FORTRESS STUDY GROUP
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FORTRESS STUDY GROUP
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CASEMATE - The FSG News Letter ISSUE 70 |
ISSN 1367-5907 |
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Halifax Citadel, Nova Scotia, Photograph: © Parks Canada, with permission. |
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CASEMATEFORTRESS STUDY GROUP NEWSLETTER 70 MAY 2004Material for Casemate should reach the Editor by at least 2 months before the next issue is due (Issues in January, May and September). The opinions expressed in this newsletter are those of the Editor or individual contributors, and do not necessarily represent the views of the Fortress Study Group. Bound back numbers of Casemate 1-10, 11-20, 21-30 and 31-40 are available from the Editor of FORT, Dr. A. Migos, 9 Rock Park, Rock Ferry, Wirral, CH42 1PJ, G.B., as are back numbers of FORT. More recent numbers of Casemate are available from Bernard Lowery. |
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Charles Fort, Kinsale, Ireland; bastions and officers' quarters, Photograph: Geoff Snowdon. |
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Chairman: David Bassett, 11 Fordwell, Llandaff Village, Cardiff CF52EQ.
Secretary: W.H.Clements, 6 Lanark Place, London W9 lBS.
Treasurer: T.H.Bell, 12 Castle Close, Kings Lynn, PE30 3EP, Norfolk.
Editor of FORT: Dr. Athanassios Migos MA, 9 Rock Park, Rock Ferry, Wirral, CH42 1PJ.
Editor of Casemate: Margaret Pinsent MA, 10 Park Town, Oxford, OX2 6SH.
Reviews Editor and Editor Designate of Casemate from May 2004: Charles Blackwood, Braemont, Cilcain Road, Pantymwyn, Mold, CH7 5NJ.
Email: charles@braemont.freeserve.co.uk
Librarian: G. Dowdall-Brown, 1 Pelican Lane, Newbury, Berkshire, RG14 1NU.
Email: dbrupert1@btopenworld.com
Joining the FSG in 1976 meant that I met founder members Anthony Kemp, Jock Hamilton-Baillie (soon to succeed Anthony as Chairman), Ian Hogg, Quentin Hughes and David Barnes who was Secretary, Treasurer and Editor of Casemate as well as organiser of conferences. When David resigned in 1987, Jock asked me to take on Casemate. I had never touched a word processor, and had little experience of producing publications. But I had, since 1981, been writing reports for Casemate on some of our Spring Tours and AGMs.
This had come about because I was the only one making notes of what we saw, in order to identify my photographs! Dave left me some useful notes, and Quentin helped me out by word processing the material up to No. 24. My son Edward produced Nos. 25 & 26, and was later to prepare Casemate 21-44 Index. In No.22 my first photos appeared, primitive photocopies on a double-page pullout. The ensuing 16 years have seen a learning process as increasing amounts of material reached me- articles, reviews, requests, comments, cuttings, plans, photographs. The number of members went up too, meaning more office work of enveloping, adding enclosures, labeling and mailing. Despite my natural caution in trying to avoid errors or controversy, I earned reproof or correction on several occasions, but also received some treasured testimonials. Conscious that Casemate was a mere newsletter compared with our prestigious FORT, for economy I tried to be as succinct as possible in Tour reports, and to fill every inch of column space. My undeveloped skills with the computer and my stubborn opinion that content mattered more than appearance, led to committee suggestions that the material deserved an improved format. Enter Charles Blackwood, officially Reviews Editor, but soon taking on the word-processing, scanning-in of illustrations (which up till then I had been glueing in by hand!) and layout. The restraints were loosened, and glossy paper was used from No.62 and the first colour cover appeared in No.67. From May 2004 he takes over as Editor, a seamless and harmonious transition as I achieve my 50th Casemate. I hope he will feel as I do that it is a privilege and a pleasure to produce a newsletter for such an appreciative, lively and learned society.
Margaret Pinsent
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Our website is nearly ready to launch. It is intended that extracts from Casemate and FORT will be used extensively, and it will be assumed that contributors will be happy with this. Would any contributors who do not want their material on the website please indicate this to the Editor. Thank you.
In order to encourage new membership, your Committee agreed that members who would like an extra copy of Casemate to pass on to prospective members, should be sent one on request.
