Dawlish Warren is a sand spit at the mouth of the Exe estuary which would have provided a wonderful landing beach in the event of an axis invasion. Its main drawback is there is only one way off the spit to the west and this area was covered by at least eight pillboxes, only two of which remain one of which is easily accessible on the edge of the golf course.
These pillboxes are unlike anything I’ve previously seen. They are rectangular with two embrasures in the front and the southern face and one in the rear and northern face. The roof is a large irregular overhanging slab and weirdly they have two entrances, both in the rear.
The side embrasures are closely spaced. The shuttering is concrete blockwork.
A closer view of the roof shows the irregular edge to break up the outline of the box from the air.
The northern entrance is very low and has a blast wall with a roof slab similar to the main roof, it exits to the rear.
The “main” entrance is in the centre of the rear wall and has no blast wall. You can see the thickness of the walls here.
Internally there is a cross shaped anti-ricochet wall.
The embrasures are a standard Bren type with a cutout in the shelf to accommodate the rear tripod legs.
The box is being used as a dump by the golf club.
The second pillbox sits a few hundred yards away across the busy first fairway so I didn’t attempt to get to it. At first glance it seems to be a twin of the other but the blast walled entrance is on the west side (rear) but exits to the south, and that side has two embrasures in it, one above the entrance unlike the other. If there is a second entrance it’s in one of the other faces.
Thanks for ogling.
These pillboxes are unlike anything I’ve previously seen. They are rectangular with two embrasures in the front and the southern face and one in the rear and northern face. The roof is a large irregular overhanging slab and weirdly they have two entrances, both in the rear.
The side embrasures are closely spaced. The shuttering is concrete blockwork.
A closer view of the roof shows the irregular edge to break up the outline of the box from the air.
The northern entrance is very low and has a blast wall with a roof slab similar to the main roof, it exits to the rear.
The “main” entrance is in the centre of the rear wall and has no blast wall. You can see the thickness of the walls here.
Internally there is a cross shaped anti-ricochet wall.
The embrasures are a standard Bren type with a cutout in the shelf to accommodate the rear tripod legs.
The box is being used as a dump by the golf club.
The second pillbox sits a few hundred yards away across the busy first fairway so I didn’t attempt to get to it. At first glance it seems to be a twin of the other but the blast walled entrance is on the west side (rear) but exits to the south, and that side has two embrasures in it, one above the entrance unlike the other. If there is a second entrance it’s in one of the other faces.
Thanks for ogling.
