WWII, Control / Observation Post, Grand Hotel Battery, Centre of Environment Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, Lowestoft.
– Grand Hotel Battery –
The site of the World War II Grand Hotel Battery built around 1940, the northern gun house is located at the end of Kensington Road, during the war it was disguised as cliff top shelter. The Gun House is being used by the Council as a park shelter/store, but there are plans to turn it into an art gallery. The two coastal artillery searchlights were set into the cliff to either side, the observation and contol posts were still present at the Grand Hotel itself, now the CEFAS Building. Recent extensions work unfortunately required the removal of both posts.
Given the importance of the East Coast in general, and Lowestoft in particular, the provision of coastal artillery in this part of Suffolk was considerable. On the outbreak of war in 1939 Britain’s fixed defences were situated at the major ports (such as Felixstowe), but this situation changed out of all recognition in May 1940 when the Emergency Coastal Defence Battery (ECDB) programme greatly expanded coastal artillery. This initiative saw guns that had been taken off ships scrapped after the First World War and subsequently put into storage hurriedly brought back into service. The normal arrangement was for the guns to be placed in pairs at perceived vulnerable points along the coastline. Initially, the battery positions were often rudimentary, but in time ECDB's became miniature strong points in their own right; they were integrated into the broader anti-invasion defences and often had elaborate arrangements for their own defence.
By the end of 1941 there were some seven batteries in total in the area: three at Lowestoft (or Kent) Battery, the South Pier Battery and the Grand Hotel Battery and one each at Covehithe, Kessingland, Pakefield and Southwold. As early as March 1940 Lowestoft had been earmarked as the site for a coastal battery, but at that date the first defences had already been put in place. These comprised an antiquated pair of First World War field guns placed within sandbagged emplacements on Lowestoft Esplanade and the North Pier Extension. At the commencement of the ECDB programme in May work started on batteries at Lowestoft, Pakefield and Southwold, with Covehithe following in early June. In 1941 an additional battery was constructed at Kessingland, the site of the battery at Covehithe was moved to a better location at Easton Woods and that at Southwold was shifted northwards from its initial location on the Denes to Gun Hill.
The arrangements for coastal artillery around Lowestoft were elaborate, with each of the port’s three batteries having slightly different roles. The South Pier Battery, with two quick-firing 12-pounder guns, offered close protection for the harbour, while from 1941 the Grand Hotel Battery, with 6-inch guns, covered the main harbour entrance and the South Roads, while the Lowestoft (Kent) Battery, also with 6-inch guns, had an additional role in what was known as the ‘Examination Service’, which controlled entry to the port. This battery could immediately fire on unidentified vessels attempting to gain unauthorised entry. The southern approaches to the harbour area were protected not only by coastal guns placed in the town itself but also by the battery at Pakefield.
One purpose of the batteries was to engage enemy shipping that came within range of the coastline, which was normally 6,000 yards or less. While it was possible that major warships might present themselves as targets during a major confrontation, more likely objectives would be the shelling of smaller vessels, such as E-boats or landing craft being used during a
major raid or an invasion attempt. Defending the beaches themselves was a secondary role. That at Easton Bavents, for example, was permitted to fire on the beaches around Benacre Broad, while that at Kessingland could fire on land targets at Lowestoft Swing Bridge, the harbour area, the Claremont Pier and the railway junction. The design of each coastal battery was similar and the sites were made up of common elements, but the exact arrangement varied on the ground. Typically, the guns themselves were housed in concrete gunhouses adjacent to which were magazines from which the ammunition was brought up. Usually in close proximity was the generator building. Searchlights, used to illuminate targets, were usually placed on either side of the gunhouses. At Kessingland the searchlights were on the beach on either side of the gun positions, something that necessitated the removal of mines. Ancillary structures included crew shelters, kitchens, billets and gun stores.
In the initial stages of the ECDB programme the batteries were manned by Navy personnel as a temporary measure, while army gunners from the Royal Artillery were trained in how to use the unfamiliar equipment. Thus, at Pakefield, the battery’s two 6-inch guns were initially established by the Navy before a heavy regiment of the Royal Artillery was ready to take over in July. The Lowestoft (Kent) Battery began as 6-inch guns on concrete foundations in a gunhouse built of sandbags and was manned by Royal Marines. It subsequently developed first into two gunhouses built of steel poles and corrugated iron and then into brick gunhouses with concrete roofs. The full battery position was finally finished in December 1940.
