The humble pilbox

[Fuzeman]

Hi Chris
Guernsey is a good place for bunker hunting , i have several books on the fortifications on the channel islands , being involved with the occupation society on Guernsey

 

[Chris 42 RQ]

Jersey Bunkers !

You are certainly right there Steve Jersey is a brilliant place for "Bunker hunting" and last time I went there I had just purchased my first Digital camera but the chip only held 100 pictures and being as the chips were in the region of 100-00 each I could not afford or justify the spend for extra chips :tinysmile_cry_t4:

Am hoping to go again with the better half soon and will be fully armed with 2 camera's this time for unlimited pictures !
And I would also like to take some pictures inside a few of the bigger bunkers.
Fascinating place, I wonder if we have any of the Jersey Militaria society as members ??

 

[Chris 42 RQ]

Another Pillbox.

Went to Basingstoke today and on the "Swallowfield" by pass (Reading end just up from my last Pillbox pictures) you can see these two Pillboxes in the distance.
Pictures taken from a fair distance and enlarged so not the best.

 

[Quatermass]

Look to be a pair shell proof pillboxes based on the DFW3/24 design.
Irregular hexagons with 7 loopholes (two in the rear wall) walls some 3.5 feet thick.

Quatermass

 

[Chris 42 RQ]

Thank you.

Look to be a pair shell proof pillboxes based on the DFW3/24 design.
Irregular hexagons with 7 loopholes (two in the rear wall) walls some 3.5 feet thick.

Quatermass

Thanks for the "Tech spec" Quatermass.

 

[Chris 42 RQ]

Hayling Island fortifications

Had a trip to Hayling Island today and found a few things of interest.
For an ariel view look at Google earth around the following co-ordinates-
N 50 47 24 68 W 1 00 35 42

 

[Chris 42 RQ]

Hayling Island fortifications 2

If you do look on Google earth you will note that what appears to be restoration work as been carried out on the Ammunition Magazine abbuting the water.
Part of that old complex is still in use as a store and has a new roof and the magazine by the road has one end bricked up and the other end fenced/gated and the internals all appear to be intact with visible doors and some fittings.

 

[2pounder]

Hayling

Chris,

I take it the photos shown are toward the Portsmouth side near the ferry, we were around there a few years back. Did you spot the 2 storey pillbox on the Portsmouth side about halfway along the Billy line cycle/footpath? Sorry no photo.
2pr

 

[Chris 42 RQ]

Missed opportunity !

Hi 2 Pounder sadly we only saw what I managed to picture and continued on the road past the golf course and came back seeing nothing else !

If we go again we will certainly keep a keen eye open for anything we missed this time.
Thank you for the information.
Best regards

 

[Chris 42 RQ]

Wartime Oil terminal

I know very little about this location other than it appears to have become dissused around the late 90's or early 2000's but was a major supply depot for storing much needed fuel for the "war effort" with good rail and road access this "fuel dump" is massive by anyones standards.

I went past it at about 70 miles per hour today so the pictures are not good, but it may give you an idea of the scale of this place, constructed of steel re-inforced concrete and built into the side of a hill.

You can get a fair view of it on Google earth at the following co-ordinates 51 11 22 08 N
1 15 32 48 W

 

[LUCKYSTRIKE]

Micheldever was an RAF fuel storage depot which was built in 1939, it was busiest in the period leading up to D DAY and after where it supplied fuel to both British and US forces mainly Army. Being secure and camoflaged and on a main rail line, being close to Southampton Portsmouth it was ideally suited to this role. It continued in use into the 1980s/90s most business being small scale private fuel supply companies. It's still believed to be on a reserve list.
Here is an aerial picture showing its size and how it blends into the terrain.
LUCKYSTRIKE

 

[navyman]

Crikey Chris 42,
These have been tidied up a lot since I was a child. Pill boxes, air raid shelters and gun emplacements etc. were playgrounds for us in the late '50's, early '60's. Many have now disappeared and replaced with "Mickey Mouse" housing or light industries and of course, roads.
Cheers,
navyman.