WWII, Control / Observation Post, Grand Hotel Battery, Centre of Environment Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, Lowestoft.
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.
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.