Gazetteer of the Western Front: Zeneghem

From my Gazetteer page on the subject of Audruicq. Note the location of Zeneghem, to the east. When the establishment of an ammunition depot was at first considered and established, it was known as Saint-Pierre-Brouck after a nearby village. It is not clear exactly when and why the name changed to Zeneghem, but the earliest mention I could find came on 24 September 1916, and it appears to have been formalised on 3 December 1916.
The location of Saint-Pierre-Brouck. It lies on the eastern bank of the canalised River Aa, north of Watten and Saint-Omer. Barges would bring goods along the Aa from the Calais and Gravelines area.
Zeneghem is shown on this present-day map, south of La Rue Verte (another place that is barely even a hamlet, being a few scattered houses at the road junction). There is a house, with the date 1895 in its brickwork, roughly where the word Zeneghem is shown.

In June 1916 Saint-Pierre-Brouck was selected as the site for a reserve ammunition depot; essentially a reserve to the depot at nearby Audruicq.

This and the map below are from the war diary of Deputy Director of Ordnance Supplies (North) (National Archives WO95/3993. Crown Copyright) 16 June 1916, a visit and initial plan for a 25,000 ton ammunition depot.
The original plan for the reserve ammunition depot at what was still being referred to as Saint-Pierre-Brouck. Note that north is to the left. The site was bounded by water on its western side, and a railway on the eastern side. The solid black rectangle near the canal is the “chateau” referred to below. There were to be barge wharf facilities on the canal on either side of the chateau.
Same source. Details of proposed operations.
Same source. It refers to a “chateau”.
Same source. A sketch map of the cranes that would be installed at the canal wharf south of the chateau. The work of unloading barges was to be carried out by the Inland Waterways Department of the Royal Engineers.
From a British grid map of 1916 (National Library of Scotland). The chateau can be seen on the canalised Aa, just north of the junction with the Calais Canal. Note that Zeneghem appears on the map but is more of an area that a defined hamlet or village. The Bourbourg-Watten railway which bounded the original site runs north to south through this image.

Extra impetus was given to the construction of the site when Audruicq was temporarily rendered non-operational in July 1916 (see Gazetteer entry for Audruicq). By September 1916 it was being called 14 Ordnance Depot.

From the war diary of Deputy Director of Ordnance Supplies (North). The map is not oriented north to the top. I have highlighted (top) the junction with the Calais Canal (see also present day map above); the railway station at St. Pierre Brouck (right); the canal (bottom) and the railway line coming in from Watten (left). The railway marshalling yard, branches going off to the various areas of the depot, and ammunition storage sheds alongside them, can be seen. The site was now rated as having capacity of 35,000 tons.
The chateau belonged to the mayor of Saint-Pierre-Brouck since 1889, Henri Cochin, who had also been a Deputy of the French Republic since 1893 (postcard image from akpool). It had been used as a base by the Belgian Minister of War Charles de Broqueville, but he relocated when the decision was taken to use the area for ammunition. Parts of the chateau estate still exist (conciergerie and chapel) and can be rented via Gites de France. The moat which appears in this image also still exists. The chateau itself was demolished in 1980 after it suffered structural damage to to dry rot.
The entrance to the chateau site from the lane alongside the Aa.

By 24 September 1916 the pressure on the barge wharf was already considerable, and plans were made to expand its capacity from 500 to 2000 incoming tons per day.

The first trainload of ammunition was unloaded at Zeneghem on 15 October 1916.

From the July 1917 war diary of Deputy Director of Ordnance Supplies (North). An entirely new facility was added, to handle the huge volume of empty ammunition boxes that were to be returned for refilling. It experienced frequent problems with live ammunition being found among the empty containers.

The depot, once fully operational, was named 14 Ordnance Depot and was manned by 50, 60 and 119 Companies of the Army Ordnance Corps. 341 men of the AOC were present on site on 31 December 1916. Some men of 49 Company AOC also worked at the depot in 1917. It was also the temporary home of many units of the Labour Corps and railway companies of the Royal Engineers. In February 1917, a camp for 500 black soldiers of the South African Native Labour Corps was built. Numbers 204 and 205 Anti-Aircraft Sections were based there for air defence.

Training classes in handling ammunition were held on site, and attended by officers and men from other locations.

As an example of activity, in the four weeks ending 28 July 1917 Zeneghem received 16,775 tons of ammunition from incoming barges, and loaded them with 7,785 tons of empties. In September 1917 it received 32,000 tons.

The Deputy Director of Ordnance Supplies (North) mentioned on 6 January 1917 that an ammunition hanger had collapsed, “killing several RE personnel”. I could not locate corresponding deaths in the time from 1 January 1917 onwards.

Air raid 24 April 1917

Same source.

Air raid 3-4 September 1917

When Audruicq was subjected to a raid, a number of bombs also fell at Zeneghem but without doing any damage.

Air raid 27 October 1917

Same source.

A 1918 lecture on “Supply of ammunition in the field” by Colonels N. Bainbridge and A. R. Oldfield stated that the capacity of Zeneghem was now 60,000 tons. (War diary WO95/60).

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Other places in my Gazetteer of the Western Front