This article comments on the buildings that we can still see around Plymouth that played a part in the defence of the city in case of an invasion. With Plymouth’s large Naval presence the city was a target for the German bombers which unfortunately destroyed many parts of the city. However, construction of the Batteries and Pillboxes were placed around the coastline of Plymouth to protect it from being invaded. In the article, I read around the PillBoxes in my last blog of research, it mentions that many of the Pillboxes have been the victim of vandalism. I think that this is present within the concrete blocks that stand around the city. The urban environment and easy access from the city make the locations a target for vandals. My primary focus is on how the land has taken back the buildings, however, I think at this early stage of the project, it will be interesting to see the locations where the people have had a larger impact on the decay of the Pill Boxes.
Over the next few shoots, I would like to go out and explore the Pill Boxes and Batteries that are around Plymouth and visual capture the way in which they sit in the landscape/ cityscape. I believe that this will help my progressive thought for this body of work and allow me to build a picture of the areas that I truly want to focus on when building my overall narrative for this body of work. I am conscious that my primary interest is in the way in which the land has taken back these locations. It will be interesting to see how the landscape in Plymouth has evolved and decayed around the areas that I plan to go to. Furthermore, I know that Plymouth has a rich history around WW2 and I am now going to look into that in more detail below this article.
The Second World War defences you can still see today in Plymouth
Article from Plymouth Live- cited at the bottom
During the Second World War, the threat of invasion from Germany was real. It was something on the back of everyone's minds. But it would be a last resort for Adolf Hitler, who hoped Britain would seek a peaceful negotiation. Once the Luftwaffe had defeated the RAF and the economy had been knocked, an invasion would be a final strike.
Preparations were being made on both sides - Hitler had code named the operation Sea Lion and plans were being set into motion, while Britain had enrolled 1.5million volunteers as part-time soldiers in the Home Guard.
Field fortifications were being constructed up and down the country, especially in Southern England, which was one of the most vulnerable areas. Coastal batteries, many of which can be seen dotted along the coast of Plymouth today, were built to protect ports and landing places. Beaches were protected with barbed wire and many of them were overlooked by pillboxes.
Plymouth's Palmerston forts were reclaimed and modernised; humble but incredibly important anti-tank barriers, cylinders and islands would be a normal sight and hardened field defences were being built by design by soldiers and local labourers.
Other, more basic, defensive measures included the removal of signposts, milestones and railway station signs and pamphlets were distributed to households across the UK, letting them know what to do in the case of an invasion.
But Hitler's invasion of Britain never happened, and all that remains of that very real threat are relics of the war, some forgotten and derelict, some demolished all together.
According to the Defence of Britain Archive compiled by the Council for British Archaology, there are dozens of remnants still around today that date back to the 1940s. The Defence of Britain Project databases were created from field and documentary work forming a study of 'defence areas' in England. This project is fully searchable.
Here are some of the World War Two defences you can still see in Plymouth today - and others that have been lost to the past.
The Defenses you can still see today
Western King Battery is a scheduled ancient monument and dates back to the 18th century. It was originally built for 10 guns and during the Second World War was armed with seven quick firing guns. In 1941 the battery buildings were used by troops manning the boom defense, such as an anti-submarine net.
The reservoir behind was used by water boats to fill up navy ships during the Second World War and is now a grassy play park and adds to the green oasis that is Devils Point, though soon it will become extra car parking space for Royal William Yard.
In 1860 construction began on Fort Bovisand, forming a ring of fortified protection around the city of Plymouth to ward off against French invasion, an invasion that never came.
Then, in circa 1914, the two towers of the fort were demolished and the site came into use once again to protect the coast.
Decades later, during the Second World War, the fort housed anti-aircraft guns and barrage balloons as Britain prepared to defend itself from Nazi invasion. The barrage balloon moorings can still be seen today and remains as the only known complete site in Plymouth.
According to southdevonaonb.org.uk, during the First Wolrd War searchlights were installed and additional troops were stationed there due to fears of a submarine attack. But during the Second World War, the site was much busier, with 115 personnel based there and six searchlights scanning the skies.
The website says: "The last artillery changes came in 1942, replacing the QF guns with twin 6-pounder guns. They could fire 780 rounds a minute and engage the enemy motor torpedo boats. They were installed on the roof of the casemates."
Coast battery at Wembury
The battery was first constructed 1904 but has First and Second World War additions. Historic England says the site was leased to a private company until 2009, and since then has been vacant and subject to vandalism.
