Type 24 Wwii Pillbox On Seawall Of River Medway At Tq7918771656

Type 24 Infantry Pillbox, Hoo St Werburgh

A Type 24 infantry pillbox built in 1940 on the north bank of the Medway estuary, positioned on the seawall. The building is constructed from yellow brick, largely laid in stretcher courses, with concrete elements. It is built into the back (north) side of the sea wall and forms an irregular hexagon in plan with a flat concrete roof.

The single entrance is to the west, with slightly recessed external embrasures. The exterior is notable for having no brickwork above the embrasures, a feature unique to this particular section of the GHQ Line and presumed to be the technique of an individual contractor. This design may also have allowed for the erection of external shutters. The building is oriented to provide a field of fire to the east. Internally, the pillbox contains a Y-shaped ricochet wall and surviving wooden frames for the gun rests. The interior walls are constructed from corrugated concrete, indicating the use of corrugated formers during construction.

The pillbox was built as one component of the Hoo Stop-line, a defensive anti-invasion line stretching approximately eight miles between the River Thames near Cliffe and the River Medway south-east of Hoo St Werburgh. The construction of defence works began in June 1940 following the defeat of British forces in Europe and the return of troops from Dunkirk. Stop-lines were anti-tank obstacles designed to check the advance of armoured columns and to serve as prepared battlefields for the Field Army in the event of invasion. The local Home Guard Unit was responsible for maintaining supplies and assisting in the manning of roadblocks.

The Hoo Stop-line formed part of the principal GHQ (General Headquarters) Line, which extended from the North Somerset coast to east of London and then parallel with the east coast to Yorkshire. Across the Hoo peninsula, the line took the form of an artificial anti-tank ditch dug to join the Medway and Thames rivers, supported by pillboxes, anti-tank rails, and road blocks. War Office plans indicate a total of sixty infantry and eighteen anti-tank pillboxes enclosing the higher ground containing the Lodge Hill and Chattenden Ordnance Depots. Each component was encircled in barbed wire for extra protection, as were the defended localities.

The Hoo Peninsula was heavily militarised during the Second World War. Hoo itself was designated a Defended Village in 1941 with a garrison of sixty-three men armed with anti-tank rifles and Bren guns. Kingshill Camp, west of Bell Lane, was a designated Defended Locality with one hundred troops from the 347th Searchlight Battery, Royal Artillery. High Halstow village to the north was a further Defended Locality, and the Royal Navy Ammunition Store at Lodge Hill had a garrison of three hundred men. Given the low-lying topography and relatively easy coastal access, the stop-line provided man-made defence against invasion, particularly by tanks, with subtle changes in gradient and hedge lines used to site defensive components for the protection of the higher ground and ordnance depots.