Website produced and maintained for the Hungerford Historical Association
by Hugh Pihlens

You are in [Events] [World War II] [ Pillboxes & Hedgehogs]

May 1940: After the defeat at Dunkirk in May 1940, Britain was faced with the imminent prospect of invasion. To counter this threat, defences were hastily erected involving a complicated pattern of defence based on communication ("nodal") points, of which Hungerford was one. The prime purpose of these defences was to serve as anti tank obstacles using natural features such as canals, rivers and railways supplemented by pillboxes and gun emplacements. These were intended to prevent German armoured columns from "cutting loose" as they had in France.

The most common of the various defences were "pillboxes", squat concrete forts that were sited at road junctions, canals and other strategic points. A total of about 28,000 were built, but only 6,000 still survive. There are about 150 in Berkshire.

The pillbox building programme started in May 1940, and continued through the summer months while the Battle of Britain was fought out in the skies above. The Directorate of Fortifications and Works (FW3) at the War Office was setup under the Directorship of Major-General G.B.O.Taylor. Its purpose was to provide specific pillbox designs to be constructed throughout the countryside at defensive locations.

General Headquarters devised a series of "stop lines" - Red, Green and Blue, which followed rivers and canals. The Kennet and Avon canal near Hungerford was GHQ Stop Line Blue, which stretched from Semington (West Wiltshire) to Theale (near Reading). The Stop Line Blue was also known as the Ironside Line (after General Sir Edmund Ironside, Commander in Chief, Home Forces in 1940). Pillboxes and anti tank gun emplacements were strategically sited along the whole length of the canal, and concrete obstructions placed across canal bridges. Much of the material used for these structures was carried on canal boats.

During June and July 1940 the FW3 branch issued seven Basic Designs. However, once in the field, the local construction companies often modified these under the direction of the area commands. Occasionally, a 'one-off' type was designed to the War Office standard by the Command and Corps Chief Engineers.

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The FW3 pillbox design concept was to provide a simple 'fieldwork standard' that could be constructed very quickly. Most designs consisted of or incorporated some of the following features:
- Minimum of Bullet/Splinter Proof protection
- No attempt was made to provide living accommodation
- Some designs were enhanced to Shell Proof standard
- Simple Blast Walls to protect open entrances
- External flat side walls with rectangular or polygonal shape

The use of common designs with standard sizes for doors, loopholes and flat sides made it easier to 'mass produce' items for concrete shuttering and hence the speed of construction. However, with the general countrywide lack of material it was often necessary to use bricks as the shuttering. This often fools the casual observer into believing that the whole structure is constructed of brick. Closer examination often reveals the integral reinforced concrete 'back-bone'!

Late in the summer of 1940, however, Winston Churchill decided to place greater emphasis upon coastal defence, and therefore the construction of extensive lines of pillboxes was stopped. In these few months, over 15,000 pillboxes had been built.

The most common type was a small hexagonal pillbox intended for use by lightly-armed troops. Larger hexagonal pillboxes were designed for crews using Bren guns. The largest were rectangular with a wide opening through which a "two-pound" field artillery piece could be fired, with a smaller Bren gun chamber built to one side.

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Pillboxes near Hungerford: There were several pillboxes in and around Hungerford. From east to west:

See also:
- Bastions in Berkshire - Pillboxes of World War II, Royal County of Berkshire, c1994
- Ramsbury At War, Roger Day, 2004.

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