Pontrilas Army Training Area is a

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

training camp, located just north of the village of

Ewyas Harold Ewyas Harold () is a village and civil parish in the Golden Valley, Herefordshire, Golden Valley in Herefordshire, England, near the Wales-England border about halfway between Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, and Hereford. The population of this civ ...

near to Pontrilas in

Herefordshire Herefordshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England, bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. Originally developed pre-

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

by the

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

(MoD) as an ammunition dump, it was served by the Golden Valley Railway.

History

During the 1930s, there was a recognition of a need to provide secure storage for munitions within the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. The proposal was to create three central ammunition depots (CAD): one in the south ( Monkton Farleigh); one in the north of England ( Longtown, Cumbria); and one in the Midlands ( Nesscliffe). Beyond these, a series of sub-depots was created by the MoD in the area, to allow further distribution. Each was connected to the national rail network, and was laid out over an extensive area to avoid total destruction should an accidental explosion occur, or the site be attacked by an enemy. Named Elm Bridge, the servicing railway branch line was just before Abbeydore railway station and the level crossing. Unlike the main CAD's, the initial war-time onsite batch of locomotives and train drivers was provided by the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, ...

, which also maintained the extensive onsite network. Always guarded by the Royal Military Police and serviced by regular troops, it was only after the war from 1948 that the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...

provided the onsite logistics. After the closure and lifting of the Golden Valley Railway to Dorstone in 1953 and cessation of passenger services, the line was maintained as a freight-only facility to service the depot until its closure in 1957.

Present

Retained as an MoD facility, its remote location and proximity to the

Special Air Service The Special Air Service (SAS) is a special forces unit of the British Army. It was founded as a regiment in 1941 by David Stirling, and in 1950 it was reconstituted as a corps. The unit specialises in a number of roles including counter-terr ...

headquarters at

Hereford Hereford ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of the ceremonial county of Herefordshire, England. It is on the banks of the River Wye and lies east of the border with Wales, north-west of Gloucester and south-west of Worcester. With ...

meant that it has been utilised as a training base in some form since closure of the depot. Although never confirmed officially, the training facility has been used by various special forces, including "The Det". Presently managed by

QinetiQ QinetiQ ( as in '' kinetic'') is a British defence technology company headquartered in Farnborough, Hampshire. It operates primarily in the defence, security and critical national infrastructure markets and run testing and evaluation capabili ...

on behalf of the MoD, they have installed various facilities which are used in

counter-terrorism Counterterrorism (alternatively spelled: counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, relates to the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, businesses, and intelligence agencies use to co ...

(CT) and assault training. In September 2006, Lance Corporal Gordon Campbell of the 1 Assault Group

Royal Marines The Royal Marines provide the United Kingdom's amphibious warfare, amphibious special operations capable commando force, one of the :Fighting Arms of the Royal Navy, five fighting arms of the Royal Navy, a Company (military unit), company str ...

, aged 28, while fast-roping from a helicopter whilst on a training exercise at PATA, fell to the ground and died.

References

{{reflist Training establishments of the British Army Ammunition dumps in England Special Air Service