About The Defence of East Sussex Project
This website is the online prescence of my Defence of East Sussex Project, which aims to record the anti-invasion defences of East Sussex using a combination of documentary sources, fieldwork and oral evidence.
A great many people know something about the anti-invasion defences of East Sussex, whether it be the location of an isolated dragon's tooth or a pillbox. Until 2006, I was amongst those who knew a little, but not a lot.
It has been said that archaeologists and historians know more about the events and landscape of Britain in ages long past than that of the compartively recent invasion scare of 1940, the detailed story of which was quickly forgotten. Unfortunately, this is not a myth, despite the seminal work of the late Henry Wills (author of Pillboxes [1985]), and the extensive Defence of Britain Project of 1997-2002.
Until I had been influenced by the latter some years after its completion, I had always firmly believed that very little would ever be known about the 1940 defences. This misconception was partly based on the fact that the story had not already been researched in detail.
Considering the work that has already been published and the sources available, I believe that it is no longer sufficient to simply be able to locate a pillbox and identify it (e.g., a Type 24); a small group of surviving defences can tell the historian only so much about why they were there and what their purpose was.
Having said that, the evidence that surviving defences can provide is all too easily overlooked; the image at right illustrates this.
Seen here are five pillboxes at Cuckmere Haven represented in Google Earth in 3D. This group is well-known and identified according to type or variant, but their positioning has never been fully explained.
The red areas denote the estimated arcs of fire from the two Vickers gun pillboxes, based on the angles of their embrasures.
Note how the arcs overlap at a point roughly halfway between the two Vickers pillboxes.
Now look at the small rectangular pillbox dug into the bank between them; it was obviously placed here to cover the ground that the Vickers guns could not sweep. The evidence is there in the landscape, but it's not always easy to see it.
Add to this a bit of documentary research, and you realise that the ground to the front and around these pillboxes was also mined and wired in to hinder infantry assault.
The project is, therefore, not just about concrete in the landscape; it's also about the complete scheme of defences and those who were to hold them at all costs in the face of the greatest threat to Britain's security since 1066. The closest we can get to appreciating the full picture can only be gained through the detailed study of documentary and oral evidence.
See the Methodology section for more details on how my research is being undertaken.