PillBlogs: Yet another Downs locality

An excursion in search of an underground battle headquarters took me into a small trenched locality on the Downs. I also found a small hand grenade fragment.

The HQ site yielded nothing. I was, however, not totally surprised at this as the document I got the grid reference from was only suggesting it as a suitable site to relocate to after two failed attempts to establish an underground HQ on the Downs.

I did find a few slit trenches in the area though; this is not listed as a Downsforce static location, but is reasonably close to the point to which the mobile Bren carrier element would have withdrawn had it failed to check a German advance from the beaches. It's quite possible that this position is associated with this, although I have seen references made to an "infantry-cum-tank" (i.e., infanty/tank co-operation) exercise in this area too.

Of the six trenches I found, two were of interest in that they employed a breastwork to raise the height of the parapet to provide better command of sloping ground. The photo below shows the position from the flank.

Seen from the front (and photographing into the sun), the breastwork is clearly visible; note how it provides a more or less level parapet on sloping ground, allowing a much wider arc of fire.

Even though I have no absolute documentary evidence on this position I expect it to have been a battle position rather than solely an exercise arrangement.

The general design of the slit trenches may possibly indicate 1940 construction and therefore predate Downsforce; the documents for this period covering this area are patchy.

The day was rounded off with the discovery in the usual place of another piece of Mills Bomb fragment.

- Pete

Hibbs, Peter PillBlogs: Yet another Downs locality (2010) Available at: http://www.pillbox.org.uk/pillblogs/detail.asp?ID=271 Accessed: 08 September 2010