WW1 and WW2 Defences - Suffolk and beyond

The Selsey Range was originally established in May 1941 in response to requests by Commands for coastwise armament training areas and an area was marked of Selsey Bill (which was an extension of the old Littlehampton air gunnery range) and was known as the Selsey Bill air firing area (Training Area A.F. 26). It was operation from June 1941. Subsequently, an addition to the Selsey Range was set up in the early part of 1943 as an air to ground range for use by squadrons at Tangmere (Training Area A.F. 26a).   Clearance to use the range was given for the duration of the war only.   In December 1943 it was decided to provide further facilities for low level and dive bombing practice within the same area and these facilities came into use in March 1944. In August 1944 the range was further extended for rocket projectile (RP) firing, which drew strong local protest.   The RP facilities came into use in November 1944. It was not until December 1944 that live bombing faciliti...

 At Ward Hill, Thorpeness, there can be found the possible remains of a trench. It is approx 16m in length and runs in a northerly direction.  Is it First or Second War? Well actually, if it is indeed a trench, it is Second War and matches the location of  a section post of the 5th Royal Berks Regiment sited in 1941.  This followed a reorganising of the string of the linear defences sited to cover vulnerable beaches in 1940 and thus add depth to the defence.  Above: possible extant remains of trench, Ward Hill (2m scale ruler in trench) Above: maps showing location of possible extant trench remains, Ward Hill So why the suggestion of a First War trench? The answer to that question is because a trench in the vicinity is marked on  a trench map I acquired a while back, dated August 1914, and marked Orderly Room in feint crayon. There is also a very faint stamp, on which HQ Mounted Division can be made out. The Mounted Division, concentrated in East Anglia, wa...

Undoubtedly the  best known  DFW (Directorate of Fortification and Works) drawings / designs  are the pillbox types. However, the DFW covered all aspects of military constructions.  Probably most people are not familiar  with drawing DFW 10890, a standard grease trap. These were built to trap grease (as there name implies!) from sinks in washrooms or cookhouses and are often a conscious remain of temporary military camps along with concrete bases for Nissen / curved asbestos  types of hut.  The trap in the image below is from the domestic camp of a Heavy Anti-Aircraft battery, part of the Diver Defences (defence against the Flying bombs) constructed as a result of the 'Winterization' programme which replaced tented camps with hutted camps. As well as the satisfaction of finding such features during field work and being able to match it to an official drawing, it also allows us to identify washrooms/cookhouses within the remains of the camp layout....