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A Few photo's of the remote munitions storage area called Colleyweston, now abandoned and for sale. The other RAF Wittering bomb dumps are known as Rogue Sale and Vigo Wood (which is no longer used) The ordnance survey map of the area shows only woods, not even the access road is marked. If you have any further information please let me know.

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These buildings were used to store American Explosives from RAF Lakenheath

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These buildings were used to store American Explosives from RAF Lakenheath

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The main entrance gate to the site known as "Collyweston" after the local village of the same name

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Buildings used for bomb maintenance
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These buildings known by the RAF staff as Dutch barns housed RAF BL755 Cluster bombs		 witteringstore3.gif
This building was used to to store 68mm SNEB rockets		 witteringstore.gif
Buildings used for bomb maintenance mainly 1000lb bombs and Cluster bomb units (CBU)

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BL755 Cluster Bomb

The BL755 Cluster Bomb is carried by offensive support and attack aircraft. Weighing 600lb, each bomb carries 147 small bomblets which scatter over an area on release. A dual-role weapon, it entered RAF service in 1972. It is designed to provide a high `kill' probability against a range of hard and soft targets.

BL755 Cluster BombWhen the BL755 is dropped, the primary strike is armed. After a set interval the initial cartridge is fired, which produces the gas pressure to blow off the two-part body skins and then fires the main cartridge. Each bomblet is 5.87" (0.15m) as it is fired. This extends to 24.69" (0.62m) complete with extending nose probe and retarding parachute.

Manufacturer: Hunting Engineering

Length: 8' 0.5" (2.45m)

1000lb High Explosive Bombs

1000lb High Explosive BombsThe RAF relies heavily on the basic 1,000lb high explosive bomb. Still in stock are the Mark 1 and Mark 2 bombs of nominal 570lb weight, but the addition of the Hunting Mark 118 retarding tail increases this to 620lb. One of the problems of delivering explosive ordnance from low flying aircraft is that conventional iron bombs such as these, with fixed tails, can often bounce or ricochet off hard surfaces. These can explode whilst the launch aircraft is in the vicinity. This danger is reduced by fitting the bombs with retarding tails, slowing their fall, and allowing the aircraft to clear the area.