Key facts Allan-Williams Turrets at Bembridge Fort, Isle of Wight in 1988Photographs Kevin Briggs
Variant And Local Designs
41 posts
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 bridges […]
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 […]
Key Facts See The Northumberland Beehive Pillbox for more details
Key Facts
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 […]
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 […]
Dover Quad Pillbox The Dover Quad pillbox has a square plan and is 4m on a side. It has an overhanging concrete slab roof supported on 8 pillars, one at each corner and in the centre of each wall. This creates 8 wide embrasures offering minimal protection to the occupants […]
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 Defence […]
Eastern Command Type This Type is almost unique to Essex (two exist north of Cambridge) and only occur on the main Eastern Command line. It is an Infantry variant of the Vickers Machine Gun Emplacement (VMG), being square in plan with external walls 4m in length. The front corners are […]
Eared Pillbox This pillbox gets its name from its unusual entrance arrangement which from some angles suggests it has ears. This type is only found in the North East along the stretch of coast between Scarborough and Withernsea. The design is intended to house two Vickers Machineguns in an […]
Essex Lozenge This type is unique to the Essex coastline and is purpose designed to command the flat lying land around the estuaries. It is an elongated octagon in shape having three angled faces of approximately 2m length at either end and 7m long sidewalls allowing the pillbox to straddle […]
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) […]
Fort Brockhurst, Gosport, Hampshire. Ngr SU595 018 This unusual design for light machine gun defence can be found on the perimeter of Fort Brockhurst in Gosport. The rectangular breeze block pillbox is postioned facing south west covering the junction of Rowner and Fareham Road. The block built structure features […]
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 […]
Lincolnshire Three Bay The Lincolnshire three bay pillbox is a variant form of the FW3/23. Essentially it is two of that type placed back to back and sharing an AAMG well to create a rectangular pillbox approximately 6.5m long and 2.5m wide with three fighting compartments. The two enclosed chambers […]
Lozenge Pillbox The lozenge type is found only in the Northeast of England. The type is an elongated hexagon in shape with long front and rear walls and two short angled walls at either end. The entrance is offset from the centre of the rear wall and is covered by […]
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 […]
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 More details and examples here
Key Facts Norcon with concrete sectioned roof and brick finish covering the ford on the River Frome at Moreton,Dorset. Here’s a walkround video of a Norcon pillbox at Lyrawa on Hoy, Orkney.
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 […]
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 […]
Northumberland D Type This variant is only found in Northumberland and 17 examples are known to exist. The name comes from the shape of the pillbox. It superficially resembles a Type 24 in that it is an irregular hexagon with three front faces and a long back wall, but […]
From the Manual Of Field Engineering Vol. 1 (All Arms) 1933 comes a description of how and when to build the type of emplacement described here. CHAPTER IX. PROTECTIVE WORKS 36. Machine-gun emplacements 1. General. In mobile warfare there will seldom be time or material for elaborate emplacements, and guns […]
Pentagonal Pillboxes Pentagonal pillboxes, as the name suggests, are regular pentagons in shape. This general type appears to be an Air Ministry design as the remaining examples are only found on or close to airfields, there are 19 examples still extant. Some examples have embrasures in all the faces with […]
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 […]
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
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 […]
ROF Type The ROF type is a bespoke design only found at Royal Ordnance depots and factories. It is a small square pillbox with distinctive long narrow embrasures in each wall. The door is low and usually covered by a porch with a slightly angled roof. The long narrow embrasure […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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
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 […]
Key Facts Build variations can be found with different positioning of secondary loopholes and air vent, length and thickness of blast wall and design of main gun table. The highest concentrations of the Vickers MMG emplacement can be found on the Taunton Stop line and GHQ Line A and B […]
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 […]