Monument record FEX 142 - World War II Heavy Anti-aircraft Artillery battery Diver battery K1 and various other military features.

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Summary

World War II Heavy Anti-aircraft Artillery battery Diver battery K1 and various other military features.

Location

Grid reference Centred TM 32285 36256 (294m by 240m)
Map sheet TM33NW
Civil Parish FELIXSTOWE, SUFFOLK COASTAL, SUFFOLK

Map

Type and Period (7)

Full Description

Photographs taken in July 1940 show evidence for military activity on the site, including a number of slit trenches and other earthwork features and possibly the construction of bunkers. (S1) By April 1944 a number of new features had been constructed on the site including camouflaged buildings and a concrete road leading to small square structure and a large concrete circular feature with something fixed into it, perhaps a gun or some type of radar feature. An earthwork emplacment, possibly for a single gun, can also clearly be seen. A number of lengths of barbed wire obstruction can also be seen protecting the south side of the site.(S2) (S3) Between August 1944 and October 1945 a Heavy Anti-aircraft Artillery 'DIVER' battery was constructed on the site. The DIVER sites were constructed in late 1944 to combat the V1 bomb. This site consisted of eight gun emplacments, arranged in two rows of four, and two groups of ancillary buildings which appear mainly to be nissen huts. (S4) Remains of the battery are still visible as earthworks in 1952 (S5) but by 1965 they are no longer visible.
The structures visible on the site by April 1944 have been identified as a type of radar set called a 'Gibson Box' and were probably associated with the Brackenbury Battery to the south. (S6)
See FEX 088 for the battery.
Site of Second World War heavy anti aircraft battery K1 at felixstowe ferry Golf Club. This was a Diver Strip battery equipped with eight 3.7-inch guns and Predictor radar (S7).

Sources/Archives (7)

  • <S1> Photograph: RAF. Air Photograph. RAF 2/BR11/10 B5 22-JUL-1940.
  • <S2> Photograph: RAF. Air Photograph. RAF HLA/698 3081 08-APR-1944.
  • <S3> Photograph: RAF. Air Photograph. RAF 106G/LA/27 4018 05-AUG-1944.
  • <S4> Photograph: RAF. Air Photograph. RAF 106G/UK/929 4392 16-OCT-1945.
  • <S5> Photograph: RAF. Air Photograph. RAF 58/839 5140 11-MAR-1952.
  • <S6> Verbal communication: Roger JC Thomas. 2001. Roger JC Thomas. 2001.
  • <S7> Index: English Heritage. Pastscape. http://www.pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=1412228.

Finds (0)

Protected Status/Designation

  • None recorded

Related Monuments/Buildings (0)

Related Events/Activities (1)

Record last edited

Jan 17 2019 1:56PM

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