really good of you Tim to offer this out to all of us...

[martynv4]

Good luck with the dig guys!

[Zeller]

Wish i lived closer !
Since I dug more than one US dump, I thought to share some advices with you guys: first, you can leave your detectors home if you know where the dump is. Then you'll just need shovels, bowls to remove the soil and smaller digging tools. Also a coverall will help because you'll get dirty! Americans used to burn their dumps so you have to dig deep to find items not melted or burned.
We usually work as a team: one digs, the other one remove the soil and check carefully before dumping it aside. So you can be sure not to miss a small insignia or similar. Good luck !

[shadowwolf]

Zeller, cheers for the advice. No metal detectors needed. Most stuff was burnt. Yes we got dirty
Regards, Simon.