Mainly thanks to Dad’s army, everybody’s heard of the home guard and their potential role if Britain was invaded by the Third Reich. What is less known however, are the amount of physical defences that were constructed so the brits could dig in against a potential German invasion.
South East England was transformed into a battlefield with pillboxes littering the countryside. The most condensed area was the Outer London Defence Ring that surrounded the capital. Developed by General Edmund Ironside and General Alan Brooke, pillboxes, anti-tank traps and artificial ditches were widespread in case the RAF lost the Battle of Britain.
It wasn’t just London that was protected. The Taunton Stop Line would help prevent an invasion from the South West while the Coquet Stop Line would attempt to halt a northern advance. Below are some amazing images of the defences, which can still be seen today.
Visit http://www.pillboxesuk.co.uk/ to find your nearest one!
If you want to know more about the British invasion defences in the First World War, check out part 1 right here.