Future conferences and AGMs:
2004. September 3-6. Eastern Scotland/Edinburgh(Norman Clark & Graham Thompson).
2005. Hull (Alan Williamson & George Dawes).
2006. Weymouth (Alistair Graham Kerr).
2007. Orkney (Doreen Grove).
Overseas Tours:
2004. Czech Republic. 22-29 May. (Dr.Neumann).
2005. Malta. (Mario Farrugia and Charles Blackwood).
2006. Venice (Dr. Perbellini) or Brittany (Nicolas Faucherre).
Europe, 2004:
August 12-15, Koblenz/Germany, Hans-Rudolf Neumann.
September 4-11. Crimea 2004 Fortress Study Tour. - See Casemate 69 for details
September 5. Fort Liezele, Puurs: Fair, Simon Stevin Stichting. Frank Philippart
fpilippart@be.safmarine.com
Sep 17-21. Romania: Tour, Association Saint-Maurice d'Etudes Militaires
maurice.lovisa@bluewin.ch
September 24-27. V-weapons/Atlantic Wall: Tour, Flanders Tours UK, Tony Noyes,
tntnoyes@aol.com
September 25.Utrecht: IFC Meeting, Carlos Scheltema,
carlos@scheltema.org
October 4-5. Fort de Villey-le-Sec: Fair, Int. Fortif. Forum.
(Thanks to Terry McGovern, CDSG, for some items)
FSG Members' Day 2004
This year's Day was held at The Lowry, Manchester on 21 February and was attended by 17 members. Its proximity to the new Imperial War Museum North meant that, in the afternoon, it was possible for members to visit the museum.
Firstly, Geoff Snowdon described and illustrated a visit he made to northern France with FSG Honorary Treasurer Tom Bell and Tom's father. The fine Vauban fortifications at Maubeuge were visited, where there is a WW1 era Renault FT17 tank on display, en route for the forts around Verdun.
I was not previously aware that, after the ravages inflicted on Fort Douaumont, some work was put in hand by the French Army to make it moderately defensible in time for the next World War, - which led us to the Maginot fortress of Hackenburg, held in 1944 by the Germans. US forces eventually overpowered the defences of Bloc 8 using 155mm 'Long Tom' howitzers, a weapon that was, ironically, of French design. We were then taken to Eire where Geoff had visited Forts Charles and James at Kinsale. The former was well maintained although the same could not be said of the much smaller Fort James. A fine Governor's House, barracks and other features were shown. Whilst in Eire Geoff visited the impressive mediaeval stronghold of Cashel.
Charles Blackwood, the organiser of the event, then described his visit with the Castles Studies Group to Crusader castles in Turkey and Northern Cyprus. An illustrated account of the tour is given in Casemate 67, and his slides emphasised the dramatic location of many of the sites. The Ottoman seizure of the Turkish castles led to some refortification for artillery: sadly their current state of preservation can only be described as generally poor. The occurrence of earthquakes in the region has, too, in the past, almost destroyed historic sites such as Antioch. The same cannot be said, however, for the magnificent walls of Famagusta in Cyprus, re-fortified by the Venetians, and with work reminiscent of Rhodes. Charles drew our attention to a cunette in the Famagusta ditch: a ditch within a ditch.
Mike Darling then took us across the North Sea to Denmark and to two sea forts that he saw at Copenhagen: Trekroner and Middelgrundsfort. Before taking a boat that passed the former and landed at the latter, he had visited the earthen walls of the citadel of Copenhagen. The presence of a windmill within the citadel prompted discussion and it was accepted that this must have been required to grind the grain for the garrison's bread. The city also contains an artillery museum with pieces well displayed and in sparkling condition. Back to the sea forts. Somewhat by chance, Mike had been able to get a boat across the sound hoping to get to Trekroner. Whilst the boat did not stop at this particular fort he was compensated by arriving at Middelgrundsfort. In the Cold War this held a battery of surface-to-air rockets (Nike?) but its original role was as an artillery fort with 15cm pieces. The fort's generators remain and there is an exhibition of rare submarine mining control equipment [see Casemate 19, pp 5,6 for report of FSG visit].
Bernard Lowry closed the meeting, showing slides of Maginot ouvrages in Corsica and the Alpes Maritimes. Corsica, close to Sardinia and Italy, received, before WW2, defences intended to deter an Italian invasion. Although relatively small works they still survive close to some of the more vulnerable bays in the north and south of the island. Next shown were images of Berlin and remaining sections of the Wall. Finally some of the exhibits in the Bundeswehr Museum in Dresden were shown: 7.5cm and 5cm tank guns adapted for ground mounting and a steel, transportable cupola for an MG 34/42 machine gun found near Cracow. This had a pedal-operated air filtration system and a periscopic sight (one is illustrated in Joseph Kaufmann's book Fortress Third Reich).
