Not sure which one you're referring to, do you mean the one with a 'cone' on top
Thats the one I am on about Hercules, its just north of Mundesely. What on Earth is the Cone all about?
Not sure which one you're referring to, do you mean the one with a 'cone' on top
I have a book on norfolks fixed defences which shows a picture of a 'turret with a Lewis gun mounted for AA use' and it states that the front opening was for use against infantry. Hypoboy was right about them being less conspicuous than pillbox as 'these were considered a desirable alternative to conventional pillboxes as they were lower and easier to conceal'
Apparently the C-in-C,Southern Command stated they had no value for AA use as it was too difficult to rotate and the field of fire was too small.
The book also mentions that one was built on TOP of a pillbox at Cromer!! surely that defeats the whole idea of them. Sadly was demolished long ago.
Hope Im not boring you.
Pillboxes were never manned...
Do Excuse me, what i meant was, if Jerry had stormed ashore would the crew be dual purpose or would the AA crew have relocated further inland and left the pillbox boys to it
Is the book Silent Sentinels? Might have to buy a copy if so. Looks interesting.
Does the book mention whether they were ever actually armed for AA use. Having stood inside one, there's no way I can see it being practical. Apart from anything else, the noise alone would send you insane in minutes. Even a smallish anti personnel gun would be bad enough. It'd also be a nightmare to operate the gun. From what I can remember of being inside, surely you'd have to use it kneeling?!
Is there any more detail of where the pillbox in Cromer was? I've got this vague memory of seeing something along those lines when I used to stay there with my grandparents as a kid. Probably went off the edge of the cliffs along with a few others along that stretch of coast?
Far from boring as well mate - this stuff fascinates me - doubly so if it's in my birth county
Is the book Silent Sentinels? Might have to buy a copy if so. Looks interesting.
Does the book mention whether they were ever actually armed for AA use. Having stood inside one, there's no way I can see it being practical. Apart from anything else, the noise alone would send you insane in minutes. Even a smallish anti personnel gun would be bad enough. It'd also be a nightmare to operate the gun. From what I can remember of being inside, surely you'd have to use it kneeling?!
Is there any more detail of where the pillbox in Cromer was? I've got this vague memory of seeing something along those lines when I used to stay there with my grandparents as a kid. Probably went off the edge of the cliffs along with a few others along that stretch of coast?
Far from boring as well mate - this stuff fascinates me - doubly so if it's in my birth county
Where they do occur on the coast or stop lines they are always close to conventional pillboxes which supports the view that they were primarily for AA raid defence. Where they do not, then they are invariably located at airfields, radar sites, army HQ's or artillery batteries all of which required AA defence rather than ground defence.
Assuming that's correct, can you shed any light on what this one supported? There are no significant defences nearby according to the DoB database?
That said I'm not sure why a couple of pillboxes weren't built there too. There may well have been some that were subsequently demolished. The DoB is far from comprehensive unfortunately.
That was really the point I was making. There was decoy airfield just to the NE at Sutton, a special ops field NW at Somersham and a railway just up the road, yet there's barely a pillbox in the area. Seems really odd, as an enemy force that made it that far would already hold a number of airfields and passing over the bridge would allow easy access to at least 5 more, with no effective stop lines in between. 10 miles up the road, there are countless type 22s, 24s and 28s, yet all they stuck here was a single AW turret and a couple of mortars. I'd love to track pictures down from the era, as I'm sure they can't have overlooked such a massively important point - but there's nothing been removed since as far as I'm aware.
I'm itching for the TARA archive to finally come on-line so I can get a look at the contemporary aerial photos of these places. It will clear a lot of this kind of speculation up.
I'm definitely with you on that one. My grandfather flew the Peenemunde raid amongst others, so seeing the recon before and after for that one will be something I'll be itching to see. It's sad and horrific on a lot of levels, but no doubt a lot of it will be fascinating at the same time.
"Allan Williams, operations manager of Tara"
How ironic is that!
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