During the war Lord Lovett's commandos were stationed at the Drop Redoubt. Their presence necessitated cutting what is known as the 'engineers' tunnel' through the counterscarp by caponnier number one and the adjacent doorway into the fort using a carronade port.
Left: Engineers' Tunnel in ditch and corresponding door in Drop Redoubt, Right: Engineers' Tunnel from outside the ditch
Under the threat of invasion in 1940 St. Martin’s Battery was upgraded to an ‘emergency’ battery and fitted with three 6" BL guns. The old Victorian emplacements were concreted over and new gun houses built which offered overhead protection against air attack. It is possible to determine the two building phases at once; the Victorian brickwork is yellow and that of WW2, red. The 6" battery was up and running by late 1940 at which time the battery was renamed, Western Heights Battery.
It is possible to see a 6" gun of this era in an open barbette at Newhaven Fort in West Sussex.
The WW2 battery was manned by the 414 Coast Battery, Royal Artillery and this was when the battery was renamed 'Western Heights Battery'. When completed the Battery staff complement was some 143 men, presumably living in the Grand Shaft Barracks nearby. This seemingly large amount of men included 4 officers who had 4 batmen and there were also gun artificers, 6 gunners, 6 range takers, 3 telephonists, 4 cooks, a gun detachment of 78, 3 sergeants, a clerk, a storeman, 2 mess servants and others. This staff numbered 123.
The remaining 20 men were assigned to the CASL, or Coast Artillery Search Lights, and included a Battery Sergeant Major, an electrical fitter, a motor vehicle fitter, 4 men to man the searchlights, a storeman, 2 telephonists, 3 engine room personnel, an NCO and 4 switchmen.
Deep Shelter
In 1890 a magazine was built to the rear of the battery by cutting into the earth bank. In 1940 this was taken to a depth of around 30’ to provide a secure shelter for the WW2 gun operators.
The deep shelter was built to give protection to the crews that worked the guns and was an extension to a Victorian magazine. The shelter goes some 30 feet down into the hillside by means of a steep staircase and then branches out into three corridors two of which appear to be accommodation areas and could sleep 8 men each. Further along there are brackets where 7 wash basins were fixed, although there do not appear to be any latrines !
Emergency exit to St. Martin's Battery deep shelter
Further along is a substantial rock fall, the passage behind this leading to the emergency exit at Grand Shaft Barracks, which is also blocked.
During the WW2 years quite a staff worked at the battery. The total manning the guns was 91 people, and this number included a Battery Commander, a Section Commander,3 Relief Section Commanders, range finding and instruments specialists, telephonists, Battery Commandant's Assistants, Storeman, and AA detachment, an artificer and a gun crew of 66 men.
Source: Public Record Office: WO 192/45
There are several WW2 anti-invasion defences set-up around Citadel Battery. These include two Spigot Mortar mountings, two pillboxes, and a fieldgun emplacement.
Other than this, there seems to be very little documentary evidence concerning the hospital. We have been told however, that when it was demolished all the records that were still there were destroyed also. In its later life the Hospital served as the HQ for the Garrison Royal Engineer.
In 1940 Dover was a front-line town and at least a suspected landing place for an expected German invasion. As a result of this Dover, along with the rest of Kent and many other coastal areas had anti-invasion defences and emergency gun batteries thrown up as quickly as possible. As a rule the anti-invasion defences consisted of beach obstacles such as
barbed wire, iron rails (usually railway line), anti-tank blocks, spigot mortars, pillboxes and sometimes flame barrages. An impressive range of anti-tank concrete blocks can be seen at Felixstowe, behind Languard Fort. Pillboxes and Spigot mortar mountings were also built in strategic places around towns.Dover’s only Petroleum Warfare Department (PWD) Flame Barrage Tanks and pump house, were situated at the lower end of the Barrier Ditch. This is the ditch that runs from the Citadel to the cliff edge by the A20 Old Folkestone Road. These were installed in 1940 and would have been used to pump an oil/kerosene mixture onto Shakespeare’s Beach which would have been ignited following Hitler’s attempt at Operation Sealion.
View of Tanks Prior to Imminent Removal by Local Authority in 1993
Left: The PWD tanks in Barrier Ditch prior to imminent removal. Centre: Probable fuel delivery pipe on Shakespeare Beach. Right: Detail of tank fittings
Dover has a good range of pillboxes, but the most common one to be found on the hills covering the main roads into the town are commonly known as 'Dover Type' and are not seen elsewhere in the country. These are square buildings, loopholed with overhanging reinforced concrete roofs.
The Type 23 has a main enclosed roofed section suitable for a garrison of 5 men and a maximum of 4 light machine guns. There is also an ‘outside’ section again enclosed, which has a mounting for an anti-aircraft gun. This mounting takes the form of a 6’6” steel pole.
1. The concrete pillbox is a great aid to defence if intelligently used; if not, it may become a death trap.
2. Concrete is a protection against bullets, shell splinters and weather. Sometimes it affords protection against shellfire. If properly camouflaged it is also protection from ground and air on=observation.
3.
Many concrete posts are not complete protection against a direct hit from a shell or aerial bomb. They all have the disadvantage of limiting the field of view and the field of fire. The garrison will be unable to use all their rifles at one and the same time because of the fewness of the loopholes. Finally the garrison is hindered in the employment of the hand grenade and bayonet.’