The History of Ruddington Depot
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Dismantling And Disposal
Reducing vehicles to scrap
Vehicles were usually sold at auction rather than cut up for scrap, but there were exceptions. There was thought to be no market for small folding bicycles and Bernard Slack cut up a great many brand new ones:
“The paratroopers had fold-up bikes which were packed five to a crate. We had men opening the wooden crates and burning the wood. Then we just went through with a blowtorch, cutting the bikes up. They went straight into railway wagons to Wards of Sheffield for razor blades. Bayonets, knives, everything was turned into scrap metal and sent there.”
As an oxyacetylene cutter, Bernard Slack had to cut up some very large and unusual equipment:
“A massive machine to tunnel underground like a mole was parked on the depot for years. We called it Nelly, because its initials were N.E.L.E, but I can’t remember what they stood for. It had to be disposed of, but the experts couldn’t agree on what to do with it. Eventually it was cut up, but Nelly was a one-off job.”
Taking
a break beside some of the piles of scrap awaiting despatch and recycling.
Another very special job was cutting up the big cross-channel guns such as
‘Big Bertha’:
“Specialists from British Oxygen came to show us how to use the cutting equipment. Normally we used a bottle of oxygen and a bottle of gas on a trolley, but they came with specialised equipment and showed us how to connect up 21 bottles of oxygen to get up enough pressure to cut through these guns. It took us months to do the job. The guns were cut up for scrap, but the bogies were towed out again one Sunday.”
Cutting up tanks was a routine matter, but it was nevertheless a hazardous operation:
“The tanks were cut up on ‘The Concrete’, which was in the centre of what had been the filling factory area. They used to drag the tanks until they were well spaced out. Each one was stamped ‘Free of ammunition as far as possible’, but there was a rotating basket inside that the men sat on as the tank was going along, and we had to cut the basket out. All kinds of things had fallen through and collected underneath out of reach, so we cut into a lot of rubbish. I’ve seen tanks being cut up and you couldn’t see Ruddington for smoke, because they were cutting through smoke canisters. There were even cases when men were injured when ammunition went off.
The turrets rotated on large ball bearings, only a bit smaller than a tennis ball. They were removed and collected in big brass cages, thousands of them. There were mountains of scrap metal from the tanks and other things. We used to have a crane come round and it lifted the tank turrets off. They placed the turret on the ground, resting on the recessed rim that fitted over the ball bearings, and your toes tucked under it and over your steel toecaps as you cut. As you were cutting the turret got weaker and lower, and sometimes you’d find our toes would be trapped underneath it. Then you would shout and someone would switch the machine off, and get you out.
When you were cutting you wore protective clothing and goggles but there were some terrible accidents, because many of the people doing the job were ex-service men, and they never took it seriously.”
Even moving equipment around the site was hazardous. Jack Abbott saw the results of one serious accident:
“We had one lad who got the tow hook on the back of a Land Rover in his mouth. We thought he was going to die. He was in a very poor state. I didn’t know how it happened, but it caught him in his face and pulled all his mouth about.”
The Depot had its own ambulance that took casualties with serious injuries straight to hospital. Less serious cases, and minor ailments were treated on the site. Eileen Selby had routine medical inspections and treatment on one or two occasions:
“We had our own surgery in the charge of Sister Skinner who had a very strong personality. I used to call her ‘the battle-axe’ to her face. She had a lovely medical section, a beautiful great big place, and once when I got a bad back she laid me on the bed and gave me some heat treatment. She was very good to me.”
Although the Sister had a fierce reputation, her bark was worse than her bite. She was a skilful nurse, but many of her patients were not very open to her wise advice.
Although there were a number of accidents each year it is a remarkable fact that there was never a fatality, and the mortuary was used only once. That was when a man collapsed and died from natural causes.
The Story > Chapter 6 > Section 6.03