"Recording has been put in hand but no options for repair/reuse have been agreed," says Historic England.
Like the coastal battery at Wembury, nearby Lentney Battery was built the year after to defend the Eastern approaches to Plymouth Sound and the dockard.
According to derelictplaces.co.uk, in 1911 the battery was put into reserve, as its role was better fulfilled by the contemporary battery at Watch House.
According to derelictplaces.co.uk, in 1911 the battery was put into reserve, as its role was better fulfilled by the contemporary battery at Watch House.
The website says: "In 1914 a blockhouse and unclimbable fence was added and the battery was manned by the Devonshire Royal Garrison Artillery who shared accommodation with the nearby Renney Battery to the south. The guns were dismounted after the First World War.
"During the Second World War between 1939 and 1941 the battery was modernised and re-armed with similar guns (but this time the Mk24 guns included splinter boxes over the guns) as before manned by men from 156 Royal Artillery Battery.
"After the war the battery was used as one of the practise batteries for the Coast Artillery Training School who were based up the coast at Fort Staddon. The battery remained in usable condition until the dissolution of coast artillery in the United Kingdom in 1956 when it was once again disarmed, and the guns sold for scrap. The site was then released by the military in 1991."
Royal Observer Corps site and artillery battery, Fort Picklecombe
Now converted into plush apartments, the old fortress was used as coastal battery during the Second World War and has a history dating back 150 years.
Guns were removed from the fort in the 1920s after the First World War, but after 1939 and the outbreak of the Second World War, it was reactivated and manned by the Coastal Artillery.
Just down the coast to the west of the fort range finder and searchlight positions were made. The remains of these positions still remain today.
Elmes, Sarah. n.d. “[No Title].” Accessed March 12, 2021. https://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/news/history/world-war-two-defences-you-2750611.
An Overview of The Bombing in Plymouth
The Plymouth Blitz was a series of bombing raids carried out by the Nazi German Luftwaffe on the English city of Plymouth in the Second World War. The bombings launched on numerous British cities were known as the Blitz.
The royal dockyards at HMNB Devonport were the main target in order to facilitate Nazi German efforts during the Battle of the Atlantic. Portsmouth, some 170 miles away in Hampshire, was also targeted by the Luftwaffe due to the presence of a royal dockyard there.
Despite this, civilian casualties were very high and the dockyards continued in operation. The first bombs fell on the city on Saturday 6 July 1940 at Swilly, killing three people. In early 1941, five raids reduced much of the city to rubble. Attacks continued as late as May 1944 with two minor air raids in that month.[1] During the 59 bombing attacks, 1,172 civilians were killed and 4,448 injured.[2]
The resident population fell from 220,000 at the outbreak of war to, at one point, only 127,000. In 1941 most of the children were evacuated and on any night that a raid was expected thousands of people were taken by lorry into the countryside, usually to the fringes of Dartmoor.[2]
in this town that was wasting away in reddish trails of smoke, only a few citizens wandered: the others were still in hiding; or lay, all distress ended, under the ruins.
— André Savignon on dawn, 21 March 1941.[2]
In March 1941, St Andrew's Parish Church was bombed and badly damaged. Amidst the smoking ruins a headmistress nailed over the door a wooden sign saying simply Resurgam (Latin for I shall rise again), indicating the wartime spirit, a gesture repeated at other devastated European churches. That entrance to St Andrew's is still referred to as the "Resurgam" door and a carved granite plaque is now permanently fixed there.[3]
Charles Church, destroyed by incendiaries on the nights of 20–21 March 1941, has been preserved in its ruined state as a memorial to civilian victims of the Blitz.
The Laboratory of the Marine Biological Association on the Hoe was also severely damaged on the evening of 20 March 1941. The bombardment is described in the obituary of Stanley Wells Kemp who was the director of the Association at the time.[4] The seminal work by Alan Lloyd Hodgkin and Andrew Fielding Huxley on the ionic basis of nerve conduction resumed there in June 1947.
On the evening of 22 April 1941 during an attack on the central area, the communal air-raid shelter at Portland Square took a direct hit which killed 76 people. Almost 70 years later, this was commemorated by the University of Plymouth, which named a new building on the site after the incident, and also commissioned a local artist to create a commemorative piece.[5] Just three people in the shelter survived.[6]
During the Blitz the two main shopping centres and nearly every civic building were destroyed, along with 26 schools, eight cinemas and 41 churches. In total, 3,754 houses were destroyed with a further 18,398 seriously damaged.[2]
1 "During the month of May 1944, there were eight air raid alerts and two minor air raids in this area." ‘War Diary, 5/1-31/44’ Plymouth USNAAB, 15 June 1944, Fold3, <http://www.fold3.com/image/#1%7C276947863> [accessed 4 April 2012], p. 3.
