If German forces were successful in invading Britain during the Second World War, the dozens of Zero stations would have come into operation. They were designed so that spies could secretly give information to out stations, before the coded information was passed on via radio to zero stations who would then inform the Special Duties…
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During World War 2, the Deepdene hotel and grounds were taken over by Southern Railway who had chosen the site to be its emergency wartime headquarters. Making use of some existing caves, which had been there for some 300 years, building work started to turn the chalk tunnels into a bomb-proof underground control centre. In…
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As aerial bombing emerged during the Second World War so did the defences. In addition to anti-aircraft batteries the Government started to build more discreet defensive positions with a new decoy programme launched in 1940 with some 839 decoys built. Potential targets such as airfields, factories or oil refineries had decoys built in the nearby…
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Canvey Island’s civil defence sirens – used to warn residents of air raids in WWII, potential nuclear bombs in the Cold War, and flood emergencies since the North Sea Floods of 1953, remained installed and frequently tested until around 2014. It is not entirely clear if this siren was from WWII, but even if this…
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Tucked away in the Little Gypps area of Canvey Island is a park known as the Gunny/Gunney, and here there was once a WW2 Heavy Anti Aircraft (HAA) battery designated as TN7 Furtherwick (Thames North battery No.7). There were six gun emplacements, four octagonal early-war pits positioned in a semi circle facing east and another…
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Shooters Hill is one of the highest points in London with a summit of 432 feet. The name is thought to date back to 1226 when the land was used for archery practise; either that or a common area for highwaymen. During the Second World War several defences were built in the area to protect…
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In the early Second World War – being 1939 or 1940, a total of nine pillboxes, along with other defences and bunkers, were built across Canvey Island. Canvey Island formed the start of the first line of defence against an invasion coming towards Western England from the Germans. This line is known as the GHQ…
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The history of ‘Henley’s’ dates back to 1837 when WT Henley opened a worksop in London, manufacturing covered wires, and went on to become one of the leading electrical companies – most notably for their role in the development of submarine cables. In 1863 they won a contract with the Indian Government to build a…
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Canvey Island was a fairly quiet area in the 1930s, so when it became heavily militarised to defend against air, land, and sea on the approach to World War Two, it must have come as quite a shock. Arguably, this was one of the changes the island saw which transformed it into the town it…
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East along from Shoebury’s Gunners Park where the old ranges were, along the seawall by the Garrison, lies several WWII coastal defences built to protect this major military site during wartime. We visited these in 2011 and 2018, when the photography below was captured. No.2 Searchlight Emplacements The pair of Coastal Artillery Searchlight Emplacements housed…
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