on the island. Some of this allocation was consumed on 19 April, and just remained on 25 April when a supply tanker with commenced replenishment. At this point, the US released its reserve stocks for British use. Fuel was discharged from tankers through a floating pipeline to an American fuel farm. It then needed to be transported to Wideawake Airfield. Tanker trucks found the island's steep and rough road heavy going. The compacted volcanic rock used to surface the roads was abrasive, and tyres soon wore out. New sets had to be flown in. Sappers of 1 Troop, 51 Field Squadron, Royal Engineers, built a pipeline to connect the fuel farm with the storage tanks at the airfield. Meanwhile, 12 Petroleum Operations Section, Royal Army Ordnance Corps, had taken over management of the fuel farm. Fuel storage at Wideawake Airfield was increased by by the addition of fuel bladders. The RAF presence sharply increased after it was decided to use Ascension as a base for operations. Two Hawker Siddeley Nimrod maritime patrol aircraft arrived on 5 April. These were followed by seventeen Handley Page Victor aerial refuelling tankers and three Avro Vulcan bombers, which conducted raids on the Falkland Islands as part of Operation Black Buck. The first five Victor tankers deployed to Ascension on 18 April, followed by four more the next day. Six more deployed by the end of the month, bringing the Victor tanker force to fourteen, since one had returned to their base at RAF Marham on 26 April. Each was refuelled by another Victor before leaving UK airspace. The station commander at Marham, Group Captain J. S. B. Price, became the senior RAF officer at Ascension. Wing Commander D. W. Maurice-Jones assumed command of the Victor detachment until 22 April, when he was relieved by Wing Commander A. W. Bowman, the commander of No. 57 Squadron RAF. The number of personnel on the island increased to about one thousand, of whom around 120 were Navy, 60 were British Army, and 800 were RAF. This exceeded the capacity of the island's water supply, and McQueen instituted draconian measures to limit the number of personnel on Ascension Island, in some cases sending people back on the planes they arrived on. In early May, the USAF flew in fourteen planeloads of portable accommodation in the form of 31 twelve-man living units. Each was self-contained, with its own air-conditioning,