Bernard Lowry
Too late for the January Casemate, notice was received of a two-day conference on Military Heritage on March 13-14, 2004, in Brussels. The three excursions were:
From barrack life to last resting place;
Along forts and lines;
Mines, trenches and front lines.
FSG ties of the overall pattern, with red diagonal stripes and the FSG logo in red and white, the "blade" being about 3 ½" in width, are available at £10.00 including postage. A small number of terylene squares, in blue with the logo in the corner, cost £8 each. The 6" cast iron medallion costs £12.50, and is too heavy to send, so must be collected.
Available from: Michael Taylor, 4 Sewell Avenue, Wokingham, Berks., RG 41 1NS, UK.
FSG Badges for lapels, caps and hats are now available; round, in white enamel with the FSG logo (as on the cover of this magazine) in the centre, surrounded by 'FORTRESS STUDY GROUP'; 18mm, (11/16?) in diameter.
From: Alistair Graham Kerr, The Thatched Cottage, Whitchurch Hill, Nr Pangbourne, Reading RG8 7PE, UK.
Cost £1; please send self addressed envelope, and in UK, 6 x 2nd class stamps as payment and postage.
There will be a sale of books etc, surplus to library requirements, at the AGM in September. However, one item may be of interest to many members whether attending or not; I propose to auction it. It is a complete, mint set of Fortress, the short-lived but admirable product of the defunct Beaufort Press. There are 18 issues, so bidding will commence at £18.00. Interested parties should e-mail me at the address below with their bids. Bidding will stop at 1800 hours on Wednesday, June 30th 2004. The issues will be sold as a set and will not be broken up. This item, which I consider to be the pick of the surplus stock and which offers a unique opportunity to acquire an out-of-print set of magazines, is the sole item to be sold in this way as I do not have the resources of e-bay.
Gil Dowdall-Brown
Hon Librarian (see under 'OFFICERS' for address)
On the afternoon of September 21, 1526, the great scholar Erasmus was taking a break in a summerhouse in the garden of Frobenius [his printer] at Basle, Switzerland, when suddenly BANG! He had been just about to translate a passage from Chrysostom when a flash struck the glass windows. After two more flashes, he peered out to see if it looked like rain. No danger, back to work. Then a dull thud. Then came another flash and a terrible crash, reminiscent of a lightning strike. Looking out at the sky, he saw it clear on one side, but on the other was a strange-shaped cloud of ash colour, rising upwards and then bending over at the top 'like a cliff tottering from the top over the sea'. The more he looked the less it resembled a cloud. Then a servant, out of breath from running, warned him to get back home, 'as the citizens always stand to arms when there is a fire, to man the gates and walls'. It was bad enough meeting armed men everywhere, but 'a sword adds to a man's ferocity, especially when there is no danger'(!). The garden was behind the walls and he had to run home.
Some time later he discovered that the cause was some barrels of gunpowder ('pulveris bombardici') which had been stored, a few days before, in one of the interval towers along the walls. The authorities had ordered it to be put on the top storey, so that an explosion would only blow off the roof and leave the rest untouched. But some careless person had put it at the bottom of the tower. A lightning strike had penetrated through the 'spy-holes' and touched off the powder, which then set light to the other barrels. From witness accounts, the tower at first seemed to be going to blow up in a single mass; then the lowest section split into two and then four, but reunited. Then 'the fire realised it couldn't lift it in one go, so abandoning that idea it cut the tower with an almighty crash into four parts of such exact equality as if by a ruler, and scattered them this way and that'. It was the dust, thrown up high and on fire, that had formed the cloud.
Huge bits of tower flew through the air like birds to a distance of 200 yards where there was no obstruction, and destroying buildings over a wide area. There was also fallout in the fields, but the casualty list was limited to 12 dead and 14 badly wounded.
The general reaction was (of the crash) "chaos is come again", "the saying What if the sky fall? is not so silly" and "It's an omen!" Erasmus' view is "nothing other than thoughtlessness on the part of those who should have taken precautions against an event that is not all that uncommon".
Translated from the Latin, by Margaret Pinsent. Erasmus' letter to Nicolas Varius Marvillanus, Principal of a college in Louvain.
