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Air Raid Shelters, Southwold

These shelters can be found at St Felix School, Southwold. They were constructed pre war during the Munich Crises, but as the School was requisitioned by the Army from 1940 onwards would no doubt have proved of use during the frequent 'tip and run' raids that Suffolk was subject to. The school was Eastern Command's HQ for Overlord being visited by both Churchill and Montgomery (St Felix School Historical Notes Website )

The shelters (nine in total) are all surface shelters, constructed from concrete and capped with earth. Each shelter had two entrances. 



Above: Entrances to two of the shelters - each shelter had two entrances.

The shelters had air vents on the roofs - today looking like strange mushrooms sprouting in the undergrowth!



Above: Air vents on the roof of one of the shelters.

It was possible to look inside two of the shelters. One full of litter, I did not fancy exploring but the other, much cleaner, I did have a look around. I was surprised to find evidence of bunks still in place, one virtually complete.









Above: Top four images show the interior of the shelter free from litter including the remains of bunk beds, one almost complete. Bottom image shows the interior of the the shelter in which it is still possible to enter but it is full of litter and I did not explore further!






Comments

  1. Unknown6 March 2021 at 13:00

    Today I found the open one without litter.
    You missed the chalk on the wall stating ".303 bandolier 10,000 rounds.
    The Army/navy must have used it as a ready use ammunition store. 10,000 is the max number of rounds to by fired with a vickers machine gun before the barrel needs to be swapped so I imagine that is what it was there for.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dave27 March 2021 at 05:16

    Thanks, yes missed that! Hopefully get back for a look.

    ReplyDelete

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