The defence of Great Britain in World War II

An article in British Archaeology (June 2002, pp. 8-11) under the heading ‘Fortress Britain’ makes engrossing reading. This project, organised by the Council for British Archaeology, has resulted in the compilation of some 19,555 sites ranging from anti-invasion constructions to a diversity of military sites used during the war.

This mammoth task lasting 7 years was undertaken by some 600 volunteers gathering their information from fieldwork and from research on photographs, original documents and oral testimony.

If your knowledge of wartime defence was limited by Dad’s Army you may be surprised to know that by 1941 every square foot of the United Kingdom was covered by some military or Civil Defence scheme. Had the Germans invaded then they would have been blocked at every turn.

Simon Denison, who wrote the article, observed that hitherto there was little research and understanding of Britain’s wartime defences as most archaeologists thought that the period was too recent to be of much interest. But this is dangerous ground, for in a short time many sites can be destroyed, damaged or overgrown. So this project was timely and foresighted.

When I first heard of the project I was still living in South Croydon and noticed two sites in my vicinity:

A group of the giant concrete cubes (tank traps) placed by the railway line approaching the now disused Selsdon station where the footpath behind St Peter's school crosses the line by the footbridge. These were removed several years ago. Two others, still visible but overgrown (there may be more) were in the scrubby strip of woodland by the side of the lower Selsdon Road opposite Carlton Road.

I would be interested to know if other members of CNHSS or of other local organisations took part in the Defence of Britain Project.

Muriel Shaw

[The final report of the Defence of Britain project can be accessed at the project's homepage. On 7 November 2002 the project won both the prestigious Silver Trowel Award and the Institute of Field Archaeologists’ (IFA) Award for the best archaeological project undertaken by a professional team or professional-voluntary partnership in the UK.]

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