XD Operations
Page 18
Oil storage tanks are typically 120 feet across and 50 feet high. As a safety precaution they are invariably surrounded by an earth wall or bund so if by any mischance a tank should become ruptured, the fuel would be contained within the bund and not allowed to spread all over the surrounding area. Considerable thought was given as to the best method of destroying these large tanks with the limited resources that would be available to small parties of men on foot. It was fairly obvious to start with that it would be impossible to set fire to the storage tanks when full as there would be no oxygen for combustion. Therefore it was appreciated that, without enormous demolition charges, igniting the fuel would have to be done in two stages. Firstly, the tanks would have to be partially drained and when sufficient oil had been released, this could then be fired. To achieve this, the following possibilities were considered:
All tanks have small drain cocks at the bottom to drain off any water from condensation and these could be opened but this would be a very slow way to let the fuel out.
Manhole covers might be removed but this would be slow and access could be a problem.
Should it prove difficult to get access to the storage tanks for any reason, several half inch holes could be shot into the tanks with a Boys anti-tank rifle and after sufficient fuel had run out, it could be ignited by firing tracer into the liquid.
The most favoured solution appeared to be to blow off the exit valves leading out of the tanks with a slab of gun cotton. These weighed one pound and would have to be secured in place with adhesive tape.
So much for the proposed method of getting the fuel out of the tanks into the bunds. All these tank farms held stocks of petroleum products ranging from light aviation fuel through the various grades down to heavy bunker oil. The tanks might be either situated singly or in small groups behind a common bund. They now had to consider the best method of igniting the fuel and being able to withdraw safely. The first and fairly obvious method to be used for petrol tanks and groups of tanks where at least one was petrol would be the firing of a Very Light cartridge up and over the liquid to ignite it. Where there was a mix of grades of fuel in tanks behind a single bund, it was considered that the petrol, being lighter, would flow over the heavier fuels. Tanks of heavy bunker oil on their own would be a separate problem. The best method appeared to be to soak blankets in kerosene, of which there was a plentiful supply in every refinery, and lay several end to end over the bund and into the heavy oil; both a fuse and wick in effect.
INDEX
1st Airborne Division
1st Parachute Squadron RE
2 Army Commando
2nd Parachute Squadron
3 Canadian Field Company
15 GHQ Troops Engineers
297 Field Park Company
Afrika Korps
Agheila
Air Troop Royal Engineers
Alabaster, Second Lieutenant Dennis
Alresford, HMS
American Petroleum
Amsterdam
Antwerp
Ark Royal, HMS
Ashwell, Second Lieutenant B.J.
Athens
Ayers, Corporal H.E.
Baker, Corporal E.
Baker, Lieutenant Colonel Paul
Banks, Commander
Barentsburg
Barton, Second Lieutenant Arthur
Basra
Benghazi
Bevans Cement Works
Birley, Second Lieutenant
Blackman, Sapper H.W.
Blain
Blake, Corporal
Blake, Sergeant
Blue Circle Cement Company
Blue Circle Cement Works
Boulogne
Bourne, Major
Brest
Brilliant, HMS
Broke, HMS
Brown, Acting Lance Corporal E.G.
Buxton, Captain Bernard
Caen
Calais
Cherbourg
Churchill, Winston
Cinque Ports Engineers
Clayton, Revd ‘Tubby’
Congrieve, Commander Sir G.
Cox, Lieutenant Cyril
Crete
Cutty Sark, HMS
Cyrenaica
Davis, A.C.
Devonport
Donges refinery
Dorman, Captain Stephen
Dover
Duchess of York, SS
Dunkirk
Eighth Army
El Alamein
Elbeuf
Falmouth
Ferdonnet
Flushing
Forêt Londe
Forges
French Vichy Forces
Gale, General Sir Richard
Gardes Républicaines
Gare Maritime
Gibraltar
Gildford
Gonfreville
Goodenough, Commander, RN
Goodwin, Captain Tommy
Gort, Field Marshal Lord
Gourock
Gravesend and Dartford Reporter
Gravesend
Green, Major Sammy
Grindle, Lieutenant Commander
Grumantly
Habbaniyah
Haifa
Haines, Sapper G.A.V.
Halifax
Harwich
Havoc, HMS
Hawes, Captain Joe
Henniker, Lieutenant Colonel (later Brigadier) Sir Mark
Hill, Commander, RN
Hill, Lance Corporal
Hitler, Adolf
Holland, Corporal
Honfleur
Hook of Holland
Ijmuiden
Keeble, Major Peter
Kent Corps Troops Engineers
Kent Fortress Royal Engineers
Kervenny
King George V, HMS
Kirkuk
Lancastria, HMT
Larne
Le Havre
Lekhaven
Libya
Liverpool
Longyearby
Lord Wakefield rifle team
Low, Driver
Maidstone, HMS
Mailleraye
Malcolm, HMS
Maleme air field
Manchester, HMS
McKye, Commander, RN
Meyler, Lieutenant Roy
Milton Barracks
Mitchell, Sapper
Mount Olympus
Nantes
Narvik, Battle of
Neufchatel
Ny Alesund
Ouistreham
Owen, Sapper S.J.
Owens, Second Lieutenant
Parachute School, Ringway
Petit Couronne
Plummer, Acting Lance Corporal E.E.
Port Jerome
Pyramiden
Ramsay, Admiral
River Brest
River Maas
River Scheldt
River Seine
River Thames
Rotterdam
Rouen
Ruck, Sapper S.J.
Rye, SS
Sabre, HMS
Salonika
Savenay
Shell Company
Shelton, Sapper
Sherbrook, Commander
Shute, Lance Corporal
Southampton, HMS
Spitzbergen
St Helier
St Malo
St Nazaire
St Pierre
Suez Canal
Suffolk Fortress Engineers
Sveagruva
Syria
Terry, Lieutenant Don
Tobruk
Tripoli
Tunisia
Twocock, Lance Corporal
Vanquisher, HMS
Verity, HMS
Vlaadingen
Volos
Walsh, Major
Ward, Lance Sergeant
Weeks, ‘Daddy’
Wells, Sapper A.H.
Wells, Second Lieutenant ‘Shorty’
West, Ca
ptain Bert
Westminster, Duke of
Whitehead, Second Lieutenant
Whitshead, HMS
Wild Swan, HMS
Windsor Castle, SS
Wingate, Orde
XD Operations