This post shows some types of Anti-Tank obstacles that were used during the war.
Tim Denton
83 posts
Loopholed Walls are one of the less common forms of surviving defences as they are often bricked up or filled in to prevent the walls collapsing. Another well known Loophole wall survives in Elstead Village in Surrey NGR: SU937406, this was part of GHQ Line B defences around the village […]
The most unusual and unique pillbox on the Basingstoke Canal is undoubtedly the tall variant built into the sloping embankment above Tundry Pond at Dogmersfield Hampshire, ngr SU777524 . I have heard it described as a tower, double decker and a staircase pillbox, all of which describe first appearances but this […]
Prefab Type 26 Pillbox 52B, Lock 15, Brookwood Bridge, Surrey. SU943569 Back in the spring a meeting with Basingstoke Canal Authority Ranger Sara Green decided that winter 2015 was going to the best time to work on this pillbox. The type 26 had become very overgrown and filled with […]
Woodsford Castle Defence, Dorchester. SY758903 This square and somewhat part disguised pillbox is built into the garden wall of Woodsford Castle near Warmwell Airfield and Dorchester, this defence once formed part of the Southern Command, Dorchester to Poole Stop Line. PSG Graham Matthews recorded the unusual design for the […]
Just over three years ago PSG members completed the Rescue Archaeology on six of the 18 pillboxes that lay on Ministry land at Ewshot in Hampshire. With permission from the MOD and Taylor Wimpey two pairs of Vickers Machine Gun emplacements and two bullet proof type 24 pillboxes were gradually […]
This unusually tall rectangular pillbox can be found beside the A3023 Havant Rd at Hayling Island a short distance after leaving Langstone Bridge. This defence is a one off design and was constructed to shellproof specification with 3ft thick walls, the pillbox shares some similar build details as found on two […]
FW3/24 at Great Copse, Ranmore Common, Surrey. Sequence number 86 – NGR TQ125495. Continuing on the North Downs another unusual built pillbox can be found south of Great Copse near Ranmore Common. This modified type 24 sits at the edge of a very steep forward drop which continues around to […]
GHQ Line B Anti Tank Defence. By Tim Denton. This design of anti tank emplacement is unique and can only be found on GHQ Line B between Elstead and west of the A3 at Peper Harow in Surrey, each defence covers wide open fields as well as important road […]
Brooklands Museum, Weybridge, Surrey. TQ 0699562943 This small and unique six sided pillbox can be found within the Brooklands Museum at Weybridge in Surrey close to other British icons such as Concorde and the VC10, although it can be seen close up it is currently inaccessible and has a locked door. […]
The hexagonal Anti-tank gun emplacement or gun pit as it can also be called is one of the more rarely found defences. Working in conjunction with pillboxes as well as trenches and roadblocks they were primarily positioned to cover points of strategic importance such as road, railway, canal and […]
Hampshire and Surrey Bullet Proof Variant. Ten examples of this bullet proof pillbox survive making it one of the rarest local designs found within Aldershot Command in both Hampshire and Surrey. Similar in appearance to a standard type 22 this small defence has eight sides instead of six, the majority […]
A Vickers Emplacement 70 Years On An early morning in July saw myself and Mike Hopton meet up to recreate how a fully equipped pillbox would have appeared seventy years ago. The purpose of the day was not only to see how it looked, but also to record the task […]
This tall but slim profile type 24 can be found beside the North Downs Way above Wotton in Surrey. On GHQ Line B Bullet proof pillboxes disappear between Hurtmore and re-emerge on the slopes above Brockham East of Dorking so this strange shaped bullet proof type 24 appears out of […]
Shellproof defence built for site,Wotton,Surrey. Ngr TQ121494 Along the route of the North Downs Way between Newlands Corner and Ranmore there are dozens of pillboxes that formed the defensive back bone on the Surrey Hills , most of the defences are Shell proof Type 24s but there are variations on how some were finished. […]
Along GHQ Line B south of Guildford between Godalming and Chilworth there are eighteen unique shaped pillboxes that were constructed by J Mowlem builders. The Mowlem Company built the defences in their own style, for ease and speed they substituted the normal procedure of using bricks for permanent shuttering for […]
Wiltshire’s Smallest Pillbox. Ngr SU188692 Most people walking down Kingsbury Street in Marlborough wouldn’t give it a second glance but this mini pillbox is unique and very unusual. First appearing In Henry Wills “Pillboxes†in 1985 the mini defence appears to have been built over a bricked up doorway leading to […]
Netley Park House, North Downs, Shere. GHQ Line B Rescue Archaeology Ngr TQ079486 At the end of January 2012 Rob Hewer who leads the National Trust team that looks after the North Downs Way invited us over help to carry out some essential clearance work around and in a type […]
Cuckmere Haven’s One Man Pillbox Variants Ngr TV520977 and 521977 Within the Seven Sisters country park there are two very small and easily missed miniature pillboxes, both are highly unusual and possibly one man defence posts. .Sitting in the side of the east valley this small rectangular defence is partially covered by […]
Cuckmere Haven Variant Machine Gun Emplacements There are three of this local design variant to be found within the Seven Sisters country park near Seaford in East Sussex, two are accessible and the other is sealed with a door. The specification is similar to a standard Vickers Machine gun emplacement with […]
Aldershot Command Spigot Mortar Base. Black Bridge, Hook, Hampshire. SU718537 This project had taken several years to come to fruition but during the last 12 months, after many letters, phone calls and a site meeting permission was granted by Natural England and the Hampshire and IOW Trust who manage the […]
Trenches from both world wars are pretty rare to find in good condition after nearly 100 years in the open air.
Rare and unusual designs normally built for a specific location where observation and a clear view of fire was essential and not necessarily possible with a standard design of pillbox. Bulletproof Double Storey Pillbox, Slaugham, West Sussex. S0008043 TQ 249277 This brick shuttered two level defence can be found facing east at […]
National Trust North Downs Pillbox Day Surrey National Trust and head warden Rob Hewer had organised and arrange this special day with the 23rd Sussex Home Guard re-enactment group under the command of Richard Hunt. Sunday the 13th of September 2009 was probably the first time the GHQ Line B […]
In the late 1930s as threat of war with Germany grew so did the general anticipation that if war came it would involve an aerial bombing campaign. The railway companies were faced with the prospect of keeping vital buildings, such as signal boxes, operational despite the threat of damage from […]
The rescue & recording of two Vickers gun emplacements A sunny October morning in 2009 saw well known PSG members meet to start on operation Cromwell, a project carrying out a study to uncover, record and renovate some of Ewshot’s many surviving pillboxes for hopeful long term survival. The team […]
Anti-tank Cylinder and Mine Socket Excavation, Blacksmith’s Bridge, Dogmersfield, Hampshire. During the winter months of late 2007 and early 2008 I was involved in the discovery and excavation of mine sockets on Blacksmith’s Bridge, Dogmersfield in Hampshire. Previously only three of these sockets were visible. At first it was thought […]
http://www.gsia.org.uk/canals/projects/s04_ars_pillboxes.pdf
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 […]
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 […]