NHER 27645 (Monument record) - Site of World War Two seafront defences

September 2005. Norfolk NMP.
A group of World War Two anti invasion defences is visible on aerial photographs (S1 to 6), from the Pleasure Beach to the area of open ground now occupied by a caravan park (TG 5317 0606 to TG 5318 0524). It formed part of a long line of defences stretching all the way along Great Yarmouth seafront. The section described here continued to the north, where it is recorded as NHER 27658 although the division between the two sections is largely arbitrary. There is also extensive evidence of military activity behind these seafront defences, e.g. NHER 27638.

The earliest elements of the seafront defences are first visible on photographs taken in 1940-41 (S1 to 2). By this time barbed wire and/or scaffolding had been laid out in a zigzag line along the beach. The beach itself was mined (S7); craters visible on aerial photographs taken in October 1945 (S6), at approximately TG 5324 0530, were probably created by mine removal. Further barbed wire or scaffolding is visible above the beach, to the west of the sea wall; these obstructions were greatly extended later in the war. Other features visible in 1940 to 1941 include a network of slit trenches at TG 5319 0528, with a weapons pit or earthwork gun emplacement a short distance to the west (at TG 5316 0528). The slit trenches lead back to two structures, perhaps sunken air raid shelters, at TG 5317 0532 and TG 5318 0527. Further to the north, a second weapons pit or emplacement is visible at TG 5311 0584. Disturbed ground can be seen along almost the entire length of the site, in the area immediately behind the sea wall.

By 1944 (S3 and 4) most of the remaining elements of the site had been constructed, although many are only clearly visible on low level photographs taken in 1945 (e.g. S5 and 6). As well as the more extensive layout of barbed wire and scaffolding mentioned above, various structures and earthworks are visible. At the southern end of the site, a polygonal pillbox, camouflaged by a covering of turf or other vegetation, stood at TG 5319 0531. It was surrounded by various structures and earthworks, the function of most of which cannot be determined but which included at least one spigot mortar emplacement to its immediate northwest. A rectangular structure at TG 5315 0548 was probably a light anti aircraft tower, comparable to others mapped elsewhere at Great Yarmouth (e.g. NHER 27365). It was again surrounded by various structures and earthworks, the purpose of which is unknown. A circular structure to its north (at TG 5314 0559), however, may have been associated with the emplacement, as it is comparable to similar structures mapped at other light anti aircraft batteries (e.g. NHER 19084). To the north (up to TG 5312 0575) were several large weapons pits or emplacements; some were large enough to suggest that they once held defensive structures which had already been removed. A Type 24 pillbox is visible at TG 5314 0576. Further to the north were two possible sandbagged emplacements at TG 5316 0582 and a possible air raid shelter (or at least its entrance) at TG 5312 0586. A spigot mortar emplacement is visible at TG 5316 0594.

Most of the above features are visible against a background of disturbed ground, the extent of which has been mapped. There is no evidence on more recent aerial photographs that any element of the World War Two site now survives above ground; in common with many of Great Yarmouth’s defences, most were probably removed at or soon after the end of the war.
S. Tremlett (NMP), 26 September 2005.