World War II Anti-Tank Obstacles; To The South-East Of Deer Park Holm

World War II Anti-Tank Obstacles to the South-East of Deer Park Holm

A continuous row of fifteen Second World War anti-tank blocks, erected in 1940. Constructed from reinforced concrete, the blocks have sides measuring 3 feet 6 inches (1.07 metres) and are deployed corner to corner.

During World War II, Blandford Forum lay within the Southern Command defence area under the command of V Corps, who were responsible for 50 Division, holding the forward areas of Dorset. In July 1940, V Corps selected the first layout of nodal defence points, designating ten towns as divisional anti-tank islands prepared for all-round defence. Blandford Forum was amongst these, and was also the focal point of a stop-line that ran along the River Stour from Stalbridge to Christchurch.

In configuring Blandford Forum as a nodal defence point, the creation of obstacles employed three basic principles. First, the existing means of communication in the form of the road and railway bridges over the River Stour were prepared for demolition whilst the road surfaces were prepared for cratering. Second, the existing natural obstacle of the River Stour and the man-made obstacles of the cutting and embankments of the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway were enhanced. The river, which runs from the north-west of the town in a loop along the west side and then along the south side before heading south-east towards Langton Long Blandford, provided considerable defence to the southern and western sides of the town, whilst the railway cutting and embankments formed the majority of the perimeter of the defences on the eastern side. Additionally, the existing 18th-century ha-ha that formed the boundary between Lord Portman's Bryanston Estate and the Borough of Blandford was strengthened with reinforced concrete to create an anti-tank ditch. Third, the natural and man-made defences of the perimeter were complemented by the construction of wholly new anti-tank obstacles, mainly in the form of concrete anti-tank blocks. These were used to complement the existing railway earthworks on the eastern side of the town, such as those placed beneath the two railway bridges, but the majority were utilised on the western side of the town, in conjunction with the anti-tank ditch. As every anti-tank obstacle was covered by weaponry, they were supplemented by a series of pillboxes. Further obstacles were provided in the form of mines laid in Crown Meadows and to the east of the railway embankment. The anti-tank island was designed to channel invading forces away from the town itself to an area of open ground in the north-west which would have been ranged by the Royal Artillery as a tank killing ground. The defences around the town were completed by 24 August 1940. However, the associated stop-line remained unfinished and plans to erect 160 pillboxes and 10 miles of anti-tank ditch were still being considered.

By early 1941, it was recognised that the concept of inland linear defence lines demonstrated a total lack of understanding for the modern methods of mechanised warfare, and subsequently Southern Command abandoned the system, with nodal points becoming the primary defensive positions. The operational life of the defences was short-lived. As early as December 1942, with the threat of invasion receding, defensive positions throughout the country were abandoned either wholly or in part, and as early as 1944, elements of some defences were being cleared.