While the Germans would be aware from their reconnaissance that ports had fixed defences, the existence of Emergency Batteries would not necessarily be known and, to further this deception, camouflage occupied an important place during the construction and operation of the batteries. The speed with which the batteries were established during 1940 meant that concealment was impossible at first, however; at Pakefield the ECDB was so obvious that one officer observed that ‘the whole layout was more conspicuous than any of the dummy batteries’). By 1941, however, camouflage had developed into something of an art form.
Photographs of the Southwold Battery on Gun Hill show the sophistication of the scheme. At Lowestoft Grand Hotel Battery the gunhouses were camouflaged by scaffolding which supported nets onto which were fixed both barbed wire and fake plants, with the passageway between the two guns given similar treatment. Camouflage also extended to deliberate deception.
Dummy positions with fake guns were built to confuse Luftwaffe observers. After the Southwold Battery had completed its move to Gun Hill the buildings on the former site were used by training troops in a deliberate attempt to convince German reconnaissance that it was still active. Where their locations were known, the ECDB's were regular targets for the Luftwaffe. An aerial photograph of Southwold battery in 1941 shows a bomb crater close to the battery position and Pakefield ECDB was bombed twice in 1940, resulting in the death of a subaltern. Together with the threat of attack, the placing of such large fortifications on the cliffs or close to the beaches posed further risk. The Southwold Battery was moved from its initial location on the low-lying area of the Denes, to the south of the town, up to the high point of Gun Hill in part because of the risk of inundation by the sea. At Covehithe the risk of the battery falling off the cliff was the main reason for its move to Eastern Woods.
At Kessingland one of the searchlights collapsed at the end of December 1942 during the high tide, while, similarly, at Lowestoft Battery the high tides and strong winds at the end of December put one of the searchlights out of action. The same high tide in December 1942 was responsible for the fact that one of the searchlights for Pakefield Battery was out of action the following January; this light was subsequently moved from the beach to the adjacent cliff top. Shortly afterwards, in February 1943, one of the searchlights at Lowestoft South Battery was temporarily rendered unusable as heavy seas had resulted in waterlogging.
Information sourced from – A GUIDE TO SECOND WORLD WAR ARCHAEOLOGY IN SUFFOLK.
WWII, Control / Observation Post, Grand Hotel Battery, Centre of Environment Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, Lowestoft.
– Grand Hotel Battery –
The site of the World War II Grand Hotel Battery built around 1940, the northern gun house is located at the end of Kensington Road, during the war it was disguised as cliff top shelter. The Gun House is being used by the Council as a park shelter/store, but there are plans to turn it into an art gallery. The two coastal artillery searchlights were set into the cliff to either side, the observation and contol posts were still present at the Grand Hotel itself, now the CEFAS Building. Recent extensions work unfortunately required the removal of both posts.
Given the importance of the East Coast in general, and Lowestoft in particular, the provision of coastal artillery in this part of Suffolk was considerable. On the outbreak of war in 1939 Britain’s fixed defences were situated at the major ports (such as Felixstowe), but this situation changed out of all recognition in May 1940 when the Emergency Coastal Defence Battery (ECDB) programme greatly expanded coastal artillery. This initiative saw guns that had been taken off ships scrapped after the First World War and subsequently put into storage hurriedly brought back into service. The normal arrangement was for the guns to be placed in pairs at perceived vulnerable points along the coastline. Initially, the battery positions were often rudimentary, but in time ECDB's became miniature strong points in their own right; they were integrated into the broader anti-invasion defences and often had elaborate arrangements for their own defence.
By the end of 1941 there were some seven batteries in total in the area: three at Lowestoft (or Kent) Battery, the South Pier Battery and the Grand Hotel Battery and one each at Covehithe, Kessingland, Pakefield and Southwold. As early as March 1940 Lowestoft had been earmarked as the site for a coastal battery, but at that date the first defences had already been put in place. These comprised an antiquated pair of First World War field guns placed within sandbagged emplacements on Lowestoft Esplanade and the North Pier Extension. At the commencement of the ECDB programme in May work started on batteries at Lowestoft, Pakefield and Southwold, with Covehithe following in early June. In 1941 an additional battery was constructed at Kessingland, the site of the battery at Covehithe was moved to a better location at Easton Woods and that at Southwold was shifted northwards from its initial location on the Denes to Gun Hill.
