Does anyone know of a large military installation and what and where it might be in Sale, Manchester during WW2? Other sites at Daveyhulme and possibly Audenshaw were anti-aircraft sites. Was this one too? By October 1946 it had been converted into a POW hostel for 333 German prisoners. I am guessing it closed as late as 1948 as all camps and hostels closed then when all Germans had been repatriated. Thanks, Ozzy
check here Map of Heavy Anti-Aircraft gun sites in England, Scotland and Wales http://www.islandfarm.wales/LIST_OF_UK_POW_CAMPS1.htm
Thank you. I checked out these again but no luck. Sale was never a main numbered camp as far as I can tell, but a hostel site, possibly linked to POW Mellands Camp 126 at Gorton. Accommodation for 333 men puts it larger than a RA Battery headcount, but if there was spare land in the compound extra huts could be erected easily.
Would it be worth asking the Manchester Military History Society? Their website: The Manchester Military History Society
I don't have a copy (other than the cover) and have only skip read parts of it, but you might find some general information pertaining to this in the diaries of the 4th AA Division held at the NA and in those of the subsidiary AA Brigades
I lived in Sale from 1952 to 1963 when I left to go to university. as a pupil at Sale Boys Grammar I took an interest in local military history and I never heard of any major military establishment having been there. There was an RAF establishment between Sale and Altrincham at Broadheath on Carrington Moss. My uncle was a Flight Lieutenant stationed there in the 50s. At that time it was used to dispose of surplus ordinance some of which was taken out onto the Moss where it was buried in deep pits in the peat and then exploded with a command wire and detonator. The soggy peat deadened any shock waves. This was only done for old stuff when it was thought the explosive would have crystallised and it would be too dangerous to remove. For most the fuses were removed and the explosive steamed out. Some empty bombs were donated to local parks. Walton Road Park in Sale had a number for a time and a Tallboy was displayed outside the town hall. I think that earlier the station had had been some sort of ordinance depot.
Thank you for this fresh information. I can confirm there was a large POW Hostel called "Sale" and it existed until at least 20 February 1948 when there were still 152 prisoners there. Most of the other prisoner hostels in the Manchester area were on former Heavy Anti-Aircraft gun sites, for example, Daveyhulme, Audenshaw, Mellands Playing fields. The latter briefly was Gorton POW Camp 126. As Sale is on the southern approach to Trafford Park, I would expect a searchlight or gun battery to be in the area. I have a drawing of part of a model of the camp somewhere and it has all the hallmarks of a mid war build of huts.
