Site of Second World War, 6 inch Coastal Artillery Battery, Holland-on-Sea (EHER 10783)

A battery of two elderly ex-naval 6-inch guns at Clacton, now destroyed. The emergency battery built during the Second World War as part of Eastern Command's coastal defences. The battery was commissioned in May 1940 and mounted two 6-inch ex-naval guns. It was manned by 331 Coast Battery Royal Artillery from1940 to 1945, although between 1943 and 1944 it was manned by the Home Guard. The guns were reduced to care and maintenance by September 1944. Aerial photography from 1981 shows that the site is a beach and seafront area and no features of the battery remain.

WWII Defences of Essex Survey, 1996: ' Fortifications of East Anglia' records that there was a battery of two elderly ex-naval 6-inch guns at Clacton and provides a diagram of the site layout. <1> A low-level aerial photograph taken in July 1948 shows the gun site very clearly. The two casemates stand on the cliff top where a promontory juts out seaward. Behind them there are other large structures identified by Fortifications of East Anglia as shelter and magazines. On their W side are five anti-tank blocks and approx. 100 yards away on each side is a pillbox (SMR 10782 and SMR 10784). <2> Two postcards franked in 1952 and 1950, show what appears to be the western-most casemate in the background and the Battery Observation Post standing on the cliff top at TM 1953 1574. <4> An aerial photograph taken in 1960 shows the area clear with no sign of any fortifications. <3> The cliff top is now grass with no indication of any remains. <5> Defence of Clacton survey Contemporary records (Dobinson, C) list the site as being armed with two 6-inch (Naval) guns on 15 January 1941 and 27 September 1944. On five separate dates, from 29 October 1940 to 22 February 1945, it is shown to be manned by 548 Regiment 331 Battery. Information from NRHE data import Holland (Clacton) coastal battery. This was an emergency battery built during the Second World War as part of Eastern Command's coastal defences. The battery was commissioned in May 1940 and mounted two 6-inch ex-naval guns. It was manned by 331 Coast Battery Royal Artillery from1940 to 1945, although between 1943 and 1944 it was manned by the Home Guard. The guns were reduced to care and maintenance by September 1944. <6> <7> Aerial photography from 1981 shows that the site is a beach and seafront area and no features of the battery remain. <8>