MoD Bicester

MoD Bicester is a large military storage and distribution centre just outside Bicester in Oxfordshire.

MoD Bicester
Bicester, Oxfordshire
Entrance at DE&S Bicester
MoD Bicester
Coordinates51.87881°N 1.14682°W / 51.87881; -1.14682
TypeStorage and Distribution Centre
Site information
Open to
the public		No
Site history
Built1942 (1942)
In use1942–Present

History
COD Bicester prior to D-Day, 1944.

The site dates back to September 1942 when a depot was constructed near Bicester to provide logistical support for operations in Europe during the Second World War.[1] It is serviced by the Bicester Military Railway.[1] In 1961 the ordnance depots at Didcot and Branston were closed and a Central Ordnance Depot was created at Bicester.[1] Between 1980 and 1982 the ordnance depots at Chilwell and Ruddington were also closed resulting in an increased role for the remaining central ordnance depots at Bicester and Donnington.[1] The depot became known as the Defence Storage and Distribution Centre in April 1999.[1]

A bomb disposal training base, built at a cost of circa £100 million and including a cave complex, a dive pool and roadways was established at St George's Barracks on the site in March 2013.[2] Then in September 2014, 23 Pioneer Regiment, which had been based at St David's Barracks on the site since the 1940s, was disbanded.[3] 1 Regiment RLC moved from Gütersloh in Germany to St David's Barracks at Bicester in 2016.[4]

Future

The Barracks area of the base was earmarked for disposal, with a closure date of 2028.[5]

See also

References
  1. "Bicester Military Railway". Bicester Local History Society. Retrieved 2 May 2015.
  2. "Bicester bomb disposal training base opens". BBC. 15 March 2013. Retrieved 2 May 2015.
  3. "Disbanded 23 Pioneer Regiment in final parade". BBC. 26 September 2014. Retrieved 2 May 2015.
  4. "Future of British Army bases in Germany Revealed" (PDF). Ministry of Defence. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 2 May 2015.
  5. "Is Your Military Base Closing? Read The Full List Of Sites Shutting". Forces News. 20 October 2020. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
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