The arrangements for coastal artillery around Lowestoft were elaborate, with each of the port’s three batteries having slightly different roles. The South Pier Battery, with two quick-firing 12-pounder guns, offered close protection for the harbour, while from 1941 the Grand Hotel Battery, with 6-inch guns, covered the main harbour entrance and the South Roads, while the Lowestoft (Kent) Battery, also with 6-inch guns, had an additional role in what was known as the ‘Examination Service’, which controlled entry to the port. This battery could immediately fire on unidentified vessels attempting to gain unauthorised entry. The southern approaches to the harbour area were protected not only by coastal guns placed in the town itself but also by the battery at Pakefield.
One purpose of the batteries was to engage enemy shipping that came within range of the coastline, which was normally 6,000 yards or less. While it was possible that major warships might present themselves as targets during a major confrontation, more likely objectives would be the shelling of smaller vessels, such as E-boats or landing craft being used during a
major raid or an invasion attempt. Defending the beaches themselves was a secondary role. That at Easton Bavents, for example, was permitted to fire on the beaches around Benacre Broad, while that at Kessingland could fire on land targets at Lowestoft Swing Bridge, the harbour area, the Claremont Pier and the railway junction. The design of each coastal battery was similar and the sites were made up of common elements, but the exact arrangement varied on the ground. Typically, the guns themselves were housed in concrete gunhouses adjacent to which were magazines from which the ammunition was brought up. Usually in close proximity was the generator building. Searchlights, used to illuminate targets, were usually placed on either side of the gunhouses. At Kessingland the searchlights were on the beach on either side of the gun positions, something that necessitated the removal of mines. Ancillary structures included crew shelters, kitchens, billets and gun stores.
In the initial stages of the ECDB programme the batteries were manned by Navy personnel as a temporary measure, while army gunners from the Royal Artillery were trained in how to use the unfamiliar equipment. Thus, at Pakefield, the battery’s two 6-inch guns were initially established by the Navy before a heavy regiment of the Royal Artillery was ready to take over in July. The Lowestoft (Kent) Battery began as 6-inch guns on concrete foundations in a gunhouse built of sandbags and was manned by Royal Marines. It subsequently developed first into two gunhouses built of steel poles and corrugated iron and then into brick gunhouses with concrete roofs. The full battery position was finally finished in December 1940.
While the Germans would be aware from their reconnaissance that ports had fixed defences, the existence of Emergency Batteries would not necessarily be known and, to further this deception, camouflage occupied an important place during the construction and operation of the batteries. The speed with which the batteries were established during 1940 meant that concealment was impossible at first, however; at Pakefield the ECDB was so obvious that one officer observed that ‘the whole layout was more conspicuous than any of the dummy batteries’). By 1941, however, camouflage had developed into something of an art form.
Photographs of the Southwold Battery on Gun Hill show the sophistication of the scheme. At Lowestoft Grand Hotel Battery the gunhouses were camouflaged by scaffolding which supported nets onto which were fixed both barbed wire and fake plants, with the passageway between the two guns given similar treatment. Camouflage also extended to deliberate deception.
Dummy positions with fake guns were built to confuse Luftwaffe observers. After the Southwold Battery had completed its move to Gun Hill the buildings on the former site were used by training troops in a deliberate attempt to convince German reconnaissance that it was still active. Where their locations were known, the ECDB's were regular targets for the Luftwaffe. An aerial photograph of Southwold battery in 1941 shows a bomb crater close to the battery position and Pakefield ECDB was bombed twice in 1940, resulting in the death of a subaltern. Together with the threat of attack, the placing of such large fortifications on the cliffs or close to the beaches posed further risk. The Southwold Battery was moved from its initial location on the low-lying area of the Denes, to the south of the town, up to the high point of Gun Hill in part because of the risk of inundation by the sea. At Covehithe the risk of the battery falling off the cliff was the main reason for its move to Eastern Woods.
At Kessingland one of the searchlights collapsed at the end of December 1942 during the high tide, while, similarly, at Lowestoft Battery the high tides and strong winds at the end of December put one of the searchlights out of action. The same high tide in December 1942 was responsible for the fact that one of the searchlights for Pakefield Battery was out of action the following January; this light was subsequently moved from the beach to the adjacent cliff top. Shortly afterwards, in February 1943, one of the searchlights at Lowestoft South Battery was temporarily rendered unusable as heavy seas had resulted in waterlogging.
Information sourced from – A GUIDE TO SECOND WORLD WAR ARCHAEOLOGY IN SUFFOLK.