WW1 and WW2 Defences - Suffolk and beyond

This Exercise, actually in five parts, was held in the summer of 1943 at the Orfordness Battle Training Area and is of interest as it clearly based on the drill of assault on strongly prepared positions established in Exercise Kruschen: Exercises Hedgehog I-V were held to study the action of an assault group of armoured fighting vehicles, Armoured Vehicles Royal Engineers (AVRE's) and infantry, supported by artillery, mortars and MMG's in the assault on a strongly defended position. Part I was a  TEWT (Tactical Exercise Without Troops) while II and III where Skeleton Exercises to practice Command and Communications down to troop and platoon level. Parts IV and V were exercises with troops, to practice the attack. The enemy position was described as:  “The enemy posn consists of hedgehogs manned by coy gps incl Fd and A.Tk Arty, mortars, M.M.G’s and L.M.G’s.  Weapons are sited in concrete and field emplacements and weapon pits.  There are reinforced concr...

On the way up to visit family in Yorkshire, I stopped off in Docking, Norfolk, to view a couple of Tett Turrets discovered by Justin Aldis.  Justin remembers playing in these turrets as a child, and they are basically the same 30 years on. They have survived in a strip of scrub between pasture and housing in the village. As far as I am aware, the only other known remaining examples of Tett’s are at RAF Hornchurch and on the Isle of Man, so these are an incredible survival and just illustrate what is still out there to be found. Above: Location and fields of fire of the Tett turrets. They were presumably located to control the approach to the village The Tett turret was designed and manufactured by Burbidge Ltd of East Horsley, Surrey. The specification was a mounted turret on a sunken concrete pipe. They also recommended siting turrets in inter-connecting trios (reference:  “Pillboxes of Britain and Ireland”, M Osborne). Above: Two sketches of the Te...

Looking at the posts in this thread, I don't seem to have posted an image of the anti-tank ditch as it was when I was doing the initial field work. Probably because it was in a dense forestry plantation! Drove past the ditch this Tue on a visit to Orfordness and noticed that the forestry plantation had been clear felled and the litter/stumps rowed up. Luckily the ditch does not seem to have been affected, and it is now much easier to visualize in the landscape than before. However the nearby anti-landing ditches did not fare so well in the forestry operations being much damaged, although it is still just about possible to trace them.  Above: Images of the anti-tank ditch used in this training exercise, July 2014. Last image shows lengths of what appear to be 2" scaffolding poles. Many traces of barbed wire were also found, although this just crumbled to dust when handled, the acidic sandy soil taking its toll.

Ok, not WW2, but the story of 'Cobra Mist' is surely worthy of a post? At the height of the Cold War, the Pentagon was in the process of developing a number of intelligence gathering systems, one of them being 'Cobra Mist'.  This was part of the 'Cobra' programme, a series of systems to monitor Russian and potentially Chinese missile tests.  'Cobra Mist' was an over-the-horizon  'backscatter'  radar designed to bounce a strong signal off the ionosphere to cover a range of between 575 miles to 2300 miles to the east. Its purpose was to monitor aircraft, detect missile and satellite launchings behind the 'Iron Curtain'. If successful, it was hoped an early warning of a nuclear attack could be increased from 5 minutes to 15 minutes. It was essentially a private project between the US and UK Governments,  largely excluding NATO. It was almost entirely funded by the US Government to the sum of anything between £35M - £55M. The construction si...

On a beautiful spring day with the temperature easily in the 60’s, we decided on a quick drive up to the Arras battlefields and had a pleasant walk around the south east side of Monchy, covering the area around Bois du Sart and Bois du Vert, The Mound and Infantry Hill.  On the way we stopped off at the two German blockhouses at Wancourt and two cemeteries, Henin Communal Extension and Wancourt British Cemetery. Above: Images of the larger blockhouse, presumably a command post that was built for defence with several embrasures. The entrance and an embrasure can be seen in the first image. Interior images are poor as my cameras flash decided not to work!! ABOVE:  HENIN COMMUNAL CEMETREY EXTENSION, HENIN-SUR-COJIEUL (P. De C.). 5 miles S. of Arras, 2 ½ miles NE. of Boyelles Sta., 750 yards S. of village, near St. Leger road. Henin was 1 ½ mile behind front line at beginning of Battle of Arras April 1917, and was used from April to Nov. 1917....