Fort Clarence, Rochester, Kent
Fort Clarence has been converted into four duplex (2-level) apartments by Swift and Partners, who bought the land from Barratts. Before that, British Telecom had used it for a store. Completed in 1812, it is said to have been built by French prisoners of war as a gun tower in the ring of forts intended to defend the dockyards at Chatham. It is a scheduled Ancient Monument, and there were limits to what changes could be made. Among other things, however, a new steel-framed glazed domed structure with a copper roof has been installed. Each of the two upper apartments has access to its own turret from a roof terrace, while the lower ones have "tunnels with small rooms off" (presumably magazine passages); both have internal spiral staircases connecting the two floors. They have been given Napoleonic names - Salamanca, Austerlitz, Borodino, Waterloo.
From The Independent, Oct. 29, 2003, sent by Bernard Lowry, and glossy advertising with colour pictures from Ward & Partners (www.wardandpartners.co.uk), sent by Bill Clements.
Sound Mirrors at Denge
English Heritage (EH) has at last noticed the sound mirrors (Heritage Today, Dec.2003, p. 37), which are quite hard to miss. "Along the South Coast, a number of strange, giant concrete bowls loom", the size of "25 double-decker buses", "powerful, monolithic, majestic". "20thC lumps of concrete" have only recently been recognised, even by EH.
The FSG visited the mirrors at Denge in 1999 (Casemate 57, p. 11), guided by the author of Echoes from the Sky, Dr. Richard N. Scarth, but as early as 1985 we looked at the huge one in Malta (Casemate 16, p.2). Gravel extraction has made the mirrors at Denge tilt as their foundations have been undermined (photograph Casemate 61, p.12), and funding to save them may not be available: "In order of national priorities, the mirrors aren't high enough up the agenda" (E.H.Inspector Peter Kendall). One hope is the levy on extraction of aggregates.
Cutting sent by Gil Dowdall-Brown
Margaret Pinsent
St. Pietersberg tunnels, Maastricht
Those who watched the programme on Rembrandt's Night Watch on Feb. 9, 2004, will have seen these secure tunnels where, among other things, the picture was stored for safe keeping during WWII. The Telegraph, Dec. 13, 2003, advertises excursions, e.g. by bicycle, to the caves connected by 22,000 passages, dug out during 700 years of limestone quarrying, and to the 1701 fort at St. Pietersberg (open daily; £3.80). The tourist office has details of a Fortifications Walk' which takes one along the city walls. There are 'medieval battlements, cannon, the Helpoort (oldest town gate in the Netherlands), and moated bastions'.
Cutting sent by David Page
Singapore
A comprehensive account of the defences of Singapore by P.K. Yeoh was published in an early edition of FORT, (Vol. 7, 1979). In Casemate 51 (January 1998) Dennis Quarmby reported on the restoration and opening to the public of the underground complex of Fort Canning, (Battle Box). In May 1998, (Casemate 52) Alan Harfield refers to his part in this and also to the restoration of Fort Siloso on the southern coastline of Fortress Singapore.
The Straits Times of 22nd January 2004 now reports that another gun emplacement on an islet named Pulau Sajahat is to be given protective status along with other batteries on Pulau Tekong - both are islands in the sea opposite Changi Point. Pulau Sajahat is a square shaped islet of only 1.2 hectares, separated by a narrow channel of water from the western edge of Pulau Tekong, with which it will be merged when an extensive plan of land reclamation from the sea is completed.
On it stands an emplacement for two guns, two anti aircraft positions, bunkers for the troops and two fire control towers. A pair of twin six-pounders were emplaced here for the purpose of protecting the area against fast moving boats.
This battery is mentioned in the book, History of Artillery in the British Army, by Col. Maurice Jones. (p267). Ian Hogg in his book, Allied Artillery of World War Two (pp170-171) also mentions the arguments over the need for twin 6-pounder guns to protect the Singapore naval base.
The gun emplacement reproduced here from the Straits Times suggests the installation of larger armament than twin sixes and members familiar with the area may wish to comment on my suggestion that this picture is either that of the nearby Sphinx battery for two 6" guns, or the Tekong Besar East Battery armed with three 9.2" guns.
The newspaper reports that Pulau Tekong is at present used exclusively for military training, and is not open to visitors, but in the longer term it may be developed for public housing.
