Military Archaeology - Page 6

The_Historian · #**126** (**permalink**) July 24th, 2005, 07:19 PM

This is a crew shelter. Because the gunsite was built immediately pre-war, there were none of these originally. They were hurriedly built outside each gunpit, and surrounded by protective berms, as a result of crews taking casualties from strafing enemy aircraft during the Battle of Britain. Sites built later in the war had at least two of these inside each pit.

This is no2 gunpit.

These next two shots are of the cable conduits leading from the operations block to each gun. These carried the cables from the predictor and height/rangefinder equipment directly to each gun to enable rapid aiming.

This is the remains of an original instruction in the shelter of n0.3 gun...

And this is a unit badge in the same place...

It appears to be the AA Command badge of an arm firing a bow and arrow upwards, with '455' superimposed on it. This is probably a battery number, as I can't find any reference to an AA regiment of that number.

You can just see traces of the Dark Earth camouflage scheme on the outside of no.3 gunpit. This is more evidence of the battery's pre-war origin, as there would have been no need for camouflage paint if each pit had been intended to have earth banked against the walls.

The_Historian · #**127** (**permalink**) July 24th, 2005, 07:27 PM

This is inside no.3 magazine, but illegible...

While this is from the inside of no.4 gun shelter....

This shield looks like another unit badge, but the rest is also illegible unfortunately.

The_Historian · #**128** (**permalink**) July 24th, 2005, 07:35 PM

These are shots of the walls inside no.4 gunpit, the best preserved of the whole battery.
These markings would have marked off compass points (from contemporary magnetic north), and also any targets to be avoided, like nearby church spires.

The_Historian · #**129** (**permalink**) July 24th, 2005, 07:41 PM

This the operations block. Again one built during the war would have had a more logical layout, and also a ramp curving round from the building's front to the rear exit.

The_Historian · #**130** (**permalink**) July 24th, 2005, 07:48 PM

This is the most exciting building on the site...to me at any rate!
This is the building where the MkII Gun Laying radar was installed.

This is the only door in the building.

And on the wall are these equipment serial numbers.

The rest of the building is separated into two rooms, one each for transmitting/receiving sets. The only entry into each room is through one of these hatches; the two smaller ones lead to ducting for each room.

Anyway, sorry about the length of all these posts. Hope someone finds them interesting!

[ 24. July 2005, 02:59 PM: Message edited by: The_Historian ]

Martin Bull · #**131** (**permalink**) July 24th, 2005, 07:59 PM

An absolute model of good recording, Gordon ! By coincidence, there were two 3.7" AA guns on display at Beltring this weekend - very impressive guns indeed.

The_Historian · #**132** (**permalink**) July 24th, 2005, 08:04 PM

Glad you enjoyed Beltring, Martin, I bet the ack-ack guns were a visitor magnet. I'm presuming they were the mobile ones on wheeled trailers?
Glad you enjoyed the photos too; an enjoyable way to spend Sunday!

I actually came back with around 70 pictures, but these are probably the most interesting ones to most people. The rest only excite sad anoraks like wot I am.

[img]tongue.gif[/img]

Martin Bull · #**133** (**permalink**) July 25th, 2005, 08:17 AM

Yes, they were both in pristine condition and were the mobile AA version. This was the very complex and heavy mounting which precluded the gun becoming the 'British 88' for Anti-tank use in the early years of the war.

PS : What a trip down memory lane - this gun was the subject of my very first posting on the forum ( 3 long years ago !

)

The_Historian · #**134** (**permalink**) July 29th, 2005, 11:59 AM

It's been a beautiful summer so far. Any of the rest of you guys got snaps of any wartime sites found/visited? I keep feeling that Scotland generally, and Fife in particular, are like living museums when it comes to WW2 archaeology, but I know that can't be true. While I was in Dover looking for the hovercraft terminal, the clifftops were FULL of pillboxes, bunkers etc, so there must be loads of sites out there. I've got a list the length of your arm of sites I need to re-photograph-and that's just in central Scotland!

I photographed dozens of them about 10-15 years ago, then gave the snaps to the Defence of Britain Project and assumed I'd subsequently lost the negatives. I found all the negatives last year, but there are nearly 300 and it's acually cheaper to re-photograph all the sites with the digital camera and save them onto CD-ROM.
Anyone got any pictures of stuff in their neck of the woods?

Stevin · #**135** (**permalink**) July 29th, 2005, 09:35 PM

I haven't been to sites as such, but have been visiting wargraves all over the country, which will be added to my site in due course. I still plan to visit 'Arnhem' later this summer. Oh wait, the only site I did visit was a mansion in the Dunes near Bergen, Netherlands, which the germans took over and build an watch tower on top of, so they could observe the whole coastline there. To oversee the fortifications and check the Allied fleets off the coasts.

Nice thing is they build it in the same architectual form (?) as the mansion, which was really nice of them....Unfortunatley I don't have a pic handy....

The_Historian · #**136** (**permalink**) July 29th, 2005, 11:18 PM

Be interested to see one, Stevin. Your site's looking good btw.

It's like when I was on holiday in France last month: we passed two German casemates by the roadside on the way out of Calais when we arrived; I saw a couple of flak bunkers on the heights above the beach at Boulogne; a farm a few miles outside our village had substantial concrete bunkers-and I never managed to photograph ANY of them. [img]graemlins/no.gif[/img]

The_Historian · #**137** (**permalink**) August 2nd, 2005, 06:19 PM

I just found this on a newsfeeder. Anyone got any more info?
German Soldiers' Remains Unearthed in Lithuania

pillboxesuk · #**138** (**permalink**) August 3rd, 2005, 01:39 PM

Another new "concrete" book.

"Pillboxes - Images of An Unfought Battle"

The_Historian · #**139** (**permalink**) August 3rd, 2005, 04:05 PM

Hi Pillboxes, and welcome to the forum!
Do you know if that book is an improvement on Henry Wills' classic?

Martin Bull · #**140** (**permalink**) August 3rd, 2005, 04:14 PM

'Pillboxes' has been an occasional visitor to the forum before, Gordon ! Take a look at ; -

http://www.pillboxesuk.co.uk/

The_Historian · #**141** (**permalink**) August 3rd, 2005, 04:15 PM

Ah! Cheers, Martin ....can't believe I never saw that [img]redface.gif[/img]

pillboxesuk · #**142** (**permalink**) August 4th, 2005, 09:52 AM

I actually wrote the book.

It's not in the same style as Wills classic, it's a photo tour of mainly pillbox sites in the UK, but sounds like your cup of tea.

I've been collecting photos of these sites for over 30 years, so decided to give them a wider viewing!

pillboxesuk · #**143** (**permalink**) August 4th, 2005, 10:07 AM

PDF Preview Click here for a preview of the book.

The_Historian · #**144** (**permalink**) August 4th, 2005, 11:45 AM

Ian,
Many thanks for the preview, it looks a great book.

Personally, I'd have liked more on Scotland, but that's just me-no offence intended.
Have you thought of contacting the secretary at the UK Fortifications Club ? He's always looking for new books to review in the club magazine Aldis.
Then again, given my talent for putting my foot in it, you've probably been a member longer than I have!

Martin Bull · #**145** (**permalink**) August 4th, 2005, 04:23 PM

Thanks for the preview, Ian - looks like a book I'm going to have to get.....

Comforting to know that there's another borderline nutcase on the loose - I thought Gordon & I were the only ones !