Military Archaeology

Ah! Cheers, Martin ....can't believe I never saw that

 

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!

 

PDF Preview Click here for a preview of the book.

 

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!

 

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 !

 

Very true, Martin....there HAD to be more out there!
BTW this is a couple of days old, but I couldn't resist it!
Bomb Disposal Squad help Archaeologists

 

Heres's some photos of one of the more interesting sites around London
On the South bank of River Thames by Kew railway bridge stands a polygonal concrete-faced pillbox, of a particular design for railway linesides. Embrasures provided all-round fire. The field of fire was from two angled walls and side walls. There is an open well at the back probably for anti-aircraft weapons. TQ195775



Close by is a Spigot mortar/Blacker Bombard Emplacement. TQ 19457740.The emplacement consists of a round concrete pedestal for a spigot mortar, with an L-shaped concrete wall providing protection around it.

 

If the images don't show Click here

 

Nice pics Ian!
Must admit I haven't seen a pillbox with a well for AA LMG's at the back before, though I've seen them with the central mounting.
There you go, Martin; no excuse for not getting out with the camera now!
I got word that the English Heritage booklet Modern Military Matter is now available online. This is a policy document on how best to preserve the 20th century military heritage around us, along with guidelines for us amateurs.
You can get it here-
Modern Military Matters

There's also a new book on military archaeology out, but no more info as yet-
Combat Archaeology: Material Culture & Modern Conflict

[ 05. August 2005, 12:45 PM: Message edited by: The_Historian ]

 

Yes - that's three train stops from here... I had no idea !

I remember seeing a spigot mortar base alongside the track on the old North Norfolk steam line. I got very excited pointing out the lump of concrete with a rod sticking out - the people I was with obviously thought I'd gone mad.

Can't imagine why....

 

Phillistines, obviously....

[ 07. August 2005, 01:17 PM: Message edited by: The_Historian ]

 

Today I decided to go snap the old airfield at Findo Gask in Perthshire. A grass field opened as 25 Satellite Landing Ground for 44 Maintenance Unit at Edzell in Tayside in June 1941, it remained such until abandoned in favour of Tealing airfield in September 1944.
No. 309 Squadron flew from here until July 1943, when the airfield was taken over by Flying Training Command as a satellite for no. 9(Pilot)Advanced Flying Unit at Errol, also in Tayside, until 12/9/44. The site was then used by 260 MU until 1948.
Because the runways consisted of Sommerfield tracking, the airfield always suffered flooding problems, which is why it was abandoned.
On my last visit in 1993, the technical site boasted a well-preserved T2 hangar, a Station HQ with original wartime wall art on one of the office walls, a control tower, battle HQ, parachute store and various other identifiable structures. I got there today, and discovered a construction site full of half-finished luxury villas....I could have wept. All that was left were the battle HQ and the control tower.
This is the view towards the HQ's front emergency exit, and the command cupola. There are two small offices on the left here. At the end of the corridor, a left turn takes you upstairs to the command centre.



This is the view towards the rear emergency exit.



This is the main entrance.



This is the command cupola. The inside of some of these had a compass rose painted on them, but not this one.



This is a shot through the front emergency exit. The small doorway on the right leads into the cupola, the passageway back downstairs to the offices.



And this is the late-war three storey control tower, similar to the original at Heathrow.



The buildings were constructed of cellular concrete- a cheap and (very)nasty substitute for brick. It's nothing short of miraculous they lasted as long as they did.
Its not all doom and gloom though; I think I've still got the negatives of the original 1993 snaps, so I could always print off copies. Shouldn't need to, though.

[ 07. August 2005, 01:34 PM: Message edited by: The_Historian ]

 

Thanks for showing this Gordon. In 10 years time it will all be gone. Probably a Sainsbury's will stand were the control tower now stands.

Glad you go out and preserve this.

 

Cheers Stevin,
It just annoys me that my kids won't be able to show these things to their kids.
I really don't expect the battle HQ to be there much longer; once the villas are built, someone's bound to complain about it being dangerous for kids (all the steel hatches have already been removed btw) and it'll either be demolished or sealed. With that in mind, I'm going to try and get back up there during this week and try and produce detailed plans of it for future reference.
I fully expect the control tower to have every window and door either bricked up or concreted shut soon too, for the same 'safety' reasons.
Progress? Bah, HUMBUG!!

 

Thanks yet again for the pics, Gordon - especially the Control Tower which is a rare and interesting type.

I know so well how you feel about such things vanishing under the developers' onslaught.....

 

Here's one that should resist the developers for a while...

Putney Bridge tube station in London.



Click here if the image doesn't appear.

 

Pillboxes-Cheers; lovely pictures!
Haven't seen a pillbox like that before!
Its hard to think how demolishing something in a position like that could be justified...

[ 08. August 2005, 11:46 AM: Message edited by: The_Historian ]

 

At least here they thought of a good use for them. Indeed, great pictures!

 

These are some pictures of Mugdock HAA site in Mugdock Country Park, Strathblane, just north of Glasgow. It was coded N9 in the Clyde Gun Defended Area, but was never actually used; no guns or radar were ever installed, and it was only manned on a Care & Maintenance basis. It wasn't finished until well into the war, because of material shortages and policy equivocation. The estate was taken over by local authorities in the late '70s and later became a park.

This is a general view of the site, looking south towards Glasgow. The path you can see in the foreground is the West Highland Way, a long-distance hikers' path from the northern outskirts of Glasgow to Inverness in the Highlands; 100+ miles.



And this is a typical gunpit. The Countryside Rangers in the park have not only fenced the gunsite off to prevent further vandalism, but have cleaned it up superbly!



These are the standard pattern holdfast bolts.



This is the standard shelter for maintenance on the gun which was provided internally on each pit at this stage of the war...



And this is the crew shelter, on the opposite side of the pit. Compare both these photos to the shelters at Myre End gunsite on page 5 of the thread, which were added as afterthoughts.



[ 15. August 2005, 12:28 PM: Message edited by: The_Historian ]

 

This is the Command post; again, compare it with Myre End. According to standard plans I've seen, the Predictor & Height-finder positions seem to have been reversed here.



This is the Predictor position



And this is the window behind the position



And this is the Height-finder position & entrance to the centre.



The next three are general shots of the interior.