Allan-Williams Turret and Spigot Mortar

I spotted this by pure luck, I was looking out the car window while my friend was driving on our way to do some Christmas shopping, so obviously we had to pull over and have a look. I only realised what it was after seeing HughieD's report from a while back of a similar place. I hope all the information I have gathered is correct, feel free to tell me if it isn't!

The Allan-Williams turret could be rotated through a full 360 degrees, set above a steel and brick-lined pit. It was designed for a machine gun to be fired either through the front loophole which was further protected by shutters, or through the circular opening in the roof in a light anti-aircraft role. According to the manufacturer, it was suitable for Vickers, Bren, Hotchkiss or Lewis machine guns in either a ground defence or anti-aircraft role, or a Boys anti-tank rifle or rifle grenade for ground defence.

The turret had a garrison of two men or, if necessary, three men for whom there were folding seats inside. One man can rotate the cupola which is on roller bearings and requires 15 lb of force to move.

According to the manufacturer, four men could dig the position out and erect the turret ready for firing in two hours and remove it completely in 30 minutes. They cost about £125.













Spigot mortars consist mainly of a solid rod or spigot, onto which a hollow tube in the projectile fits. There is usually a trigger mechanism built into the base of the spigot, with a long firing pin running up the length of the spigot activating a primer inside the projectile and firing the propellant charge.





Thanks for looking,

Rubex

Great spot, wish I could just stumble upon one.

Me too krela, Thanks Rubex

Now that's a nice little post and something a bit different from you.I have yet to see an Alan Williams turret but there is one near me ob the coast.seen plenty of spigot mortar bases though.nice one rubex I enjoyed it

Great find.

Good stuff Rubex,reckon I would have taken a cushion when I went on duty though,that metal seat looks hellish uncomfortable

Great work Rubex. This is my sort of thing! Thanks for sharing.

oldscrote said:

Good stuff Rubex,reckon I would have taken a cushion when I went on duty though,that metal seat looks hellish uncomfortable

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It's a condition the over 40's endure. Need the inflatable donut ;-)

You are always coming up with something different. Nice post and interesting write-up.

There's one at North Weald redoubt mikey

Great find rubex and the history of these is often overlooked in reports. great details and photos

They were probably the singular most dangerous place you could be were a German panzer line advancing on you. They would have offered no effective protection, and would have been so obvious as to attract heavy fire! You would essentially be sat in your own grave.

Being positioned behind a tree would have been more effective.

Nice one Rubex!

Woobar said:

There's one at North Weald redoubt mikey

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There's two there if you know where to look

I cant even begin to imagine how terrifying it'd be to be in one of them with shots pinging off the side!

krela said:

They were probably the singular most dangerous place you could be were a German panzer line advancing on you. They would have offered no effective protection, and would have been so obvious as to attract heavy fire! You would essentially be sat in your own grave.

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This is possibly why they issued three pintle mounts per mortar? Run to the bridge and jump into the first hole...take a shot, miss, take a second shot and get close (or hopefully hit), jump out and run back to the next one and repeat. You wouldn't stay still for long.

Like most of the home defenses they'd have been of minimal use. I suspect the politicians knew that and what they hoped for was that the enemy would be slowed down long enough for them to escape off the west coast or maybe get on the blower and say "well, actually that idea you had for us joining forces to take over the world was quite good now we've had long enough to mull it over".

What a find! Apparently there's only around 30 of these left in the UK, although my source (wikipedia) may be wrong!!

TheNarrator said:

What a find! Apparently there's only around 30 of these left in the UK, although my source (wikipedia) may be wrong!!

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A lot less than that I think. There may be 30 cupolas, most in a rusted apart state, but only 6 or 7 in situ with pit / rails if I remember correctly.

Excuse my ignorance here, but is this particular one quite rare then?

krela said:

They were probably the singular most dangerous place you could be were a German panzer line advancing on you. They would have offered no effective protection, and would have been so obvious as to attract heavy fire! You would essentially be sat in your own grave.

Being positioned behind a tree would have been more effective.

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I think Tett turrets would be the only defence somewhat worse than these Tbh I don't think any of these defences, pillboxes, etc were designed to take anything other than small arms fire...perhaps an HMG or the odd shell if it had a 'bomb proof' concrete cap on the top. Even so, if the blast of an 88mm gun didn't vaporise you, the shock would probably turn your brains to pink goop

SlimJim said:

I think Tett turrets would be the only defence somewhat worse than these Tbh I don't think any of these defences, pillboxes, etc were designed to take anything other than small arms fire...perhaps an HMG or the odd shell if it had a 'bomb proof' concrete cap on the top. Even so, if the blast of an 88mm gun didn't vaporise you, the shock would probably turn your brains to pink goop

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Tett turrets were really designed for the age of early IRA terrorism though, to protect from small arms fire and shrapnel from improvised pipe/ball-bearing/nail bombs, so in that sense, in context they were probably the best protection!

I digress, the truth is context is critical when looking at pillboxes; where they're sited, how they worked as organised defiladed defensive lines designed to disrupt and cause enfilading lines of fire against enemy attacks, and how they were camouflaged are the important things, and conventional thinking suggests that the plan to repel a German invasion would have worked.

TheNarrator said:

What a find! Apparently there's only around 30 of these left in the UK, although my source (wikipedia) may be wrong!!

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There are at least 60 extant....but only a handful of those are complete. The hatches are usually missing and the trench usually rotted away (though rather oddly there are at least four where only the trench remains). At least seven are hidden in private collections. One totally underwater. A couple in museums 'awaiting restoration'. Five were removed relatively recently, again to be 'restored', but have disappeared off the radar. One was sold abroad but has now come back to the UK.

Always good to see up to date photos. I think my favourite is the one on Frodsham marshes (so not far from it's birthplace!) with a substantial tree growing out of the top hatch. It's not an easy one to get to (though for the intrepid urbexers who don't care about trespass and have an inflatable canoe that wouldn't apply!).