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It is said that in 1914 a high ranking army officer was waiting for a train at Didcot station. He noticed open fields to the west of what was then a village, in the centre of England and on a key railway junction - the perfect place for an ordnance depot.

By March 1915 the army's new Central Ordnance Depot was under construction on 600 acres of land (much of which is now the site of Didcot power station). It opened in June and soon boasted that it could supply anything to the British Army in 48 hours.

With labour shortages it looked to volunteers – officers’ training at Oxford's colleges, the Volunteer Force and even Eton College's OTC came to help. This included Prince Henry who was later to become the Duke of Gloucester.

The army stores at Didcot were a strategic back up to Woolwich arsenal in London in case of invasion via the Thames estuary or attack by Zeppelins. At Didcot they sourced and supplied everything from blankets and uniforms to horse shoes and ammunition – a remarkable logistical feat in an age before modern communications.

Location: Didcot, Oxfordshire OX11 7YU
Photograph of the Didcot Ordnance Map courtesy of The Royal Logistics Corps Museum
Presented by Jane Markham, Podcats Productions

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