^
a b c d Gill, Crispin (1993). Plymouth. A New History. Devon Books. pp. 259–262. ISBN 0-86114-882-7.
^ Plymouth City Council website: Places of Worship Archived 13 October 2007 at the 3Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2007-10-13.
^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2012. Retrieved 26 April 2012.
^ "75th Anniversary - Portland Square Air Raid Shelter Bombing". plymouth.ac.uk. Retrieved 23 April 2018.
^ Bayley, Jon (14 November 2017). "Fascinating footage show bunker under Plymouth University". plymouthherald.co.uk. Retrieved 23 April 2018.
A War Time Story From Irene Harris, From Plymouth
While for many the Blitz will always be associated with London, other cities also suffered. One of the primary targets for the Luftwaffe was the major naval base at Devonport, Plymouth. The city was heavily bombed and suffered extensive damage with many casualties. Someone who lived through the bombing was Irene Harris. She later recalled her experiences of living in Plymouth during the attacks.
“Matt, my boyfriend, was exempted from call-up for a while because he was needed at home. He worked at Devonport Dockyard building ships. It got embarrassing when people in our village started to whisper: “Who is this young man from London? Why isn’t he fighting like our men?
Then the Germans started bombing Plymouth. When Matt got home he found the house in which he was living was destroyed. After helping to pull out the dead and the wounded he helped the firemen put out the fires. He carried a lot of jewellery out of a shop that was on fire and laid it on a table in the road. It never entered into his head to put it in a safe place like his pocket. Then a policeman said: “I think you had better get the shoes out of the shoe shop.” A young lad about ten years old helped him but after wading through all the water and hot cinders the poor lad’s boots were hanging off his feet, so Matt fitted him up with a new pair from the shop.
Matt had nowhere to live and everybody’s nerves were stretched so we decided to get married and live in furnished rooms. You could get married quickly in those days. The registry office had been bombed. All the windows were gone, as well as half the house. The room we got married in had a rough wooden table and a few odd chairs. Most of the guests had to stand. It wasn’t a bit like a wedding. When it ended the registrar said: “We will now say the Lord’s prayer.” I was so depressed I could not prayer. What should have been so lovely was so sad. We were married on May 21st 1941 and the following September 10th, Matt got called up. I only saw him a few times after that until the war ended.
We had huge oil tanks standing at the edge of our village. These were bombed and after catching light they burned for days. The whole village could have caught fire so we were evacuated into schools where we slept on the floors. In the mornings we would line up for a piece of bread and a slice of corned beef. We were then taken to Plymouth in coaches to do our work but the factories were all bombed so we lined up at the unemployment offices. People were just milling around, utterly bewildered and confused. I don’t know how the authorities sorted it out.
There was no gas so we lived on stews made on the fire. If we ran out of coal, the meat and vegetables would be put in one dish, your name and address would be written on a piece of paper and stuck on top. This was taken to the local baker who charged four pennies for cooking it in the bread oven. At 12.30 the villagers would all gather around the baker and in would go that big shovel that normally brought out the bread. Oh, the lovely smells, believe me, we never had enough to eat.
One day we were told the gas mains had been mended and was to be turned on at a certain time. Thank God we would be able to cook again. But when it came on something went wrong and we had explosions all over the place. People were killed and even a poor horse standing with a cart in the road was blown to pieces. We had to wait several months before we were able to cook again.
historylearningsite.co.uk. The History Learning Site, 20 Apr 2015. 12 Mar 2021.
While for many the Blitz will always be associated with London, other cities also suffered. One of the primary targets for the Luftwaffe was the major naval base at Devonport, Plymouth. The city was heavily bombed and suffered extensive damage with many casualties. Someone who lived through the bombing was Irene Harris. She later recalled her experiences of living in Plymouth during the attacks.
“Matt, my boyfriend, was exempted from call-up for a while because he was needed at home. He worked at Devonport Dockyard building ships. It got embarrassing when people in our village started to whisper: “Who is this young man from London? Why isn’t he fighting like our men?
