The Arun - Ouse stop line Part II (Very Pic Heavy - I mean it, there are 66 I think?)

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cptpies

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This is the second part of my attempt to document the defences along the Arun – Ouse Stop line. After a little research I’ve discovered this line actually extends from Horsham down to Hyth via Uckfield and is a XII Corps command line acting as a stop in front of the main GHQ line defences. This post will document the defences around the Nodal Point of Handcross which just happens to be where I live. The first section covers the roadblock at Carterslodge Lane, the second covers the defences around the village of Slaugham, and the third the defences around the village of Staplefield. DoB references are in brackets after the first mention of the sites.

Firstly the Carterslodge Lane roadblock.

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This roadblock sits astride the B2110 which would have been a primary route towards London from forces landing in the Littlehampton area. The block itself consists of a line of Anti Tank Coffins (8042 & 15351) which straddle the road. These are covered at close range by a Type 28A Pillbox (3807) equipped with a Hotchkiss 6Pdr and an infantry chamber on the west side to prevent a flanking manoeuvre by infantry to the northwest down Carterslodge lane. To block a wider flanking manoeuvre to the northwest a second roadblock exists at the dam by the hammer pond. Another row of Coffins (8041) sit alongside the track on its northeast side blocking access to the woods at this point. The lane itself sits in a slight cutting with a ditch and bank on the northeast side between the two sets of coffins creating an effective anti tank barrier. Covering the Coffins at the hammer pond is a cunningly sited Type 26 Pillbox.

The Coffins on the southeast side of the B2110.
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The Coffins on the northwest side of the B2110.
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The Type 28A shot from the northwest and hidden in the woods.
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From the front the Type 28A looks standard with a single infantry embrasure and a large embrasure for a 6Pdr.
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However the north western corner of the pillbox is chamfered with a LMG embrasure in it to cover the north and west flanks of the pillbox. It has an excellent field of fire most of the way down the lane, perfectly enfilading any infantry trying to cross it.
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There is another LMG embrasure on the northeast face of the 6Pdr chamber
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The blast wall has an odd buttress possibly for support or extra protection against fire from the west. There is also a rifle embrasure in it.
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Inside the pillbox is in good condition. Amazing since it’s so close to the road and a layby. The 6Pdr holdfast is still in place but heavily rusted.
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The front LMG embrasure still has its wooden shelf in place.
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As does the angled rear LMG embrasure. The partition wall between the chambers can be seen in the left of this shot, showing the acute angle the rear wall is at.
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And finally the internal port between the chambers that is obviously home to an incontinent pigeon.
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Now on to the roadblock at the bottom of Carterslodge Lane. The coffins (8041) here are placed where the road comes out of its cutting, continuing the natural anti tank obstacle of the ditch and bank mentioned previously, they end at the dam of the hammer pond.
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They are covered by a Type 26 pillbox (8040) sited on the north bank of the steep and deep valley below the pond dam; it faces southeast to intercept any infantry trying to outflank the Type 28A.
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The view from the northeast shows that there are no embrasures in the northeastern face of the pillbox.
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The front LMG embrasure faces southeast across the valley.
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The only other LMG embrasure faces southwest down the valley.
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The entrance is actually in the northeastern face but the blast wall loops around the northern corner of the pillbox to the northwestern face where the steps descend. What looks like an embrasure is actually a ventilation port. There is a slightly oddly placed embrasure in this face which can be seen just at the top of the steps.
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The interior is a simple square chamber with a wooden shelf running along the two sides with LMG embrasures.
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The rear embrasure reveals itself to be a pistol port allowing the occupants to fire up at the entrance steps. There’s some interesting anatomical graffiti too.
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The defences to the southeast of the B2110 roadblock, where the line crosses from the river Arun to the river Ouse, either no longer exist or haven’t been recorded. It’s private land so I’ll get permission to go looking at some point. The section of line between here and the next lot of known defences is actually the two hammer ponds which form a formidable water obstacle, but there should still be at least one pillbox immediately southeast of the B2110. The next section of known defences starts at the dam of the southern hammer pond west of Slaugham. Here the road over the dam was blocked by a large number of cones (8045 & 2309) and enfiladed by a unique machinegun pillbox (8044). Attempts to outflank this pillbox southward would have run into fire from the two storey Type 24 (8043) that I documented here. [ame]http://www.derelictplaces.co.uk/main/showthread.php?t=12229[/ame]. Further southeast is another Type 24 (8046) which covers a crossing of the river Ouse that is blocked by some Coffins (1503). The line then jogs east along the Ouse and across the water obstacle of Slaugham pond. At the eastern end of the pond is yet another Type 24 (12871) covering a roadblock of Coffins (8048) which straddle a small bridge across the outflow from the pond, the Type 26 listed here doesn’t exist and is probably a misidentification of the Type 24. There are also some pimples which are probably ex-situ on the track to Slaugham Place. I suspect these came from somewhere near the last Type 24 on this section (8049) which covers the bridge over the Ouse at Slaugham Place. This one is on private property in the grounds of a police training college so forgive me if I didn’t nip over the fence for a closer look, it’s mostly buried anyway.

