Chemical Warfare & Munitions Complex at Munster, Germany

Facilities & Installations

The German military set up a munitions and chemical warfare (CW) complex known as ‘Gazplatz Breloh’ at Munster early in World War I. The complex, with facilities for CW filling, storage and testing, was dismantled after the war, but rebuilt after the Nazis came to power. The complex underwent significant expansion that included the addition of modern CW filling facilities for Army and Luftwaffe plus a large CW testing area.
Much of the Munster complex was imaged by an RAF sortie on 17 September 1944. Covered facilities included the Army - and Luftwaffe Munitions and CW filling facilities and a part of the Raubkammer CW Training Area

aerial photo of The Luftwaffe Main Munitions Facility (LHMa) at Munster, Germany

Luftwaffe Munitions Depot (LHMa; Lufthauptmunitionsanstalt Orre)

In addition to having a large number of storage bunkers, the LHma had a mustard gas filling station for 250- and 500-KG bombs plus a rail-mobile component (Graphic). Excellent coverage from 17 September showed the filling station was situated at the southwest corner off the depot near Dethingen. (Graphic).

Several notable features could be seen in the vicinity of the LHMa depot and CW filling station. The Germans used a pond next to the filling site--the Dethlingen Teich-- for chemical waste disposal and the site became a major focus of post-war CW decontamination efforts. The filling facility was served by its own rail spur coming from the main railway; the munitions depot had its own rail system, part of which was covered with camouflage netting. Finally, diatomaceous mining was taking place in the vicinity. A covered rail spur in the vicinity of the Dethlingen pond was likely for drying diatomaceous material, but the purpose of another covered spur next to the one serving the filling station is unclear.

A closer at the filling station showed the entrance and another area within the station were covered with camouflage netting; a short section of the rail spur just outside the entrance was also covered (Graphic). The adjacent covered rail spur was likely mining associated, its positioning suggests it might have been associated with the depot. A possible tank car could be seen near a shed at the end of the spur.

Heeres-Munitionsanstalt (HMa) Munster-Ost
The German army had two CW-related facilities, which were located immediately west of the LHMa. One of these was the Heeres-Munitionsanstalt (HMa) Munster-Ost which stored standard and chemical munitions (Graphic).

The other facility was a dedicated CW filling plant for army munitions. The coverage from 17 September showed the facility had interconnected buildings and was much larger than the one at the LHMa. A large bunker was immediately north of the facility (Graphic).

Other CW-Related Facilities
Although there was no coverage of ‘Gazplatz Breloh’ on 17 September, a few probable CW test positions and an animal track could be seen at the western side of the Raubkammer Training Area (Map, Graphic). A secured area with a small ammunition storage facility was located just to the south of Raubkammer; a possible animal pen was in the vicinity (Graphic).