http://www.gsia.org.uk/canals/projects/s04_ars_pillboxes.pdf
Daily Archives: January 3, 2013
40 posts
Saddlescombe Road, Poyning, West Sussex. NGR: TQ 267118 Fanning The Flames As Flame Trap Fever continues to sweep the nation fuelled by recent ‘Loopholes’ articles, I have discovered a good example of a Flame Fougasse in-situ on the South Downs in West Sussex, demonstrating that it is a great deal […]
The Maiden-Newton To Dorchester Section Down in the deepest, darkest depths of Dorset the remains of hundreds of Second World War structures still lie littered around the countryside. The county of Dorset, with its extensive coastline, natural harbours and relative proximity to the shores of northern France made it a […]
Bridlington Auburn Sands, Bridlington was a very vulnerable, quiet area, perfect for a German landing, with smooth, golden, flat, sandy beaches and flat tank country behind it. Today, it is a perfect example of surviving ‘coastal crust’ defences and most definitely worth a visit. Interestingly, it is still possible to […]
During the 1938/39 period I was employed erecting and fitting-out the sectional buildings which comprised the Berechurch and Roman Way Camps at Colchester (no doubt those names will be familiar to some) and when these contracts were nearly complete the contractors, I think it was Mears & Son, were awarded […]
The GHQ Line, Aldershot Command (See O.S. 50,000 Map 186) A Concentration of Vickers Medium Machine Gun Pillboxes General Although the G.H.Q. Line is well equipped with 2pdr A.T. Gun and 6pdr Q.F. Gun pillboxes, very few pillboxes were built for the Vickers Heavy Machine Gun and today only sixteen […]
Spigot Mortar Base This spigot mortar base can be found on the beach at Winterton and would most probably have been originally located on the cliff or at least above the high water mark. However, it is now most definitely on the beach and gives us a fantastic insight into […]
Downton, Hampshire Adapted from an article published in Loopholes No: 21 By Nigel walker Ever since I moved into the area I have been fascinated by the mill complex which straddles the River Avon some 3 miles south of the village of Downton where I live. What interested me were […]
The Auxiliary Units or GHQ Auxiliary Units were specially trained, highly secret units created by the United Kingdom government during the Second World War, with the aim of resisting the expected occupation of the United Kingdom by Nazi Germany, after a planned invasion codenamed Operation Sea Lion. Having had the […]
Key Facts See Poynings Flame Fougasse page for more details
Under all that 1/4″ steel plate is a Triumph WO-3SW cica 1939 350cc single side valve. Possiblly the slowest bike in the war at now over 600lbs! The B&W photos of the original bike (they only made one) where taken in the summer of 1940. Sean Walsh
Tillingbourne Brook, East Shalford Lane, Ngr TQ 012474 On a section of GHQ Line B near Shalford in Surrey is a badly deteriorating, but still highly interesting drum shaped anti tank gun emplacement. Postioned on the edge of a woods and a gentle slope facing south west, its map […]
Key Facts No doubt many of you will have noticed the large number of Concrete `Pipe` type pillboxes sprouting in military establishments during the last few years. In my experience they appear to be mainly used by the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force, though I have no doubt that […]
Key facts Tett turrets at RAF Hornchurch, Essex The former airfield at RAF Hornchurch in Essex boasts the largest concentration of surviving tett turrets in the country. This ultra rare form of one-man pillbox would have been extremely cramped and restrictive for the guy inside! Thankfully the surviving tett turrets […]
Airfield Defence Pillbox The first thing that people say when they see a Seagull Trench is… “Look at the size of that”! With overall dimensions of approximately 70ft X 13ft it is not surprising that this `Airfield Defence Pillbox` is something to get excited about! Paul Francis, Airfield Archaeologist, wrote […]
Turnbull Mounts Turnbull mounts were not exclusively used for mounting Vickers machine-guns but Brens, Lewis, water cooled Brownings and Hotchkiss MGs could all be used, there was even a request from Bovington if a gun bar could be designed for there Besa Machine guns. I suspect in fact that Bren […]
Key Facts
Key Facts The ‘Lifting & Turning Fort’ In the summer of 1940 many engineering companies approached government departments with plans for defence structures designed to their own specifications. The New Kent Construction Company of Ashford, submitted plans for a “disappearing pillbox” for airfield defence to the designs of Donald Hamilton […]
Key Facts More details and examples here
Extended Defence Officer Posts The function of EXDO (or, equally valid for this context. XDO) in the Royal Navy dates from April 3rd 1914 when the duty of so called `submarine mining` passed from the R.E.s to the R.N. The first such unit to transfer and be joined (i.e. re-badged) […]