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These are the cones at the hammer pond dam. A few months ago only the ones at either end of the dam were visible, which is why they were recorded individually. Some kind soul has dug up the bank that the rest were buried in and all of them are now visible.
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It took me a while to find the pillbox which enfilades the dam but it was right infront of my eyes a lot of the time, buried up to embrasure level.
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It has just one embrasure with a cutout at the top to allow the gun to elevate far enough to fire at the road across the dam.
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The entrance to this rectangular structure is in the east side and has a lip to prevent flooding.
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Apologies for the quality of the picture, there was nowhere to rest the camera in the dark as the interior is flooded to about 6 inches and obviously gets a lot deeper in winter. Hopefully you can see the gun table for an HMG is built into the embrasure.
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There appears to be a couple of ventilation ports in the east side but I couldn’t see the external apertures and no light was coming through them suggesting they were buried.
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The Type 24 at the Ouse crossing is in somebody’s garden and looks to be pretty inaccessible again I’ll go and ask nicely to see it at some point.
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The Coffins at the crossing are in very good condition though, two on either side of the road on the north side of the bridge.
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The Type 24 at the eastern end of the pond is in very good condition. It’s on church land and the entrance is barred. It has unusually large vents above some of the embrasures
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The pillbox is partly buried and has a pistol port in the blast wall.
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Some shots through the embrasures showing the rear LMG embrasure and part of the anti-ricochet wall.
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The three Coffins at the pond outflow have recently had the vegetation cleared from them. The central one has been dug up and moved off the track.
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A couple of shots of the pimples near Slaugham Place, it looks like they originally had tube sections in them to help manhandle them.
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The buried pillbox in the grounds of Slaugham Place is listed as a Type 24 it may actually be a Type 26, it’s hard to make out the shape.
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The line continues to follow the Ouse to the east and the next section passes south of the village of Staplefield and crosses the A23 which would have been a major route to London for forces landed in Brighton and Worthing. This obviously required some anti tank defences which appear in the form of two Type 28A’s straddling the road. One to the west (3817) a short distance east of the pillbox at Slaugham Place, and one to the east (1502). The eastern one is on open farmland and next to an anti tank horizontal rail, neither of which I visited. Once again I’ll go back at some point and ask to see them. Some cylinders are listed at the entrance to Home Farm (8050) these turned out to be ex-situ cones, probably moved from the A23 roadblock that would have existed between the two type 28A’s. The next pillbox along is a Type 24 (8051) which is covering another crossing of the Ouse which was blocked by anti tank vertical rails. The sockets for these still exist but were unrecorded by the DoB. There is then a large gap between this pillbox and the next where there ought to be a pillbox but nothing is recorded, it should be approximately where the farm buildings are, again I’ll look around there at some point. The last pillbox on this section is listed as a Type 24 but is actually a variant (8052) this covers the Ouse crossing on the Cuckfield road which was blocked by Coffins (8053) There are also some ex-situ cones at the entrance to Little Ashfold Farm which probably came from the same place as those at Home Farm.

