NHER 27423 (Monument record) - Site of World War Two anti invasion defences on Great Yarmouth seafront

July 2005. Norfolk NMP.
A line of World War Two anti invasion defences is visible as earthworks, structures and buildings on aerial photographs (S1)-(S11), ranged along the seafront from the north side of Britannia Pier (TG 5322 0773) to just beyond Jellicoe Road (TG 5317 0996). It formed part of a longer line of seafront defences which stretched both northwards and southwards along the coastline, and it was also strengthened by various secondary defences just inland of this ‘front line’ (e.g. NHER 27422).

The earliest defences are visible on aerial photographs taken in 1940 and 1941, (S1)-(S2). At this date, a zigzag arrangement of barbed wire or beach scaffolding (probably the latter) is visible, laid out on the beach along the entire length of the site. At the northern end of the site a ditch, with a bank on its seaward side, follows the line of the sea wall between TG 5317 0996 and TG 5312 0929; this appears to be a fresh excavation and may have been dug as an anti tank obstacle. In addition to these, the main element of the 1940-41 defences visible on the consulted aerial photographs is a group of features located on the dunes, centred at TG 5323 0938. These include a hexagonal pillbox (probably a Type 22), a second, square structure (probably another pillbox), a weapons pit or gun emplacement and several lengths of slit trench.

The remainder of the defences is generally visible on aerial photographs taken in 1944-5 (S3)-(S10). At this date the beach was still protected by beach scaffolding, although the layout is slightly different from that visible in 1940-41. The NMP mapping generally reflects this later layout. By this time scaffolding had also been erected along parts of the sea wall, for example to the east of the tennis courts (between TG 5320 0823 and TG 5320 0790). Further scaffolding and barbed wire defined and protected access to and from the beach; the beach itself was mined (S12) and these obstructions were presumably also intended to prevent civilian access to the area. At Barnard Road barbed wire extended back from the seafront to create a perimeter around an access point to the beach, enclosing a structure (presumably military, at TG 5310 0926) and a probable weapons pit (at TG 5306 0934). Several slit trenches are also visible, most with a characteristic zigzag layout. These included a group of trenches dug around the north end of the tennis courts (at TG 5318 0827; they were backfilled by 1945, see (S7)) and some probable trenches dug along the eastern edge of the Venetian Waterways (e.g. at TG 5319 0847). A group of parallel trenches at TG 5313 0945 may have been dug as practice trenches, as they seem too closely spaced to have served as defences.

Numerous structures are also visible. Going from south to north, these included: a Type 22 pillbox with a sunken entrance at TG 5321 0774 (this is possibly visible in 1941, see (S2)); a Type 22 pillbox built against an existing building and disguised by a conical ‘hat’ at TG 5318 0789; a group of huts and buildings at TG 5317 0804; two (possibly circular) structures at TG 5318 0829; up to two pillboxes sited on islands within the Venetian Waterways (NHER 33470) – a Type 24, disguised by a square ‘hat’ in 1944 (S6) is visible at TG 5317 0863, while a square structure at TG 5318 0843 probably hides a second pillbox; a Type 22 pillbox and a second, square structure at TG 5321 0850 (a structure is visible here in 1941, (S2), and a coast defence searchlight is recorded at this approximate location in a gazetteer of World War Two defences, (S13)); a possible air raid shelter at TG 5319 0850; a Type 24 pillbox at TG 5320 0885; and a Type 24 pillbox at TG 5318 0900, with a light anti aircraft emplacement (visible as a rectilinear structure) to its southeast. Mounds visible at TG 5313 0952 and TG 5320 0883 may have hidden further pillboxes or gun emplacements. Spigot mortar emplacements can be seen at TG 5316 0859, TG 5319 0882, TG 5319 0899 and TG 5313 0936, and a number of pits, probably weapons pits, are also visible.

These defences were largely removed and/or backfilled soon after the end of the war; for example, aerial photographs taken in 1946 (S11) show beach scaffolding being taken down. There is no evidence on the aerial photographs that any trace of the World War Two defences now remains visible on the ground. The location of the mapped defences should be treated as approximate, as the photographs could not be fully rectified due to a lack of control points on the beach.
S. Tremlett (NMP), 6 July 2005.