After mapping another crawl trench/weapons-slit system, had a good stomp around and found another two systems, one comprising of many pits including a text book V shaped weapons-slit. What strikes me about all the systems I've found so far is their field of fire - with hundreds of hectares of heath to chose from for training (if indeed that's what they are), my guess is the sites were chosen so that they could actually be utilised if the need ever arose. I am now wondering, if the vast area of Sutton Common (another major training area) contains similar remains I have many happy hours of searching to do in the future!
Todays icing on the cake however was the discovery of a field emplacement for a vickers machine gun. It comprises of a six foot sq, within which is a 2 ft wide L shaped slit for the crew and a platform for the gun (see photo from Manual of Field Works 1925). Although photos of trenches etc never seem to really come out well, hopefully the photo does illustrate how well this fits the manual specifications - the L shape slit is clearly visible as dark shadow (outlined in red) and the platform is outlined in yellow. Whether it was dug for training or real, its still a real thrill to find such remains.
All in all a perfect start to the new year!
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