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The Type 28A to the west of the A23 is a standard rectangular one fitted out for a 6Pdr Hotchkiss.
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It has a very unusual freestanding blast wall that runs the length of the back face and is buttressed at both ends. It has two embrasures in it.
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One entrance is blocked by a tree, the other a round bale to stop the resident horse getting stuck inside. So the only way in is through the embrasure.
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The main embrasure is purpose built for a 6Pdr like all the other 28A’s in the area and like the others the holdfast is still in place, even with some nuts on the bolts!
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As you can see the inside was at least 6 inches deep in mud and I was on my bike so didn’t have wellies on. I took these shots through the embrasure.
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The infantry chamber has an unusual pistol port in it at the back.
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The cones outside Home Farm have been painted white for visibility.
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The next Type 24 is right on the banks of the Ouse and is buried up to the embrasures.
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The blast wall has been knocked over into the entrance well making access difficult; the rear face has two LMG embrasures with vents above them.
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Inside a little fairy has been hard at work prettying the place up.
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The pillbox overlooks a small bridge that was blocked with vertical rails. Two sockets remain on either side of the road, the rest are probably under the tarmac.
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The last pillbox on this section is a Type 24 variant. From the front it looks standard.
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From the back it looks standard.
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But inside there are only LMG embrasures in the front three faces and pistol ports in the rear face. The side walls are only about 3 feet long making it only the front half of a Type 24. The front of the embrasures has nails in it probably where a wooden shelf was attached.
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There’s still room for a stumpier than usual anti-ricochet wall which has been partly demolished.
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This pillbox overlooks the Ouse crossing on the Cuckfield road where two badly overgrown Coffins still lurk.
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Last but not least a little north of the river crossing are these two partly buried cones. They aren’t recorded anywhere as far as I know.
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Are you still here? Well done, go and get yourself a beer.
 
AS above, cracking report, very infomative with some real nice pics, well done on a top job:mrgreen:
 
Absolutely crackin',top notch report-thoroughly enjoyed it.Never seen coffins before,seems like you have an abundance of 'em down there.Who do you think has been doing the tidying up work,i've often thought what a great day out that would make espescially if you could open up a good view point on one of our unique variant style pillboxes which are completely covered in vegetation !!! Up for it anyone !!!?
 
Thanks for the positive comments everyone. I think it took less time to take the pictures than it did to put the post together :)

Fluffy if you are serious about cleaning up some pillboxes I suggest you post on the new PSG forum at http://pillboxstudygroup.freeforums.org/ There's a restoration kicking off at Drone Hill CHL station on the Type 27s there but if you know of a good candidate in your area you can ask for volunteers there. There's not many registered yet but it will pick up eventually. As for the stuff that's been cleaned up I think mainly the farmers have been cutting back the weeds but the cones at the hammer pond are on land used by an angling club so I think it may have been them that cleared up.

As far as I know Coffins are unique to this stop line, there are a few listed elsewhere but may be misidentified.

Cheers

Steve
 
Really cracking report, cpt. I can't get over how many unusual types and variants there are...as well as all the different kinds of anti-tank blocks.
Excellent stuff, cheers. :)
 
Fantastic report, well researched, well structured, well illustrated, 11 out of 10 mate. It's great to see these defences, that we generally see in isolation and think no more about, put into context (and it'll be much the same for many of them across the UK). Excellent job.
:)
 
Outstanding Capn.

Finally got round to looking at this thread. It's taken me a while cos I've been a bit obsessed with getting some of my own stuff up.

To echo the other posters - research spot on, pics very good and well shot. Enjoyed the virtual tour idea and was actually dissappointed when I reached the end.

That's my kind of report. :) :)
 
Excellent report. I will get that beer now you offered at the end of your post :lol: I have often wondered how effective the defences would have been if a full scale invasion had been launched by the Germans. Would they have stood up against the prolonged Stuka - Panza attack ? Would they just have delayed the enivitable outcome ? Are there any publications that would detail the likely outcome if the invasion had occurred ?
 
Nobody knows for sure what the outcome would have been, but in the 60's the actual generals and other officers that would have fought those battles got together and wargamed it out. The outcome of that was that we won, but I've no knowledge of the assumptions that were made regarding air superiority. I suspect that even a remnant of the RAF combined with the Navy would have put a serious dent in the invasion force in the channel.
 
RE Wargame

Nobody knows for sure what the outcome would have been, but in the 60's the actual generals and other officers that would have fought those battles got together and wargamed it out. The outcome of that was that we won, but I've no knowledge of the assumptions that were made regarding air superiority. I suspect that even a remnant of the RAF combined with the Navy would have put a serious dent in the invasion force in the channel.

The excellent series "the real dads army" detailed this wargame,it was very interesting indeed i will try finding a link to the episode online
 
First rate report but too much detail to digest during my lunch break.:mrgreen: I'll have to come back and savor it later!
 
Thanks for the link simaving. I was trying to remember which book I'd learned about the wargame in and now I remember it was that program, which is what got me into the whole pillbox thing in the first place.
 

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