Site of Second World War ‘Diver’ site, No. N56, north of Shelford Creek, Foulness Island (EHER 20821)

Now destroyed. Site of a Second World War heavy anti aircraft (Diver) Battery in the Diver Box near Great Stambridge Hall. It was armed with two 3.7-inch Mark IIc guns equipped with BTL Predictor, and SCR584 Radar, on 24th November 1944.

December 2003. World War Two Defences in Rochford survey: site visit and desktop research. Contemporary records show this location as a WWII ‘Diver’ site, No. N56. Equipment is recorded in November 1944: Date Guns Radar Regt Bty 24 Nov 1944 2 x 3.7 Mk IIc SCR 584 - - Aerial photographs taken in May 1946 show the layout of the site very clearly. The guns were located in a field 200 yards to the south-east of the accommodation huts. Although the record shows that there were two guns in November 1944, there must have been four at one time as the soil marks left by the ‘Pile’ platforms can be clearly made out in a SW/NE row. Behind this stands the Command Post, a single Nissen hut. It is, however, possible that two of the four platforms stood vacant. The accommodation, or domestic, site comprised around 30 huts, mainly 'Nissen-type' arranged largely in a circular formation. <1> <2> It was not possible to access the site in December 2003. However, by comparing aerial photographs taken in May 1946 and December 1990 it is clear that nothing now survives of the wartime ‘Diver’ site. <3> NRHE summary description: Site of a Second World War heavy anti aircraft (Diver) Battery in the Diver Box near Great Stambridge Hall. It was armed with two 3.7-inch Mark IIc guns equipped with BTL Predictor, and SCR584 Radar, on 24th November 1944. <4>