Nikita Khrushchev blew my house up: Recollections of the Bedenham ammunition explosion (July 14, 1950)

Recently I took a walk on the waterfront at Wicor, Portchester where, according to my father, the Soviet Union had sabotaged a barge unloading ammunition at Bedenham Pier - on the opposite side of the bay. It's an interesting spot with various wrecked and beached boats lying on the foreshore. The picture below shows a Second World War era concrete barge with the Portsmouth skyline behind (Spinnaker Tower on the right. 

My father tells the story: "We were living in Wicor at the time. Mum and I were at home and we heard these popping noises. After awhile we were warned to stay inside and away from windows. The popping increased and soon I saw saucer shaped holes appearing in the garden. They were 16 inch unfused shells landing all around us".

"The house was very badly damaged. Only one room was habitable and I remember my father coming home on the bus from his workplace in Napier Road, Southsea half expecting to find total devastation. He was relieved to find us safe".

"In the morning I took our dog down to the beach for a walk. The foreshore was covered with bits of wood from the destroyed barges and the wrecked pier. Someone told me that ammunition had exploded as it was being loaded onto barges for stowage on the aircraft carrier, HMS Triumph".

Bedenham Pier after the explosion (July 1950) By MC

From the back of the above photograph - written by Mike Curme (MC)

Ammunition explosion at Bedenham on Friday, July 14th 1950. Proved to be sabotage. Caused extensive damage to our house. Notice: Cranes (now blown in sea). Ammunition train on pier (Train and most of pier also in the sea). Ammunition barges and flying fragments.

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Recollections from another witness - Roger Bryant:

"I wonder if any of you remember an incident on the evening of the 14 July 1950 when six lighters being loaded with ammunition at Bedenham Pier, Gosport, in the Royal Naval Armament Supply Depot blew up in a massive explosion, heard all over Portsmouth.  The explosion completely destroyed two lighters loaded with depth charges and 1,000 ton bombs.  Then 50 minutes later, a second explosion destroyed the remaining four lighters.  Astonishingly, no one was killed."

Wicor Pier (July 1950) by Mike Curme

"In Portsmouth, the principal damage was to the plate glass windows of shops, particularly in Commercial Road and the Guildhall Square.  Many of us remember that during the war bomb blast did strange things.  Some windows were blown out; others next to them remained intact.  So it was on this July evening.  In a piano shop in Commercial Road, blast sucked out a large second floor window, while the windows on the first floor remained intact!  In the London Road area, not only shops but houses had windows blown out but again no one was killed."

Bedenham Pier Today

"Police cars toured the city broadcasting the following: “An explosion has occurred at Gosport.  There is no cause for alarm.  You are, however, advised to keep open your windows to avoid damage in the event of further explosions”.  The following morning was reminiscent of the wartime air raids with streets and pavements strewn with broken glass." 

"The wheel of a locomotive was blown across the harbour and landed in Landport, again without injury to anyone.  Fortunately the damage was slight, other than in the Armament Depot which was massively damaged, and there were no casualties.  This was at the height of the Cold War and sabotage was immediately suspected.  There were many communists in this country, virtually all loyal to this country, but there were spies, like Philby, and no doubt saboteurs.  I may be wrong but, as far as I can remember, the cause of the explosion was never established."

As an aside Admiral William James, Commander in Chief Portsmouth from 1939 to 1944, recalled a visit to the Bedenham site in 1941.

"On the 18th July 1941 I paid a long visit to Bedenham and Frater, the mine and ammunition establishments on the Gosport side. They cover about 800 acres and employ 4,200 men. I found it all enthralling, as I had never seen the various constituents being mixed and poured into mine cases. I had a good talk with some of the older men who had been there all their working lives."

The Portsmouth Letters, Macmillan & Co, London, 1946, p128.

For the full story of the Bedenham Ammunition Explosion, you can read Paul Woodman's excellent article in the Portchester Matters magazine (Page 6-7, Issue 15, Winter 2017) here.

Nuremberg: The Dark Heart of Nazi Germany (1933-1945)

 In his self-serving autobiography 'Inside the Third Reich', Albert Speer devotes a whole chapter to 'architectural megalomania'. Nowhere was this more evident in the era of Nazi Germany, than in Nuremberg. Indeed, much remains to be seen and explored.

