Second World War HAA Gun Site "TN16 Buckles", Buckles Lane, South Ockendon (EHER 14664)

Site of Second World War heavy anti aircraft battery at Buckles, South Ockendon. It was listed as unarmed in 1942 and was manned by 616 Battery of the 184th (Mixed) Royal Artillery Regiment in 1943. It was retained as a Nucleus Force Headquarters Battery in 1946.

Site of Second World War heavy anti aircraft battery at Buckles, South Ockendon. <1> <2> <3>. Documented in contemporary records as "TN16 Buckles Farm" in 1940 and "TN16 Buckles" in 1942, 1943 and 1946, a WWII Heavy Anti-Aircraft gun site in Buckles Lane, South Ockendon. Equipment and manning of the site is documented at various dates (Dobinson, 1996): Manning Date Guns Radar Regt Bty Feb 1940 20 May 1942 unarmed none vacant 22 Jun 1942 unarmed none 9 Dec 1943 184 (M) 627 15 Jan 1946 - - An aerial photograph taken in May 1946 shows the site on the south side of Buckles Lane. There are six gun emplacements, four octagonal (probably to "March 1938 Pattern", Dobinson) and two square, in a semi-circle facing NE. Each of the octagonal emplacements has four or more internal ammunition recesses. The square emplacements have three, possibly four , ammunition recesses. Between the two southernmost emplacements, both octagonal, there is an on-site magazine. In the centre of the semi-circle is the command post at TQ 5971 8146. To the W and NW, 100/200 yards away, is the Accommodation, or Domestic, site. Around 25/30, Nissen and pitched -roof huts can be counted. These are centred around TQ 5955 8153. The site as a whole is roughly square-shaped with corners at TQ 5941 8159, TQ 5980 8159, TQ 5980 8135 and TQ 5943 8134. <4> <5> Visited in March 2012, The site is now an extensive chalet park with nothing apparently surviving of the wartime heavy anti-aircraft gun site. No new information from the NRHE