Former 3 Base Ammunition Depot Bracht, 3BAD / Nature reserve Brachter Wald

 abandoned / shut down, nature conservation park / area, closed / former military

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Here was the largest NATO ammunition depot during the Cold War. 3BAD Bracht belonged to the British Army on the Rhine/Royal Army Ordnance Corps (BAOR/RAOC).
It was set up after WWII, around 1948, and merged with the 6th Petroleum Depot in Arsbeck around 1965 and named 3BAPD, but returned to 3BAD around 1975. Open for around 60 years, it stored weapons for the RAF and other army units in Germany. It covers over 1300 hectares and is now mostly a large nature reserve (Brachter Wald).
The married personnel were housed in Bracht and Venlo in Holland.
3BAD Bracht was granted the freedom of Brüggen and Bracht in 1974.
After options for change, the RAOC merged with the RLC Royal Logistic Corps and in 2000, 3BAD closed down and most of the ground was handed back to the German government to become a nature reserve.