Back to the Drawing Board
National Service haunts in
The REME Headquarters office block,
where I worked, and the site of the underground
REME factory, where the trainset model
was built, are still in an MoD restricted area
but with the help of Major David Seed, an MoD officer based in
granted permission to visit them and
escorted round by him and Mark Ainsworth, a
member of the MoD team that has
responsibility for maintaining and exploring some
of the many miles of tunnels and caverns
that include the old REME installations
The REME Headquarters Office Block
Built by the Royal Engineers in WW2, in a place called
headquarters was originally a convalescent hospital
and this accounts for the design
of the building, 4 stories high, the top three floors
had two small convalescent wards
on each floor, with the second floor windows opening
out on to a conservatory style
balcony
My office was on the left on that second floor, it was
originally one of the
convalescent wards, it housed two draughtsmen a
technical library and librarian
Pictured in 1942, shortly after it was built
My office,
complete with conservatory, second floor on the left
Overlooking
Pictured
from the roof of the REME HQ. in 2010
Little change from the
view from my office in 1953/54
The entrance to the
Major David Seed with my wife Patricia
Pictured in 1953 Pictured in the same spot in 2010
On my drawing
board, in the second floor office The bricked up outline
of the conservatory
Scenic views
though the conservatory window
window is just visible
Pictured in 2010
Mothballed and in a very dilapidated state I’m standing alongside the
wall plaque
which commemorated its opening in 1942 by General Viscount Lord Gort
The REME
Underground Factory
The REME factory, officially called 55 Garrison
Workshops, was housed in the world’s
largest man made chamber and was part of an
underground complex known as
“The REME Caverns”
It was excavated during WW2 by the Royal Engineers and
was big enough to accommodate
all the masses of equipment that the military needed
to service, manufacture, repair, test or
calibrate--from very large recovery vehicles and
artillery pieces down to micrometers,
military watches and clocks
It consisted of a very large main chamber with twelve
smaller side chambers—six on either
side.
These side chambers were specialist workshops meeting
all the needs of a modern military
factory
Pictured in 1952, the main chamber, what aren’t
shown are the twelve smaller
side chambers
Pictured
in 2010 the MoD personnel Mark Ainsworth and Major David Seed
In the tunnel
entrance to the REME Caverns, leading the way
to the underground REME factory
(the
shadowy figure on the bottom left is my wife Pat)
Inside
the REME Caverns in 2010
Mark Ainsworth
unlocking the gates to the REME factory
The
main REME Factory Chamber in 2010
Now a storage area for discarded MoD boats
The rails of the overhead
gantry crane are still in place—no crane
The main REME
Factory Chamber
Pictured during its excavation in 1941
Approximately 70 ft wide, 30 ft high and several
hundred feet long it had 12 side caverns,
6 on both sides; these were fully equipped as individual
workshops including a machine shop,
electrical workshop, fabrication workshop,
carpenter/patternmaking workshop,
engine repair and test workshop, paint shop and an
iron and non-ferrous foundry
At its peak there were approximately 250 REME personnel,
mainly National Servicemen, and
an equal number of civilian staff employed in the
workshops and offices and the operation
continued into the 1960’s when the number of military
personnel declined as National
Service ended
One of the 12 smaller side caverns
being excavated
The scale
gives a clear idea of the size of the main chamber
REME
Apprenticeship Scheme
In the 1950’s the REME introduced a formal 5 year
apprenticeship scheme for young
Gibraltarians
This covered comprehensive training in all the
workshops combined with in-house
technical training and part time attendance at the
Pictured in the
Machine shop, training on a very modern vertical borer
Apprentice, Joseph Reyes, supervised by a REME craftsman
Training in the
engine overhaul and test department
REME
Operation in
With the ending of National Service the
REME operation in
finally disbanded on 31st
August 1963
The remaining civilian staff were
re-deployed to the Naval Dockyard or took early retirement.
The machines and equipment were either
handed over to the Royal Navy, returned to the UK
or sold by local auction
Its accumulated documentation was bound
and is now archived at the
Technology in Aborfield
Acknowledgements
Apart from the MoD
personnel who escorted me around the old REME installations I also net up with
other
Gibraltarians
including Ian Reyes—an active member of the
history of the REME
in