If so the Defence Ministry and the National Heritage Board hope to ensure that any fortifications on the island will be left undisturbed. Sent by John Goodwin
Alistair Murray is producing a Conservation Plan for the Nothe Fort, Weymouth, and needs to consult widely. Any FSG member familiar with the fort is asked to comment on its "significance: why it matters, from different angles". Please send to: Alistair Murray, Nothe Fort, Barracks Lane, Weymouth, Dorset. Email: Alistair@a-murray.freeserve.co.uk
Remember: we shall be visiting Weymouth in 2006!
It might be possible to distinguish two 'camps' in the FSG; the 'Engineers' (forts) and the 'Artillerymen' (guns). Ian Angus may belong to the latter group. He writes: "Tom Hitchins and I worked it out that he and I are probably the only two in the FSG to have fired coast guns". William Parker, however, is probably in the former: "My interest in forts dates back to the winter of the year 1958. One Sunday in November, on my first visit to Fort Gomer, Gosport, Hants, with my brother, I fell into the moat in cold water. It was that day that gave me an enthusiast's interest, still to this day, in forts, and personally I have never looked back". Has anyone else experienced such a baptism of fire or water? Margaret Pinsent
In The Innocents Abroad, Mark Twain gives an account of a voyage 'seeing Europe'. As with any FSG member, fortifications caught his eye. He describes Verona as "famous for its extraordinary fortifications"; in the Azores he saw "a little fort at Horta, armed with batteries of 12 and 32 pdrs." "At short intervals, along the Spanish shore, were quaint-looking old stone towers - Moorish, we thought - but learned better afterwards. The Spaniards built these watchtowers on the hills". He boasts "if we were ever to get after it with one of our turreted monitors..."
At Gibraltar, "Everywhere - on hillside, in the precipice, by the sea, on the heights - everywhere you choose to look, Gibraltar is clad with masonry and bristling with guns". He enthuses over "the wonderful subterranean fortifications, permission to visit these galleries being readily obtained... A great chamber with huge cannon... a military road - an endless mass of batteries - the Moors' staunch old castle". The English garrison of 6 to 7 thousand, wore uniforms of flaming red, or "the queer uniform of the barekneed Highlander". On his way to Tangier he saw "the frowning fortress of Malabat (a stronghold of the Emperor of Morocco)".
Excerpted by Margaret Pinsent
The Gibraltar Museum has recently acquired a number of paintings by the military artist Major-General Thomas Staunton St. Clair, who was stationed in Gibraltar as 3rd in command between 1826 and 1832. His prolific output produced "a vast array of views of Gibraltar covering all areas, both military aspects and the life of local inhabitants". Gibraltar Heritage 1/2
Trevor Davenport: Festung Alderney. Published 2003 in association with the Alderney Society and Guernsey Branch of the Channel Islands Occupation Society.
ISBN 0- 95457140-0-1. Paperback, pp 196, A4, 10 maps, over 50 plans, 250 photographs. Price: £20 including post and packing to CIOS members. Non-CIOS members should contact CIOS for price and postage details at cletissier@supanet.com.
Whilst much has been written about the impressive remains of the German batteries and coastal defences in the Channel Islands this is the first time that a detailed study of all of the field fortifications on a particular island has been attempted. The author has been assisted in part by the handbook prepared by the Germans of the fortifications of Guernsey (Festung Guernsey; there was a Festung Jersey , too, but not a Festung Alderney) which also contained information on Alderney. However, most of his information has come from an RAF PR survey of the island at the end of May 1945. The former enemy was instructed to place a white cross on all medium and heavy gun positions before the survey took place, although in the event they complied by indicating all positions of 2cm and above. The RAF then compared the result with wartime PR coverage and interpretation to produce a report on the success or otherwise of wartime intelligence. A reasonably high rate of identification for heavier gun positions was observed but there was a markedly inferior rate for smaller positions. It is fortunate that a proposal by the British in 1943 (Operation 'Concertina') to attempt to wrest the islands from German control was never put into effect.
With the aid of the RAF coverage, the subsequent report, and field visits the author has with modern computer mapping systems been able to create 54 extremely detailed plans of the batteries and other defended localities. He accepts that not every feature has been located but the information is sufficiently detailed to show, in many cases, even the position of the barbed wire that surrounded the positions. The book is therefore also of general interest as the plans accurately portray in considerable detail the layout and components of the different systems employed by the Germans here and along the continental Atlantic Wall: Strongpoints, Resistance Nests, Defence Lines, Coastal Strongpoints and Temporary Positions.
