Bridgend: Encyclopedia II - Bridgend - The Second World War and Bridgend

Bridgend - The Second World War and Bridgend

Bridgend played an important part during the Second World War. It was it home to a Prisoner of War Camp at Island Farm and a large munitions factory (ROF Bridgend — known as the Admirality) at Waterton, as well as a large underground munitions storage base at Brackla (known as the 8 x's). This was an overspill of the Royal Arsenal,Woolwich.

At its peak the Arsenal had 40000 workers, many of them women. Large numbers of them were bussed in from the Rhondda and the valleys. At the time the Arsenal was the largest factory (employee wise) ever in the UK.

In 1945, seventy prisoners of war from Island Farm managed to escape through a tunnel although all were recaptured. While Bridgend was as important during the war as any other part of Wales, and although it was photographed by the Luftwaffe, it was never "blitzed". This was largely due to the area's air pocket, which made bombing extremely hazardous for incoming planes. Unlike Bridgend, both Swansea and Cardiff did not escape such attacks.

The Admiralty ceased full scale production in December 1945 after 5 years. Two of the munitions storage magazines in the Brackla ROF site were converted to a RGHQ (Regional Government Headquarters) during the Cold War as part of the UK continuity of government plans. It is now in the hands of a private company. See Subterrania Britannica for more information on the Brackla RGHQ.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "The Second World War and Bridgend", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki