For a general history and purpose of the AT Islands and Stoplines, see these threads;
[ame]http://www.derelictplaces.co.uk/main/showthread.php?t=20427[/ame]
[ame]http://www.derelictplaces.co.uk/main/showthread.php?t=19380[/ame]
My thanks and acknowledgment once again to Krela for providing the photos of the original construction plans and other 1940/1941 documentation included in this report.
Whitford ATI is very small, occupying an area of only 600 x 300 yards, and is located to the east of both the village and the River Axe. As was the norm, it utilized part of the Taunton Stopline in its western flank. The immediately obvious oddity is the small number of PBs and the lack of any AT gun emplacements but this can be explained when you study the area and the planned defensive strategy.
All that was being defended here was the crossing of the River Axe by German armour via Whitford bridge. Once denied the crossing the Germans would have been faced with a lengthy detour around as an assault on prepared defences by infantry alone would have been a waste of time and resources. The tanks would have pulled back expecting artillery fire and our two pounders would have been brought up from reserve at Musbury to annoy them.
The area almost defends itself once Whitford bridge is blown. Okay I’m simplifying that a bit but the end result would most likely have been a German detour.
There were 6 pillboxes 2 road blocks plus troop deployments and the usual ditches, scarping, wire etc. but no 6 pounder gun emplacements.
AT cubes are shown on the original plans running along the east bank of the river for a short stretch south from Whitford bridge but are not apparent on the ground now. I also couldn’t find any on the west bank even though the DOB gives a record of one, S0001410. There is something at the location given though. It’s a 3 foot square cube of concrete, half buried with a 8 inch diameter hole in the top and water occupying whatever space there is inside. A metal rectangular cover is lying nearby and this object would probably be more correctly related to the Water authority.
There were also no dedicated Vickers boxes indicated either. This little ATI just got interesting, better go have a look.
Whitford ATI 1940/1
Plotted GE mapshot, not all sites are extant.
GE map shots legend
Orange – AT ditches
Yellow – Scarping
White – AT posts
Blue – Barbed wire
Black – Railway
Light blue – Canal
Brown – AT Cubes
S RD 65 – Road block, probably horizontal rail type - 50°45'11.80"N, 3° 2'49.91"W
There is no evidence of the road block which would almost certainly have been a horizontal rail type. The current Whitford bridge looks like a modern replacement so I wasn’t really expecting any finds.
The original bridge designated as Brigade Section ‘F’, bridge serial no. 38, was scheduled for deferred demolition thus - ‘Mines abutment, 3 cutting charges. 252 lbs ammonal, 256 lbs G.C. The timeframe for rigging was 14 hours and would be carried out by 2 NCO’s. There was a strict procedure and codeword system in place to authorize the demolition of any bridge, which I’ll go into another time.
S 66 – Type 22 PB modified – S0001408 - 50°45'8.33"N, 3° 2'48.91"W
A possible correction for the Capn as this is given as a Type 24 on the DOB overlay.
The annexe was added to this Stopline pillbox as part of the ATI “all round defence’ strategy. Inside, the original box was cramped due to the size of the anti ricochet wall, and the 1’6” thick walls make this a somewhat less than shell proof hideout. Still, any port in a storm.
For reference, S 67 – Type 24 - S0001409 – removed - 50°45'2.88"N, 3° 2'47.80"W
T RD B 50 – Road block, Salisbury type – 50°45'7.22"N, 3° 2'33.25"W
There are two cubes, one S0001411, where the DOB says it is and another buried in the hedge at 50°45'07.0"N, 3°02'33.13"W. The road block itself would have been a hairpin/vertical rail/AT mines array and was located on the eastern flank of the ATI.
The new one is difficult to see in this pic but it’s there alright.
S 65 – Type 24 – S0001407 - 50°45'9.16"N, 3° 2'38.86"W
In the grounds of a private allotment and converted to a storage shed. No point in venturing in on this occasion.
S 64 – Type 24 modified – S0001280 - 50°45'13.42"N, 3° 2'47.10"W
Note how the large embrasure in the annexe is missing its hinged metal shutter. It’s also been flooded at some point judging from the floor and it’s right on the river bank
Annexe entrance
T 140 - Type 24, modified – EDOBID: 24314 - 50°45'13.40"N, 3° 2'39.60"W
Built for the ATI as indicated by the ‘T’ prefix, this PB has the large embrasure as part of the design rather than included in an ‘added’ annexe to an existing TSL pillbox. It was obviously desirable to allow for both LMG and MMG fire from any one box and this armament strategy is common to other ATI’s on the line.
Bad decorators have been at work which is surprising given how well hidden the box is.
There’s been a fair bit of debate down here about exactly what weapon this type of embrasure was intended for. Personally, I think Vickers but I’ve struggled up to now to find a suitable mounting to allow it to be in a correct firing position in the space available. The standard tripod wouldn’t fit in my opinion and the pivot for the gun is too far back to prevent over-traversing the embrasure.
The purpose built mounting in this pic from the Imperial War Museum collection demonstrates how at least the 'fit' issue was overcome, although the traverse would need to be restricted on the mount plate. The later Turnbull mounts better achieved this of course but were not in service when the ATI was built.
For comparison;
If this mounting was available when the ATI was built then it could also have been a reason to not build separate MMG pillboxes. Cement was in short supply at the time and the policy was to avoid unnecessary construction.
T 141 – Type 24 – planned location 50°45'8.47"N, 3° 2'44.11"W - removed or never built and I would be interested to see if the Capn can find it on one of his older maps just so we know.
