GHQ Line (Berkshire/Hampshire/Surrey/Kent)
These defences formed part of the GHQ Line (Berkshire/Hampshire/Surrey/Kent) - West - East section of GHQ Line running from Reading through Hampshire and West Surrey to Kent (Leigh) following in part a line south of the North Downs.
Couple of links I found on the net.
http://homepage.virgin.net/martin.farncombe/gardens/gardenhtm/pillboxes.htm
http://www.shepheard.plus.com/sds/
For the last few weeks Ive been working in and around Guildford, So while I was down here I thought I would put my spare time to good use, starting with Elstead, Surrey. West of the A3.
Found some info about Shellproof Gun-houses for Anti-tank and Field Guns - Type 28
Although pillboxes in the group Type 28 follow similar guidelines, each individual pillbox is different. This diversity can be seen by differences in wall thickness, the amount of rifle loops, the materials used for construction, camouflage and other modifications such as shutters and blast walls. The construction of pillboxes required a casing to allow the concrete to be poured and dried in shape, this process is known as shuttering. When built the concrete may be shuttered with wooden boards, corrugated iron sheets or bricks. When shuttered with brick, the shuttering was often left on the outside of the concrete casing, as it would have been inefficient to remove the mould. This added an extra layer to the pillboxes created in this way, often making them appear as made from bricks alone. It was realised that the pillboxes would be required to withstand artillery and dive-bomber attacks and so many pillboxes were made shellproof by increasing the thickness of the walls.
The Type 28 is usually a rectangular shaped shellproof pillbox designed as a gun-house for anti-tank weaponry. The Type 28 usually consisted of a large embrasure to the front for an anti-tank weapon and several smaller loopholes suitable for rifles and light machine guns to the sides and rear of the pillbox. These pillboxes would have been equipped with a single two or six pounder anti-tank gun. Type 28 pillboxes would usually be placed as part of a defensive network to help compensate for the smaller field of fire. The Type 28’s flaw was that there were no forward facing small arms loopholes and a quite restricted field of fire to the sides, leaving the Type 28 vulnerable to enemy infantry attacks. To counter this, modifications were made to the Type 28 design to help produce the Type 28a.
Ive already passed on the corrections on to cptpies which I have used blue pin's to high-light where the pillboxes actually are on the D.O.B. Google earth image.
PILLBOX (TYPE FW3/28): S0002538
Cracking view.
Hooks for the camo nets still intact.
PILLBOX (TYPE FW3/22): S0010195
PILLBOX (TYPE FW3/22): S0002535
PILLBOX (TYPE FW3/28): S0011728
Spotted these on the way back which were a extra bonus.
ANTI TANK BLOCK: S0010121 Location: Nr. Ockford railway bridge, Godalming.
More pic's can be found here
http://s971.photobucket.com/albums/ae195/WinchItIn/Surrey%20GHQ%20Line%20Part%201%202012/#!cpZZ1QQtppZZ24
Thanks for looking.
Winch
These defences formed part of the GHQ Line (Berkshire/Hampshire/Surrey/Kent) - West - East section of GHQ Line running from Reading through Hampshire and West Surrey to Kent (Leigh) following in part a line south of the North Downs.
Couple of links I found on the net.
http://homepage.virgin.net/martin.farncombe/gardens/gardenhtm/pillboxes.htm
http://www.shepheard.plus.com/sds/
For the last few weeks Ive been working in and around Guildford, So while I was down here I thought I would put my spare time to good use, starting with Elstead, Surrey. West of the A3.
Found some info about Shellproof Gun-houses for Anti-tank and Field Guns - Type 28
Although pillboxes in the group Type 28 follow similar guidelines, each individual pillbox is different. This diversity can be seen by differences in wall thickness, the amount of rifle loops, the materials used for construction, camouflage and other modifications such as shutters and blast walls. The construction of pillboxes required a casing to allow the concrete to be poured and dried in shape, this process is known as shuttering. When built the concrete may be shuttered with wooden boards, corrugated iron sheets or bricks. When shuttered with brick, the shuttering was often left on the outside of the concrete casing, as it would have been inefficient to remove the mould. This added an extra layer to the pillboxes created in this way, often making them appear as made from bricks alone. It was realised that the pillboxes would be required to withstand artillery and dive-bomber attacks and so many pillboxes were made shellproof by increasing the thickness of the walls.
The Type 28 is usually a rectangular shaped shellproof pillbox designed as a gun-house for anti-tank weaponry. The Type 28 usually consisted of a large embrasure to the front for an anti-tank weapon and several smaller loopholes suitable for rifles and light machine guns to the sides and rear of the pillbox. These pillboxes would have been equipped with a single two or six pounder anti-tank gun. Type 28 pillboxes would usually be placed as part of a defensive network to help compensate for the smaller field of fire. The Type 28’s flaw was that there were no forward facing small arms loopholes and a quite restricted field of fire to the sides, leaving the Type 28 vulnerable to enemy infantry attacks. To counter this, modifications were made to the Type 28 design to help produce the Type 28a.
Ive already passed on the corrections on to cptpies which I have used blue pin's to high-light where the pillboxes actually are on the D.O.B. Google earth image.
PILLBOX (TYPE FW3/28): S0002538
Cracking view.
Hooks for the camo nets still intact.
PILLBOX (TYPE FW3/22): S0010195
PILLBOX (TYPE FW3/22): S0002535
PILLBOX (TYPE FW3/28): S0011728
Spotted these on the way back which were a extra bonus.
ANTI TANK BLOCK: S0010121 Location: Nr. Ockford railway bridge, Godalming.
More pic's can be found here
http://s971.photobucket.com/albums/ae195/WinchItIn/Surrey%20GHQ%20Line%20Part%201%202012/#!cpZZ1QQtppZZ24
Thanks for looking.
Winch
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