24 June 2010

Tett Turret

Not quite the last of these one man defence turrets created as part of the desperate measures to repel a German invasion in WWII but one of only nine still in existence. Two of them can be found together by a path in Hornchurch Country Park. The Park is the site of RAF Hornchurch a major Battle of Britain fighter station

8 comments:

Claude said...

Very somber. Not much of a protection against an invasion.

It reminds me of people building underground shelters, in Houston Texas, during the Cuban Missile Crisis in the 60s. I was also teaching my young sons to go under the table if they would see that strangely coloured hissing cloud in the sky. If it had happened, I wouldn't be here to tell you, Jams.

If England had been invaded, maybe you wouldn't have such a photo for your blog!

CherryPie said...

Very interesting, thank you :-)

Sean Jeating said...

War is fascinating, isn't it? Especially six decades after ...

Gledwood said...

thats the sort of thing i would have loved playing in as a kid

Steve Hayes said...

I wonder how many there were originally?

And I wonder how many are left in Albania -- when I visited there 10 years ago they dotted every hillside.

jams o donnell said...

If Operation Sealion had gone ahead, our ground forces were in a poor condition to face the German Army. Straight after Dunkirk the only combat ready formation in England was a Canadian division.

THe figthing would have been desperate. I have no dougt that Churchill would have authorised use of anything in the armoury to stop the Germans, including gas

It is Sean. I still have a direct line to the war in the sahpe of my father

I never saw the Tett turrets as a child but the old RAF station was a great place to play when a child. It's now mainly a housing estate, the part I played on

I wonder Steve. I can imagine that many of the defences have gone but like here a lot still survives

CalumCarr said...

I am lowering the tone markedly!

Looks like a giant's toilet.

jams o donnell said...

Haha Calum!