I came across this pic a while ago and asked a few lads I know who hail from Plymouth to see if they could identify the location. After a bit of digging/surfing I reckon it's one of the oil tanks that is on fire at Hooe Lake quarry after being hit by a bomb in 1940. The bridge you can see is the Hooe Lake swing bridge which has now been demolished but the stanchions are still in place:-
S54 thank you for posting another link below for your interest Plymouth Blitz - Bomb Disposal - Lt John Henry Havelock Gray. George Medal
Okay the photo isn't from WW2 but actually 1956, it features men and tanks from C Sqn 6RTR on Barton Road. Just under the now demolished Hooe Lake rail bridge and they're probably waiting to load up onto an LST at Turnchapel Wharf, which is just up the road. They are deploying on OPERATION MUSKETEER (invasion of Suez) via Malta:-
The burning oil tank in the original photograph is at Turnchapel and was hit by a bomb on Wednesday 27th November 1940. A plume of smoke from the fire hung over the city for days and was photographed from various vantage points.
Yes it is the Oil Depot at Turnchapel which was hit in a sever bombing raid on Friday 29th November 1940. Eventually all 6 tanks went up as the fire brigade tried to saved it over the following month. My grandad was burnt when tank 5 exploded sending in his words flaming oil 200 feet into the air which then landed on the rowing boat that he was in laying out lines from 2 Dockyard Lighters. The bridge also caught alight at this time.