WW1 and WW2 Defences - Suffolk and beyond

The story of Churchill's so called "Secret Army" is becoming well known these days, after many years of being shrouded in secrecy. The story of the Auxiliary Units can be traced back to 1938, when Major Grand set up a section of the Foreign Office known as section D – its task ‘To investigate every possibility of attacking potential enemies by means other than the operations of military forces’. In 1940 the government, anxious about a potential German invasion, tasked Section D with setting up a British guerrilla force. However due to lack of resources not much was done except hide dumps of explosives around Britain with the apparent hope that someone may use them to attack the enemy. The task of forming an underground army that would operate in the event of a German invasion was then given to Colonel Gubbins (who led his Independent Companies in Norway, which on withdrawal to Britain were formed into units called ‘Commandos’). This new underground army was organised...

Finally got round to recording Diver Battery T18 today. Not much remains - just a few concrete bases for huts and perhaps three out of the four gun pits. T18 was a HAA battery, i.e. 4 x 3.7" guns.   Above: 1945 aerial of T18 - the huts can still be clearly seen.  I could only find the remains of four concrete bases for the huts, although others may still remain buried under the leaf litter or covered over by gorse scrub. Above: Remains of a concrete base for a hut. Something I had not picked up before on my previous visits to this site was that the course of the Sommerfield track laid around the perimeter of the site can still be followed in place s.   Sommerfield track consisted of 2 inch or three inch mesh netting reinforced with 3/4 inch mild steel rods at 8 inch centers. The track is joined longitudinally by buckles and transversely by linking bars held down by special angle iron pickets. It was supplied in rolls 25 yards long by 10ft 7ins...