On 18 January 1944, a huge explosion occurred at the Royal Naval Armaments Depot at Broughton Moor, resulting in the tragic death of eleven people & injury to another seventy. It was believed that the most likely cause of the explosion was a sensitive fuse in a naval mortar bomb, leading to the detonation of 72 lbs of high explosive in the laboratory & 1,296 pounds of high explosive in a nearby railway truck. The laboratory with its six-foot thick concrete walls was severely damaged.
Wartime restrictions on reporting meant that the detail of the tragedy was not made public at the time, but the Depot employed many people with local connections.
Those who were killed as a result of the explosion were:
- Ann Straughton Wilson
- Edward Lynch
- Elizabeth Moses
- Gertrude Fee
- Henry Rooke
- Jane Ann Lister
- Mary Kathleen Barnes
- Mary Louisa Smith
- Patricia Scutts
- Robert Swanston
- William Morrison
In March 2022, the Town Council Mayor, Peter Kendall unveiled a memorial in memory of those people from Flimby & Maryport who were impacted by this tragic event in our local history.