Second World War pillbox, south of Elder Street, Debden (EHER 21522)

The site of a Second World War lozenge-shaped reinforced concrete pillbox with 8 embrasures and a corner entrance. There is a turnbull mounting still in situ in one of the embrasures. It was located at Debden Airfield.

Original HER entry merged with NRHE data import: In a field behind cottages on the south side of Elder Street is a large, unusual pillbox. It is basically lozenge-shaped, with two long sides and three short sides at each end. Each of the long sides has two large stepped-out loopholes and each of the short sides has one loophole, ten in all. All the loopholes have the remains of Turnbull machine-gun mountings, one with the cradle still in situ. Each of the loopholes has an ammunition recess beneath it. Across the centre of the pillbox is a brick floor-to-ceiling wall with an opening at the north end to allow passage from one end to the other. However, oddly the centre of the wall has been carefully demolished and a circular, more-than-shoulder-width, hole cut in the roof. Speculating, this may have been to allow an anti-aircraft machine-gun to be mounted on the roof, manned by a gunner stationed half out of the access hole. The structure of the pillbox is of brick and concrete, 28’ 6” long x 20’ wide. The entrance is on the north-west corner. In the past, an attempt has reportedly been made to demolish the pillbox by burning it out. This has resulted in extensive erosion of the roof inside. Outside, much of the brickwork shuttering has now fallen off. On the roof, earth has been piled up, now long grass, to provide an effective camouflage. Eleven photos of site. <1> <2>