Hitler had believed that following the occupation of the Channel Islands Britain would attempt to retake them and, as we know, a monumental project of fortification was put in place employing, at its peak, half a million men many of whom were forced. Between 1942-3 artillery positions in the islands were brought up to Fortress Standard (reinforced concrete roofs and walls in excess of 2m thickness), although by the end of 1943 shortages of materials was limiting the work of the Organisation Todt.
In addition to five coastal batteries (to protect the sea approaches to the Cherbourg peninsula) Alderney was provided with a very strong AA defence which, in the event of an invasion, could also have been used against ground targets. Use was made of the earlier, British fortifications and the German work is shown superimposed upon plans of the forts' superstructures. For example, Fort Quesnard, a nineteenth century work, is shown to have had a searchlight, five flak positions for 2cm and smaller weapons, shelters, OPs and close-in defence posts, whilst Fort Corblets was turned into a Resistance Nest with a 4.7cm PakK 36 (t) anti-tank gun and machine guns.
In addition to the 54 plans there are many rare and interesting archive photographs showing weapons, the gun crews and the fortifications, together with a written detailed description of each site, its weaponry and rationale and what remains today. Twenty-four pages of colour photographs show the more major sites and there are drawings of Fortress Standard 'B' bunkers. A good quality paper has been used so the reproduction of the illustrations is excellent.
Details of minefields and the types of mine used, the location of tunnels and the underground telephone system are also given. The author does not however discuss in detail the organisation behind the works, command structures, social implications etc. but wisely refers one to the many and detailed published studies on the subject of the Channel Islands in WW2. If you are visiting the island and wish to conduct your own field study this book will provide you with all you might wish to know. If you want to know in detail how the Germans set about defending particular localities then you should buy this book, too.
Bernard Lowry
Austin J Ruddy: British Anti-Invasion Defences 1940-1945, published by Historic Military Press, ISBN 1-901313-20-4, 32 pages with colour and b&w photographs and plans, £3.49.
This small reference book, the handbook of the Pillbox Study Group, is designed to be compact so as to be taken into and used in the field when looking for the equally small British WW2 concrete defence posts known as pillboxes. Pillbox hunters are recommended to take a notebook although it is not clear where any data will be recorded: at a local SMR or on a PSG database? Users are rightly referred to the Defence of Britain database where they can check to see if there is already a site record.
The introduction tells of the threat posed by Hitler's intention to invade Britain in 1940, Operation Sealion. The reasons why the invasion did not take place are touched upon, as is the British response in the form of anti-invasion defences. The second part of the book describes the most commonly found pillboxes and gives a photograph and plan of each type. The purist might not agree with their description as, say, 'Type 22' (although the 1940 designation of FW3/22 is also given), but I believe that in the field the term 'type' was used in the war if only to avoid the official 'mouthful'. Regional variations are also covered in an understandably brief fashion, as well as other features such as RAF Battle HQs and Spigot Mortar positions. Anti-tank obstacles are mentioned and illustrated.
A publication to enhance the status of pillboxes is always welcome, and the author gives us a timely reminder of the damage and destruction wrought on such sites since WW2. All in all a useful and attractive book at a most reasonable price: keep one in your car or rucksack!
Bernard Lowry
Mike Osborne: 20th Century Defences in Britain: The East Midlands (includes Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire and Rutland), published by Concrete Publications. ISBN 0-95403781-2. Paperback, A5, pp166, many b&w photographs, and a number of plans and maps. Price £12.50. Copies are available to FSG members at a special price of £10 from the author at: 45 Church Street, Market Deeping, Lincolnshire PE6 8AN.
FSG member Mike Osborne, author of two previous books on twentieth century defences (in Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire), has followed the success of the earlier books with a new book covering the East Midlands region. I hope that other books will follow and that we shall eventually see a Pevsner-like coverage of the country!
The author, a Co-ordinator for the Defence of Britain project, has spent a number of years exploring the military sites in the area, tracking down documents such as rare Home Guard defence plans as well as speaking to project volunteers. The result is a comprehensive analysis of a region at war in both World Wars. Whilst much still remains, we are soberly reminded of much that has been swept away; and this process has not yet ceased.
The author begins with the growth of airfields in the First World War, moves on to the RAF's expansion period and then to the next war when the elegant buildings of the 1930s were replaced by more austere structures. Photographs show this transition, and building types are precisely identified. The fear of the enemy seizing airfields led to the need for adequate defence and this is covered in detail together with photographs and plans of two representative defended sites.
