WW1 and WW2 Defences - Suffolk and beyond

Spent yesterday mapping at Westleton. By the end of March I hope to have the main Kruschen site mapped at Westleton so may be able to start  making some sense of the data collected so far. However I will probably not have time to map the bit of the Kruschen site remaining at Dunwich. There will also be mapping to complete at Westleton in areas not part of the Kruschen site. Three features of some curiosity mapped today. Firstly  three pits created by deepening an existing old boundary ditch. I am not sure of the age of the boundary ditch but it is certainly not any time recently! Above: Map of a crawl trench system along with three pits dug by deepening an existing boundary ditch (shown by the dotted line). The crawl trench is of interest in that its is the first I've seen which incorporates a V shaped weapons-slit. Photo shows pit dug in existing boundary ditch. Secondly a series of slits dug alongside the anti-tank ditch. Above: Plot of slits alongside the anti-tank...

Either the weather or other things have prevented me from getting out and recording in the field so it's  a good opportunity to post Part 3 in the Earth Moving equipment thread. This post will concentrate on some of the attachments for the base RB machine used by the Army for defence works etc.  Dragline This was considered to be the most universal equipment. It consisted of a long boom, or jib, and specially designed drag bucket. It is not positive in action but is rapid in operation. It requires a great deal of skill to operate.  The bucket is thrown (or cast much the same way as in an angler casting a fly) by swinging the jib with the bucket held well up. The hoist and drag ropes were released allowing the bucket to fall forward of a vertical line from the top of the jib. The swing of the jib was checked at a point in line with the fall of the bucket. The drag rope was wound in dragging the bucket forwards to the base of the jib. It could only be operated in soft mat...

This post will look at the excavator. The base machine built by Ruston Bucyrus was the standardised  machine  used by the British Army during WW2. The normal base machines used were: 10 Roston Bucyrus 19 Roston Bucyrus 22 Ruston Bucyrus 37 Ruston Bucyrus The RB 10 and RB 19 were normally employed in the field due ease of mobility. The RB 22 and 37 were considerably heavier and required special transport to move. Above: Roston Bucyrus 19 Base Machine All were powered by a diesel oil engine. The RB 19, 22 and 37 were started by compressed air - a small petrol driven donkey engine operating a compressor. The RB 10 was equipped with an electric self-starter assembly. 10 RB Type of Engine: 3 VRON Horse Power: 30 Weight of Base Machine: 9 tons Ground Pressure lbs./sq.ft.: 1,440 Rated Capacity of Bucket: 3/8 cu.yd. 19 RB Type of Engine: 3 VRON Horse Power: 55 Weight of Base Machine: 17 tons Ground Pressure lbs./sq.ft.: 1,650 Rated Capacity of Bucket: 5/8 cu.yd. All the machin...

Firstly I accept that I am going to labelled a first class anorak with this post. Declaring you have an interest in pillboxes is bad enough but tractors etc?? Anyway the reason for this post follows on from my visit to the TNA last week - highly successful with the highlight being the potential matching of many earthworks I found last winter to a training exercise held in 1943 (that's for future posts though!). Anyway back to tractors - in one War Diary of Engineers involved firstly in the constrcution of anti-tank ditches on the GHQ line in Essex, before moving to Suffolk, a list of mechanical equipment was given. So I thought this post (and one or two subsequent) may be of interest to give a flavour of the machinery used to construct the anti-invasion defences in Britain. This is part 1 - the D4 and D8 tractor. No 2 section 135 Mechanical Engineers commenced work on the GHQ Line in Essex on June 18th 1940 with: 2 RB19 Dragline 5 RB10 Dragline 1 1/14 Smith Shovel 1 D8 tracto...

This post is a good illustration of when recording by GPS can break down. The remains of the camp for this Diver battery is largely under tree cover which certainly affects the accuracy of GPS. Also in many cases only part of the concrete bases on which huts were built upon are visible - the rest hidden by years of leaf litter. The reduced accuracy of GPS under tree cover and having to guess some of the corners of the concrete bases means only a best guess of the outline of the camp can be produced. Above: Image 1: Location map of Diver Battery T5 and LAA Battery TD3 Image 2: Aerial photo of battery, 1945. The domestic camp and gun positions can be clearly seen. The gun position is in the area  just to the east of the current RSPB visitor centre. Image 3 - GPS plot of the remains of the domestic camp, Diver battery T5. Image 4 - Nail used for fastening corrugated iron sheets to wooden battens. Image 5 and 6 - some of the remains of concrete bases on which  huts wo...

Never got round to looking into these, visited during the summer, Ramsholt Churchyard. Today seems a good time for this post. HMS Spartiate was RN establishment based in St Enoch Hotel, Glasgow. it was responsible for the security and safety of the River Clyde. A large number of motor boats were commandeered to form the River Clyde Patrol, crewed largely by local yachtsmen, many operating as volunteers. Chief Stoker Chambers died of illness. I have not been able to find anything out about Private Stackhouse. The CWGC lists his age as unknown.

As the vegetation begins to die back, it's back to trench mapping field work. As in previous years this will form the baulk of posts over the winter. Unless you are really interested in practice field works, these posts could be quite boring as one hole in the ground looks like another! So I thought I would start with what I think is an interesting survival. What makes this crawl trench system interesting is the surviving wire pickets. A line of long screw pickets and short pickets remain, without doubt the remains of a double apron wire fence. So assuming this earth work was dug for training purposes (to date I have found no Field force localities in the area), it would seem likely that wire was erected as part of the training in constructing this defence post. Above: GPS plan showing the Crawl Trench system and the remains of the double apron fence. Bottom photo shows the general area  - the trench system is in the area of the gorse scrub and its easy to see how the position, ...

The last post on the section of the Corps Line from Elmswell to Euston which I visited back in September. This post will look at the remains of the line from Ixworth to Euston. Along this section of the line, the River Black Bourn formed the anti-tank obstacle and the line followed this river from Ixworth to Barnham. Above: Corps Line, Ixworth to Barnham Going north from Ixworth the first remaining pillbox can be found at Ixworth Thorpe, which was a defended place with 24 members of the Home Guard from "C" Coy, 2 Battalion Suffolk Home Guard.  Above: Type 24 pillbox, Ixworth Thorpe, incorporated into a haystack on my visit! Next up is a pillbox guarding a bridge over the Black Bourn at Fakenham Magna. This is completely overgrown and being in a private garden, there was no access to it. Pillbox guarding a river crossing at Fakenham Magna. The pillbox is completely covered in vegetation and is just behind the bridge on the left hand side of the photo. South of Euston ...