The second part of this three part post looks at the pillboxes at Freiston Shore. Note, the references refer to the table of archeological remains in the first post.
Lincolnshire Three Bay Pillbox
Sited within the battery layout is a pillbox for local defence. It is of the type know as a ‘Lincolnshire three bay’ pillbox, because of the three bays (two infantry bays either end of the pillbox, with an open bay in the middle for a light AA gun). It is a variant of the Type 23 pillbox (which consisted of one infantry bay and the AA bay), and is unique to Northern Command along the Lincolnshire coast. The outside dimensions are 21ft 7in by 8ft 7in. Each of the infantry bays has three simple splayed loopholes, 10 inches wide on the outside and 33 inches wide on the inside. The roof is 1ft 6in thick. The mount for the light AA gun (either a Lewis or Bren gun) would have been set into a simple 6 inch square concrete column. There is a central entrance, with an entrance either side for the infantry bays.
Above: Plan of the ‘Lincolnshire three-bay’ pillbox FS8 (no.9 on plan of Battery layout).
Above: FS8 – ‘Lincolnshire three bay’ pillbox.
Above: The AA well.
Type 22 Pillboxes
Sited along the sea wall are a number of Type 22 pillboxes (regular hexagons with each wall approx 7ft 4in long and 15 inches thick and with a roof approx 1 foot thick). There are three variants. The first variant – by the RSPB car park entrance – is the typical Type 22 design, with an internal ‘Y’ shaped anti-ricochet wall and a small pistol loophole on one side of the entrance. What is unusual about this pillbox is the addition of approx 4 feet high walls on top of the roof, presumably to form a chamber for a light AA gun. The chamber has been in-filled with soil / turf at some point, possibly during the war years if the AA gun was no longer needed or sited elsewhere, when the turf would have helped camouflage the pillbox from the air. As with the searchlights, the pillbox walls have been finished with a render and pebbles as part of its camouflage scheme.
Above: FS1 – Type 22 pillbox at the RSPB car park entrance, with the addition of an AA chamber on top of the roof.
There are a further five Type 22 pillboxes along the sea wall, all south of the Battery. Common characteristics shared by these pillboxes are the lack of any internal anti-ricochet wall and the addition of buttresses in front of the three forward facing loopholes along with the remains of what appears to be a concrete skirt. The buttresses protrude by 1ft 3in and are 2ft 6in long. These additions are presumably to strengthen the most vulnerable part of a pillbox – the area around the loopholes. The forward facing loopholes are also slightly more complex with a single step. There is an air vent in the roof, consisting of a 3½ steel pipe. One of these five pillboxes has the small pistol loophole in the rear wall next to the entrance, and internally, there are only weapon shelves below the embrasures. The other four lack the rear pistol loophole but have a concrete platform behind the three forward facing loopholes for mounting a machine gun – instead of weapon shelves – and weapon shelves for the rear two facing loopholes. The concrete platforms are 1ft 6in wide and approx 3ft 5in high.
Above: plan of pillbox FS11. Note lack of anti-ricochet wall and the concrete buttresses in front of the loopholes. Only weapon shelves were provided for the loopholes for resting elbows, Bren bipods etc on.
Above: FS11 – Type 22 pillbox.
Above: Plan of FS17.
Note the concrete platform for mounting machine guns. FS12, 13 and 14 have the
same plan. I don not know what the three holes in the platform behind each loophole were for, although I have come across a suggestion they may have been for the Hotchkiss portable machine gun mount.
Above: FS12 – Type 22 pillbox (to plan of FS17).
Above: FS13 – Type 22 pillbox (to plan of FS17).
Above: Interior of FS13 showing the concrete platform for a machine gun.
Above: FS14 – Type 22 pillbox (to plan of FS17).
Above: FS17 – Type 22 pillbox.
Ruck Pillboxes
The Ruck pillbox was based on the Stanton air-raid shelter, which was made up of oval sheets of concrete bolted together at the roof. The Ruck was designed by James Ruck, a Civil Defence adviser. It was made by bolting concrete ribs together, which were mounted on pre-cast hollow concrete bricks constructed in a trench and then earthed up. Loopholes could either be cut into the concrete ribs, or gaps could be left between the ribs, which were then covered with an outer skin of concrete slabs, also with gaps left for the loopholes. Rucks are unique to Northern Command, for which an order of 6,000 was placed in September 1940. They are rare survivals today. The Rucks at Freiston Shore have been sited close together and parallel to the bank, just on the reverse slope, so any forward facing loophole would have field of fire with only the minimum amount of the pillbox exposed. Only the remains of the foundation walls survive. Each wall is about 15 feet long by 6ft 4in wide and 17 inches thick.
Above: FS15 – remains of a Ruck Pillbox.
Above: FS16 – remains of a Ruck Pillbox.
The final part of this series of posts on Freiston Shore will look at the role these defences played.
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