The important Chain Home interception radar site at Stenigot, still retaining a mast and some buildings, is given similar treatment.
The subject of air defence is further developed by the inclusion of information on HAA sites and bombing decoys. Lincolnshire also played a part in the anti-V1 defences as part of the 'Diver Fringe'. I liked the inclusion of the photograph of a (unique?) WW1 air raid shelter: the region did suffer from Zeppelin raids across the North Sea. A time lapse then takes us to such Cold War sites as ROTOR radar stations, Thor and Bloodhound missile bases.
The inclusion of Lincolnshire means that the little-known history of the county's coastal defences can be covered. The threat across the North Sea in the First World War led to the arming of the coast, and the interesting Haile Sand Fort is illustrated: this sea fort mounted two 4? guns and searchlights but was completed too late to be of use in the war. In the following conflict the fort was armed with two twin-six pounder guns. The well-preserved battery at Freiston is also discussed, as are the many types of pillbox still to be found along the coast: the author helpfully provides excellent plans of the more commonly found examples. An armoured train ran along the coast. One unusual form of defence mentioned briefly is the Operational Bases of the secretive Auxiliary Units, sited behind the coast: perhaps, before too much time elapses, this aspect could receive dedicated research by someone?
Inland, behind the coastal 'crust' of defences, ran the GHQ line. In this area the line was rather weak, relying on water defences and bridge demolitions along much of its length. Towards the industrial towns of the Midlands further stop lines were built but, after the invasion panic of 1940, emphasis was to be switched to the development of defended localities and the author has included a number of plans drawn from contemporary documents.
Details of the region's contribution to wartime production are given, as well as details of the work of the Women's Land Army and the Royal Observer Corps.
A number of the structures, such as the intriguing 'Ruck' pillbox (made from Stanton air raid shelter sections), an ARP reporting centre and Home Guard stores, will be new to most readers.
There is a bibliography, gazetteer of sites and an index. A small number of 'typos' have regrettably crept into this first edition: this seems, with the best will of all authors, to be an unavoidable occurrence these days.
I do not think that Mike Osborne has missed very much here and he is to be commended for doing a thorough job leading to an attractive, fascinating and informative book at a reasonable price.
Bernard Lowry
Jean-Yves Mary and Alain Hohnadel: Hommes et Ouvrages de la Ligne Maginot. Histoire et Collections, 2003, Paris, ISBN 2-913903-88-6. 246 pages, profusely illustrated with coloured maps, photographs and plans. €42.95. French text.
(My copy was obtained from the Librairie Histoire et Fortifications www.histoire-fortifications.com).
This is part three of a four part history of what was the greatest system of fortification ever built, which in turn is part of an evolving encyclopaedia of the French Army. Part four will cover 'La forteresse victorieuse' detailing the operations of the Alpine forts in 1940, and the Line up to the present time.
Part three covers the 'tragic destiny of the Maginot Line'; namely the 'phoney war', the situation of the fortifications in north eastern France at the time of the German attack in May 1940, and the Line in combat in this area.
After brief skirmishes between France and Germany in September 1939, a period of nine months of waiting ensued in the fortifications of the Line. Using a plethora of contemporary photographs the author describes the appearance of the troops at this time, heraldry, the work carried out to add depth, and the many visitors (including George VI who visited the gros ouvrages of Hackenburg and Mont-des-Welches) to this technical wonder.
The second part of this volume is a detailed study of the fortifications in the north east of France, the area expected to bear the brunt of any frontal attack after September 1939.
The photographs and plans (of the types of ouvrages and their dispositions) more than adequately give the flavour of the Line at this time. Amongst the volume of unusual photographs included in this section is a remarkable one of kilted soldiers of the British Expeditionary Force operating a Hotchkiss 25mm anti-tank gun in one of the casemates of a petit ouvrage. This small gun, with wheels still attached, was pushed into position up two inclined metal joists, the trails resting on two concrete blocks. The unusual maisons fortes of the Ardennes region are also covered, including an interesting photograph of one that fell but not before it disposed of two German tanks.
It is well known that the Line was not extended to cover the Swiss border, but we are told in an interesting aside that the defence of this border essentially rested on the late nineteenth century forts round Belfort, some of which had modern blockhouses built on their superstructures. One is illustrated, situated on the fort of Basses-Perches.