Then the Germans started bombing Plymouth. When Matt got home he found the house in which he was living was destroyed. After helping to pull out the dead and the wounded he helped the firemen put out the fires. He carried a lot of jewellery out of a shop that was on fire and laid it on a table in the road. It never entered into his head to put it in a safe place like his pocket. Then a policeman said: “I think you had better get the shoes out of the shoe shop.” A young lad about ten years old helped him but after wading through all the water and hot cinders the poor lad’s boots were hanging off his feet, so Matt fitted him up with a new pair from the shop.
Matt had nowhere to live and everybody’s nerves were stretched so we decided to get married and live in furnished rooms. You could get married quickly in those days. The registry office had been bombed. All the windows were gone, as well as half the house. The room we got married in had a rough wooden table and a few odd chairs. Most of the guests had to stand. It wasn’t a bit like a wedding. When it ended the registrar said: “We will now say the Lord’s prayer.” I was so depressed I could not prayer. What should have been so lovely was so sad. We were married on May 21st 1941 and the following September 10th, Matt got called up. I only saw him a few times after that until the war ended.
We had huge oil tanks standing at the edge of our village. These were bombed and after catching light they burned for days. The whole village could have caught fire so we were evacuated into schools where we slept on the floors. In the mornings we would line up for a piece of bread and a slice of corned beef. We were then taken to Plymouth in coaches to do our work but the factories were all bombed so we lined up at the unemployment offices. People were just milling around, utterly bewildered and confused. I don’t know how the authorities sorted it out.
There was no gas so we lived on stews made on the fire. If we ran out of coal, the meat and vegetables would be put in one dish, your name and address would be written on a piece of paper and stuck on top. This was taken to the local baker who charged four pennies for cooking it in the bread oven. At 12.30 the villagers would all gather around the baker and in would go that big shovel that normally brought out the bread. Oh, the lovely smells, believe me, we never had enough to eat.
One day we were told the gas mains had been mended and was to be turned on at a certain time. Thank God we would be able to cook again. But when it came on something went wrong and we had explosions all over the place. People were killed and even a poor horse standing with a cart in the road was blown to pieces. We had to wait several months before we were able to cook again.
Our house was built on a rocky slope that reached right down to the beach. When the Germans came to bomb us we would go down to the beach-house and use it as a shelter. We felt that the rocks around the boathouse would protect us. All around us was Plymouth Harbour. Flying boats were stationed there. They were of course manned with airmen. The flying boats were a target for the Germans and when they were hit some of the men were blown into the sea. The petrol poured out of the planes and caught alight. It was as if the sea was on fire. These poor men were surrounded by it. Their screams were dreadful. My lovely, gentle brother, Albert, could not take it. He used to lie on the floor with his head in the dog kennel trying to hide from it all. When he was eighteen he had to go and fight. He certainly did his share. He as two years behind the big guns before he collapsed with shell shock.”
historylearningsite.co.uk. The History Learning Site, 20 Apr 2015. 12 Mar 2021.
My Analysis
This article written by Irene Harris brings the war effort home with her retrospective narrative of living in/ around the Plymouth area during the Second World War. The sad truth of what it was like to live during the war is something that I feel like I need to capture in my body of work. I want the photographs to have an underlying narrative of sadness to make the viewer feel uncomfortable when they are looking at my series. Much like the feeling that I am encountering while reading Harris’s first person struggles during the war time. She mentions her experiences of going to the bottom of the garden and hiding in their beach house when the Germans were bombing the area. “When the Germans came to bomb us we would go down to the beach-house and use it as a shelter. We felt that the rocks around the boathouse would protect us. All around us was Plymouth Harbour. Flying boats were stationed there. They were of course manned with airmen. The flying boats were a target for the Germans and when they were hit some of the men were blown into the sea. The petrol poured out of the planes and caught alight. It was as if the sea was on fire. These poor men were surrounded by it. Their screams were dreadful. My lovely, gentle brother, Albert, could not take it. He used to lie on the floor with his head in the dog kennel trying to hide from it all.”
When reading this I am hearing the horrors and screams that they would have been exposed to when hiding to protect their lives. This is not something that is easy to read, let alone imagine was a part of someone's life who lived in the same city that I live. This horror, pain and scares feeling is one that I want to place in my body of work. I want the viewer to think about the war, the meanings and reason behind it. I want the viewer to feel uncomfortable when they are viewing my work, by being provoked with stories and archival photographs. Going forward I am going to look into the history and politics of the second world war, while digging into the archive to find real life stories from the people that lived and fought during this period of time.