The temptation of diverting to the city during a family road trip down Bavaria's famous 'Romantic Road' was to much, so I booked a hotel and planned an overnight stay. "Is the hotel conveniently located” asked my wife. I  replied in the affirmative quietly noting that aside from easy access to what is left of the old city, the Hilton had been built in close proximity to the so-called Zeppelin Field where the Nazi party had held huge rallies in the pre-war days. Indeed, two of the rallies (1936 & 37) were distilled into one of the greatest works of Nazi propaganda, the 1938 film 'Triumph of the Will'. 

The Focal Point - Rally Grounds, Nuremberg

Many of the structures in the Rally Grounds have been destroyed, but the speakers rostrum and vestiges of the towers marking out the perimeter remain. The vast area within the perimeter is now a windswept expanse of tarmac and scrub. Albert Speer was, of course, known as 'Hitler's architect' (though he progressed to take on less benign roles as the war progressed). In his book 'Inside the Third Reich' (Macmillan, 1970) Speer wrote about his vision for the Zeppelin Field site.

'Early in 1934 Hitler surprised with my first commission. The temporary bleachers on the Zeppelin Field in Nurember were to be replaced by a permanent installation. I struggled over the first sketches until, in an inspired moment, an idea came to me. A mighty flight of stairs topped and enclosed by a long callonade, flanked at both ends by stone abutments. Undoubtedly it was influenced by the Pergamum Altar'. 

The colonnade and most of the more prominent features were destroyed in two phases after the Second World War in Europe had ended. During the first phase, by the American Army of Occupation in 1945 and in the second, by the Bundeswehr in 1966/67.

Perimeter wall of the Zeppelin Field

Nazi eagle on repurposed transformer station

Virtually all Nazi iconography has been removed - either looted or intentionally destroyed. However, A Nazi eagle emblem can still be seen on the building that housed the transformer station which served power to the Rally Grounds. Rather incongruously, the building is now a Burger King fast food restaurant.

Of the monumental structures planned for Nuremberg, one other remains today - albeit partly completed. Unlike all of the others, the Congress Hall was not designed by Speer. The architect Ludwig Ruff conceived the design in 1933 and the project was one of Hitler's favourites. The building was never completed and what remains today looks much as it did when work stopped in the winter of 1942-43. The Hall was to be larger (by an almost 50% margin) than the Colosseum in Rome and would seat 40,000 spectators with a further 8,000 standing.

The Congress Hall - External

The Congress Hall - Internal

The scale is impressive and there is an excellent interpretation centre in part of the restored space. The roof, the second storey, the interior and the stage are all incomplete and - as can be seen above - parts of the structure are used for commercial purposes.

Given the importance of the city to the Nazi cause, it was entirely appropriate that the most prominent German war criminals should face justice there. The city had been repeatedly smashed by Allied bombing but remarkably, the Palace of Justice survived. It was here, in Courtroom 600, that the Nuremberg Trials (1945-49) took place. The Palace stopped hosting court hearings about twenty years ago but visitors are able to access Room 600 which is largely unchanged from when the trials took place.

Courtroom 600, Palace of Justice, Nuremberg

contemporary photograph

Visitors stand in what was the press gallery. During the trial, the defendants were seated in the enclosed seating area on the left. There is a door directly behind the dock which enabled prisoners to be brought up, via an elevator, directly from their cells. In his memoir, Speer recalls his first appearance.

'After a last inspection by Colonel Andrus, on November 19, 1945, we were led into the still empty courtroom, each of us escorted by a soldier, but without handcuffs. Seats were formally assigned. At the head were Goering, Hess and Ribbentrop. I was placed third from last on the second bench, in agreeable company: Seyss-Inquart on my right, von Neurath on my left. Streicher and Funk sat right in front of me.'

Speer, of course, received a custodial sentence only - despite the protestations of the Soviet judge. The persona and accompanying narrative of being a 'good Nazi' which he had assiduously worked on during the pre-trial period paid off - he escaped the noose. Nowadays, notwithstanding the contents of his memoir, Speer is seen for what he was - a war criminal of the highest order.

For my portfolio of images from Nuremberg click here.