Enough from me for now, thanks for looking in.
[ame]http://www.derelictplaces.co.uk/main/showthread.php?t=20427[/ame]
[ame]http://www.derelictplaces.co.uk/main/showthread.php?t=19380[/ame]
My thanks and acknowledgment once again to Krela for providing the photos of the original construction plans and other 1940/1941 documentation included in this report.
Whitford ATI is very small, occupying an area of only 600 x 300 yards, and is located to the east of both the village and the River Axe. As was the norm, it utilized part of the Taunton Stopline in its western flank. The immediately obvious oddity is the small number of PBs and the lack of any AT gun emplacements but this can be explained when you study the area and the planned defensive strategy.
All that was being defended here was the crossing of the River Axe by German armour via Whitford bridge. Once denied the crossing the Germans would have been faced with a lengthy detour around as an assault on prepared defences by infantry alone would have been a waste of time and resources. The tanks would have pulled back expecting artillery fire and our two pounders would have been brought up from reserve at Musbury to annoy them.
The area almost defends itself once Whitford bridge is blown. Okay I’m simplifying that a bit but the end result would most likely have been a German detour.
There were 6 pillboxes 2 road blocks plus troop deployments and the usual ditches, scarping, wire etc. but no 6 pounder gun emplacements.
AT cubes are shown on the original plans running along the east bank of the river for a short stretch south from Whitford bridge but are not apparent on the ground now. I also couldn’t find any on the west bank even though the DOB gives a record of one, S0001410. There is something at the location given though. It’s a 3 foot square cube of concrete, half buried with a 8 inch diameter hole in the top and water occupying whatever space there is inside. A metal rectangular cover is lying nearby and this object would probably be more correctly related to the Water authority.
There were also no dedicated Vickers boxes indicated either. This little ATI just got interesting, better go have a look.
Whitford ATI 1940/1
Plotted GE mapshot, not all sites are extant.
GE map shots legend
Orange – AT ditches
Yellow – Scarping
White – AT posts
Blue – Barbed wire
Black – Railway
Light blue – Canal
Brown – AT Cubes
S RD 65 – Road block, probably horizontal rail type - 50°45'11.80"N, 3° 2'49.91"W
There is no evidence of the road block which would almost certainly have been a horizontal rail type. The current Whitford bridge looks like a modern replacement so I wasn’t really expecting any finds.
The original bridge designated as Brigade Section ‘F’, bridge serial no. 38, was scheduled for deferred demolition thus - ‘Mines abutment, 3 cutting charges. 252 lbs ammonal, 256 lbs G.C. The timeframe for rigging was 14 hours and would be carried out by 2 NCO’s. There was a strict procedure and codeword system in place to authorize the demolition of any bridge, which I’ll go into another time.
S 66 – Type 22 PB modified – S0001408 - 50°45'8.33"N, 3° 2'48.91"W
A possible correction for the Capn as this is given as a Type 24 on the DOB overlay.
The annexe was added to this Stopline pillbox as part of the ATI “all round defence’ strategy. Inside, the original box was cramped due to the size of the anti ricochet wall, and the 1’6” thick walls make this a somewhat less than shell proof hideout. Still, any port in a storm.
For reference, S 67 – Type 24 - S0001409 – removed - 50°45'2.88"N, 3° 2'47.80"W
T RD B 50 – Road block, Salisbury type – 50°45'7.22"N, 3° 2'33.25"W
There are two cubes, one S0001411, where the DOB says it is and another buried in the hedge at 50°45'07.0"N, 3°02'33.13"W. The road block itself would have been a hairpin/vertical rail/AT mines array and was located on the eastern flank of the ATI.
The new one is difficult to see in this pic but it’s there alright.
S 65 – Type 24 – S0001407 - 50°45'9.16"N, 3° 2'38.86"W
In the grounds of a private allotment and converted to a storage shed. No point in venturing in on this occasion.
S 64 – Type 24 modified – S0001280 - 50°45'13.42"N, 3° 2'47.10"W
Note how the large embrasure in the annexe is missing its hinged metal shutter. It’s also been flooded at some point judging from the floor and it’s right on the river bank
Annexe entrance
T 140 - Type 24, modified – EDOBID: 24314 - 50°45'13.40"N, 3° 2'39.60"W
Built for the ATI as indicated by the ‘T’ prefix, this PB has the large embrasure as part of the design rather than included in an ‘added’ annexe to an existing TSL pillbox. It was obviously desirable to allow for both LMG and MMG fire from any one box and this armament strategy is common to other ATI’s on the line.
Bad decorators have been at work which is surprising given how well hidden the box is.
There’s been a fair bit of debate down here about exactly what weapon this type of embrasure was intended for. Personally, I think Vickers but I’ve struggled up to now to find a suitable mounting to allow it to be in a correct firing position in the space available. The standard tripod wouldn’t fit in my opinion and the pivot for the gun is too far back to prevent over-traversing the embrasure.
The purpose built mounting in this pic from the Imperial War Museum collection demonstrates how at least the 'fit' issue was overcome, although the traverse would need to be restricted on the mount plate. The later Turnbull mounts better achieved this of course but were not in service when the ATI was built.
For comparison;
If this mounting was available when the ATI was built then it could also have been a reason to not build separate MMG pillboxes. Cement was in short supply at the time and the policy was to avoid unnecessary construction.
T 141 – Type 24 – planned location 50°45'8.47"N, 3° 2'44.11"W - removed or never built and I would be interested to see if the Capn can find it on one of his older maps just so we know.
Enough from me for now, thanks for looking in.