Key Facts
Key Facts See The Northumberland Beehive Pillbox for more details
Key facts Allan-Williams Turrets at Bembridge Fort, Isle of Wight in 1988Photographs Kevin Briggs
A ‘Beginners’ Guide for visitors As a fairly regular Visitor to the Pas-De-Calais I decided one day to make a trip to France with the sole purpose of discovering the many Pillboxes and Gun emplacements which litter the coastline and make up the, Atlantik Wall’. Several trips later and it […]
Having decided to visit the Bombing Decoy Site at Offchurch we travelled eastwards along the Grand Union Canal towards Radford Semele so we could have a quick look at the Type 24 Pillbox, which is located on the non-towpath side of the canal at Radford Bottom Lock. The Pillbox can […]
WW2 History Trail in Hong Kong by Graham G. Matthews In Hong Kong This walk traces the battle for Wong Nai Chung Gap on 19th December 1941, perhaps the bloodiest day of fighting in the short but brutal struggle for Hong Kong during World War II. I have followed the […]
Myself and two friends decided to investigate the canal between Napton and Priors Hardwick which formed part of the Oxford Canal Stop Stop Line. De-bussing at Napton we headed for the towpath at Bridge 113 and headed South to Bridge 114 at Chapel Green and here on the west side […]
WW2 Defences beside the River Mole After an early morning visit to Dorking my wife and I decided to take an interesting riverside walk close to the Surrey hills, this by a strange coincidence would take us by some remaining WW2 defences! Starting at the bottom of Box hill and […]
A Walk Along Chesil Beach Abbotsbury Open Machine Gun Emplacements & Defences NGR: SY5665984083 & SY5666484097 During August 2006 I was kindly given a tour of some of the remaining defences in Dorset by Graham Matthews our previous PSG Web-master. Visiting Chesil beach at Abbotsbury was on the route and […]
A very clean and intact type 22 saw daylight again on 1st June 2010. The Pillbox had lain very much overgrown and hidden from view at the rear of the site of the old village hall at East Stoke near Wareham, Dorset. Graham had been given the chance to uncover […]
February 2010, A type 24 emerges from the undergrowth. On a cold and wet February day a keen PSG team tackled one of the most overgrown pillboxes to date, this time it would reveal what we believed to be the best surviving bullet proof FW3/24 on the MOD land at […]
A Hampshire 8 Sided Pillbox re-discovered. PILLBOX: S0011186 (Extant) A forgotten and unusual pillbox re-appeared again late October 2008 when myself, Tim Burt and Philip Riley met to carry out a project uncovering a part of Odiham’s hidden wartime history. During 1940 there was a possibility of airborne troop and […]
As part of the Maiden Newton at War Weekend members of the Pillbox Study Group carried out a restoration of a Type 22 Pillbox on the edge of the village.
March 2008 saw myself and PSG member Tim Burt meet up to work on an overgrown Type 24. I had worked on an adjacent example at the beginning of January 2008 and as an on going project it enabled me to show PSG members a ‘cleaned off’ example during […]
Early in January 2008 I completed a relatively easy task exposing a fine collection of dragons teeth that had become virtually hidden by many years of undergrowth. Set on the sloping south bank of the Basingstoke Canal at Crookham in Hampshire, they once formed part of the aldershot west defence […]
I had been given permission by the landowner to carry out a study on the Vickers machine gun emplacement earlier in the year but had decided to leave until the winter months for the leaves to have fallen. Armed with spades, broom and various other tools, myself and fellow PSG […]
Restoration Of The Tulk‘s Hill Observation Pillbox When you have been married to a ‘Pillbox Spotter’ for as long as I have then you will understand that `concrete-itis` is just part of life`s rich tapestry and that it`s quite normal to drive around the countryside peering over hedges! If you […]
Revealed, a long hidden Hampshire Pillbox. On a bitterly cold day during January 2007, Graham Matthews and I spent a morning giving a ‘makeover’ to an unusual shell-proof pillbox near Hook in Hampshire. The wartime structure had lain shrouded in undergrowth for the past 30 years or so, and could hardly be […]
Study & ‘Makeover’ Of A Shellproof Pillbox The pillbox is on private land near to the GHQ line at Crookham in Hampshire and is one of only two of this design. During January 2006 the landowner very kindly allowed me to carry out a study and survey of the unusual […]
Restoration Of The ‘Dorset Round Type’ One-Off Design Pillbox At Sy 7600-9060 Initial Thoughts Whilst travelling around the Dorset countryside in the mid-1990’s as a ‘Field Researcher’ for the Defence of Britain Project, I stumbled across a unique Pillbox, the type of which I have not seen replicated at any other location in […]