Site of Second World War Heavy Anti Aicraft Gun (Diver) site No. N26 'New Burwood', Foulness Island (EHER 20137)

Now destroyed. Site of Second World War heavy anti aircraft battery at New Burwood. It was armed with four 3.7-inch mobile guns and GL Mark II radar in 1942, when it was manned by 263 Battery of the 84th Royal Artillery Regiment. On 26th July 1944 it was used a Diver Battery in the Diver Box, and designated N26, when it was manned by 110 Anti Aircraft Regiment. On 24th November 1944 it was manned by 228 Battery of 82 Anti Aircraft Regiment, and was equipped with BTL Predictor, GL II, and SCR584 Radars.

October 1998. World War Two heavy anti aircraft gun sites survey: site visit and desktop research. NGRs: Gun emplacements, TQ 9985 9057; accommodation site, TQ 9975 9053. Documented in contemporary records as 'N26 New Burwood', a WWII Heavy Anti-Aircraft gun site on Foulness. Equipment and manning at the site is documented at various dates (Dobinson, 1996): Date Guns Radar Regt Bty 20 May 1942 4 x 3.7"(m) GL Mk II 84 263 22 Jun 1942 4 x 3.7"(m) GL Mk II An aerial photograph taken in May 1946 shows the site to have been both a Heavy Anti-Aircraft gun site with four emplacements and a 'Diver' anti-flying bomb site with eight gun positions. The four anti-aircraft emplacements are octagonal and are in a semi-circle facing east. The walls of a number of internal ammunition recesses can be seen although there appears to be no roofs to them. No command post can be seen. Immediately on the west side of the anti-aircraft emplacements there are around 45 huts, mainly curved-roof. From the anti-aircraft gun positions, a track can be seen leading northwards approximately 150 yards to the soil marks of eight 'Diver' positions. These are in two rows of four, one behind the other centred at TQ 9985 9072. The rows face north-east and behind them the command post can be seen. <1><2> The area is now thicket and scrub. Broken concrete at the sites of two emplacements can be seen - the northern and the southernmost - but nothing of the other emplacements, huts or 'Diver' site has survived. Two photos. <3> <4> November 2003. World War Two Defences in Rochford survey: desktop research. The site is now confirmed to have been incorporated into the anti-flying bomb ‘Diver’ defences with equipment and manning as follows (Dobinson 1996). Date Guns Radar Regt Bty 26 July 1944 8 x 3.7" Mk IIc - 110 24 Nov 1944 8 x 3.7" Mk IIc GLII; SCR 584 82 228. <5> <6> NRHE summary description: Site of Second World War heavy anti aircraft battery at New Burwood. It was armed with four 3.7-inch mobile guns and GL Mark II radar in 1942, when it was manned by 263 Battery of the 84th Royal Artillery Regiment. On 26th July 1944 it was used a Diver Battery in the Diver Box, and designated N26, when it was manned by 110 Anti Aircraft Regiment. On 24th November 1944 it was manned by 228 Battery of 82 Anti Aircraft Regiment, and was equipped with BTL Predictor, GL II, and SCR584 Radars. <1> <5>