Rob Bell explores the costal defence network that was put in place to defend Britain's beaches from invasion, including a tower in Essex which controlled mines laid across the estuary. In Freiston Shore, on the coast of Lincolnshire, he discovers some of the finest defence buildings still standing. Finally, he heads to Cuckmere Haven, in East Sussex, where seemingly random bits of concrete reveal an intricate network of defences.
The physical defence of London was crucial, and a ring of steel and concrete was thrown up around the capital as well as utilising natural defences – such as Box Hill in Surrey.
Numerous pill boxes, gun emplacements and dragons teeth were all tactically positioned to slow the Germans trying to get to the major cities.
RAF Kenley is one of the most intact Battle of Britain airfields. What really gave Britain the edge during World War II was a secret weapon – an integrated defence system and RADAR. The first radar was developed pre-war in Bawdsey Manor and developed further from a 16th century pub in Purbeck, becoming fully operational from bases such as Great Baddow.
Reigate Fort was repurposed to block the Nazi's from getting to London and was set to become Resistance HQ should the capital have fallen. Resistance bases were set up across the country, most of them secret and lost to time, but hidden in the grounds of Coleshill House, Wiltshire, a fully kitted out Operational Base was found. Auxiliary units would operate from these bases, carrying out missions so secret that they were only revealed by the presentation of a special badge given at the end of the war.
With the blitz taking its toll, Britain had to keep it's manufacturing going, leading to the birth of shadow factories. These large underground hidden sites were crucial in the ammunition production; one of the most expansive being Drakelow Tunnels.As Britain's victories mounted so did the prisoners of war. Across Britain a network of camps sprang up and the best remaining example is Eden Camp in Yorkshire. It remains a fascinating insight into life in the camps and what having POWs living in the UK meant for the locals.
Britain needed to produce vast amounts of ammunition, to the extent that the Caernwent Explosives and Propellant Factory had to have its own railway. Chatham Docks on the Medway saw 142 ships set sail, and bomber bases like the Ridgewell RAF sprung up across the country, changing the landscape of Britain forever.
Rob Bell looks at how the greatest invasion in human history was being prepared in Southern England and the buildings that helped with D-Day and Operation Overlord. There were whole villages that were taken over by the MOD, and in the case of Tyneham, never returned.
