Skip to main content

Eastern Command Line - Ballingham Bridge, Sudbury (May 2010)

Although many anti-tank gun pillboxes (Type 28 and 28a) were constructed throughout the country on either the GHQ Line or various Corps Stop Lines, how many actually had guns mounted in them is another matter. Certainly work on the GHQ Stop Line was halted before many (if any at all) were actually installed. On the Corps Lines in was another matter - certainly in Suffolk the defences on the Eastern Command Line were being maintained until 1941 at least (although again, given the shortage of anti-tank guns during the period 1940-41 most would have been installed for Coastal Defence rather than interior Stop Lines). However at Ballingham Bridge, Sudbury a six pounder gun was installed in a Type 28 pillbox according to documents at TNA. Today this pillbox still exists.  It would appear to be a variant of the standard design in that it has a non standard arrangement of embrasures for Bren guns / rifles. It also has a porch entrance.Whether it was built to a standard Type 28 design and then modified when allocated a six pounder gun, I don't know. Most likely, it was constructed specifically to fit in with the location. The holdfast for the six pounder can still be seen. Just to the rear of the pillbox another building can be seen, which appears to be a typical Home Guard store.
6th Royal Sussex (15th Div - Covehithe-Benacre area) now on website, although I'm still not happy with the map quality!!
Photo 1: Type 28 covering Ballingham Bridge, Sudbury, Eastern Command Line
Photo 2-4: Embrasures for infantry weapons
Photo 5: Holdfast for 6 Pounder anti-tank gun
Photo 6: Rear of pillbox (picture taken from disused railway line)
Photo 7: Plan (not to scale) showing atypical embrasures for infantry weapons
Photo 8: Military building - presumably Home Guard Store.



























































































































Comments

  1. Hi I own the Pill box at ballingdon Bridge, The box had a second building with it in the garden of which only marks remain, but between these two buildings was the gents toilets, Until a few years ago, the inside was in a1 condition, coat hooks, light & switch, small fuse board all in place, A lad called (Blockhouse Peat) lived in it.

    On the road side of the railway bridge was a one man block house with a metal lid, not much is known about this.

    I was told by an old local boy the gun was never installed, what I can say at some after the war the mount was damaged so a gun could not be installed.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Eastern Command Line - a lazy post

As the title suggests, just a lazy post today, a few pics of CRE Colchester design pillboxes in the Sudbury area to round of the thread on this May visit. Also one pic of concrete road block cylinders now being used as part of river bank defences. This is the first time I have come across this type of road block in Suffolk although I suspect it was probably used quite widely on this Stop Line, perhaps I will come across more examples / references in time. These pictures do show a timeless landscape - traditional floodplain meadows still used for grazing, with the Second World War clearly marking its presence. Lets just hope both the pillboxes and  grazing meadows will be preserved.

RAF Hethel Defence Post

At RAF Station Hethel, a remarkable defence post still exists.  Admittedly, RAF Hethel is in Norfolk and not Suffolk, but the records for this site do provide some interest in relation to the defence of airfields in Eastern Command. Work on Hethel began in 1941 and the station was opened late 1942 and was actually one of the RAF Stations handed over to the USAAF for the use of its bomber units. The defence post was constructed in accordance with a new policy adopted by Eastern Command. Previously, airfield defences had been built as a result of the Taylor Report and largely consisted of pillboxes and breastworks which were large and conspicuous and vulnerable to air attack. Experience at Crete had shown the need for small inconspicuous field works. The new defences were to now consist of small two man weapon-slits and small machine gun pits constructed in accordance with “Infantry Training, 1937” Supplement No.3 – “The design and lay-out of Field Defences, 1942”. Above...

Anti-tank ditch

December 31st Decided to visit the anti-tank ditch at Aldringham Walks this afternoon. It was constructed between late 1940 and early 1941 and ran from (north to south) Sizewell to the north of Thorpeness Mere. Some of its length is still visible today (see map and bottom photo)). The war diary of 9th Cameronians (15th Div) mentions the construction of the ditch in Margaret Wood (vicinity of No 12 Platoon, B Coy).  The diary also mentions a pillbox being destroyed by the RE in No 12 platoons area, but no luck in finding any remains this time. The diary would also indicate the ditch was a combined obstacle with Z1 scaffolding. The top left photo shows the remains of a weapons pit/shell slit; six pieces of angle iron revetment still exist - one of the pieces is clearly visible in the photo. Perhaps this is part of No 12 platoons position. Many years ago when beating up the young woodland I found a Yorkshire billhook with the WO arrow dated 1946, so this area would appear to have ...