Site of Second World War concrete bases for 3.7" anti aircraft guns, Walton-on-the-Naze (EHER 20657)

Three concrete bases for 3.7" anti aircraft guns were revealed by the erosion of the cliff face and were visible on aerial photographs taken in 1960. However, they have since fallen over the cliff and are no longer visible.

Visited in July 2003 by F. Nash Three concrete bases have been revealed by the erosion of the cliff face. They each have the appearance of a circular "drum" - 13 feet diameter and around 5 feet high. While one still remains, grass-covered, at the cliff edge, the other two have now fallen to the beach below. Viewed from a distance -it was high tide at the time of the site visit - one of those on the beach has four square metal plates embedded in the top of the flat surface. An aerial photograph taken in June 1960 shows these three bases embedded in the grass on top of the Naze. An aerial photograph taken fourteen years earlier, in July 1946, shows these three positions with much larger square bases. By comparing this aerial photograph with a wartime ground-level photograph, taken in April 1944, it is apparent that at least one of the square bases was used as a 3.7" anti-aircraft gun platform. Home Guards are shown training on the gun which is clamped to the concrete. <1> <2> <3> It is therefore probable that the circular "drums" were the underlying mounting bases for the guns. As it was a training establishment, large, square aprons of concrete were then laid across the site to accommodate the trainees. As only one gun is shown on the wartime photograph it is possible that other weapons were mounted on the other two bases. After the war, it appears that the concrete aprons were broken up and removed, leaving, by June 1960, the three visible drums which are now falling off the cliff. Four photos of site. <4> Site visit by F. Nash February 2010 as part of the Defence of Tendring survey. The three "drums" have now fallen from the cliff and lie in the sea. One photo taken. <5>