The final section covers the German operations against the Line during Fall Gelb (Plan Yellow) between 10 May and 4 June 1940. The devastation wrought by bomb, shell and explosive charge on the forts that saw combat is well covered. So is the melancholy task of their commanders in handing over the forts to the conqueror.
A splendid volume well up to the standards of the previous three: strongly recommended to anyone with an interest in the Maginot Line. I cannot wait for the final volume.
Bernard Lowry
Brigadier Bill Woodburn, late RE: Chitral; Royal forts in the Hindu Kush. Article published in Current World Archaeology No.3 (Jan/Feb 2004, pp53-63)
The fort at Chitral lies between India and Afghanistan and was the scene of a six-week siege in 1895, which has been described as a minor epic of Victorian colonial warfare. The article reports the research carried out by Bill Woodburn on the fort, both on the ground in Chitral, now part of Pakistan, and from the post-siege photographs, and how he has pieced together the remaining evidence for the appearance of the fort at the end of the century before last.
There is very little of the original fort remaining and the other stone, mud and timber forts elsewhere in the area are disappearing quickly. These forts were similar in concept to medieval castles in being both fortified residences and the local seats of power and were the strongholds of members of the ruling family of Chitral.
The system of construction of the forts had evolved using local materials and they were designed to resist the frequent earthquakes of the region. Timber reinforcements were laid both parallel and across the line of the wall and the resulting "cribs" were filled with stones bound together with mud mortar. From this method of construction, the forts were necessarily rectangular and the corner towers square, and they were defended from a wall-walk and parapet with loopholes.
During the siege, the British Political Agent sought refuge in the fort and the attacking Pathans attempted to set fire to one of the timber reinforced towers. When the defenders managed to quench the flames, the Pathans resorted to mining and nearly demolished the tower.
The article is well illustrated with both contemporary photographs and by axonometric drawings reconstructing the original fort of 1895.
Alastair Fyfe
William Seymour: Brassey's Book of Sieges, Brassey's, (1991), new edition 2002, ISBN 1 85753 375 5. Hardback, 165x246mm, 338pp, numerous maps and plans, extensive chapter end bibliographies. £20.
Fortifications are tested by attack and siege, events which define the success or otherwise of their design and construction, but as this book points out by means of 16 examples, many other factors come into play. The examples range from Acre 1189-91, to Dien Bien Phu 1954 and Khe San 1968, identifying in each one particular crucial aspects. In the last two, for instance, a key factor was logistics, where the French overestimated their ability to re-supply by air and underestimated the ability of the Viet Minh to supply by thousands of porters, whereas the position was reversed at Khe San where the Americans had excellent logistics and fire support. The same Vietnamese general, Vo Nguyen Giap, was in command at both sieges, with 14 years between them and very different outcomes.
The subject of the book is introduced with 'The Mechanics of a Siege', then follow descriptions of sieges at Acre, Constantinople, Malta, Basing House, Vienna, Londonderry, Badajoz III, Lucknow, Vicksburg, Ladysmith, Port Arthur, Kut-el-Amara, The Alcazar of Toledo, Tobruk (1941), Leningrad, Dien Bien Phu and Khe San. This is a fine eclectic list, a mixture of the famous and well-known with others less famous but of great interest in their own right. In each there is a synopsis of the siege, which identifies the critical features: thus at Constantinople the use of massed artillery, and bombardment and blockade by large marauding fleets; at Vienna in 1689, marking the end of Ottoman expansion, the success of a very mixed bunch of defenders owing much to the scale of their operations outside the town (a feature of Tobruk too, where the morale of the besieged was maintained by a most active defence); at Port Arthur where casualties as a result of mass Japanese attacks against artillery, wire and machine guns were enormous and a precursor to the trenches of WWI; and at Kut-al-Amara in 1915 (which I'd never heard of) where the British sent a woefully inadequate force up the River Tigris against the Turks, subsequently making an equal mess of the relief. If there is a common theme to be found it is the seemingly inevitable unpreparedness and makeshift last minute efforts of the soon-to-be besieged to prepare defences against an enemy usually on top of them. Even at Badajoz, where the French were more ready than most, there were unfinished works outside the walls, and at Port Arthur there were incomplete forts amongst the maze of trenches, batteries and redoubts. No one is ever entirely ready.
All chapters start with a succinct and valuable exposition of the background to the conflict, and all have maps and plans showing the wider scene, and the detailed area of operations. The specially drawn maps, 'excellent' according to the fly-leaf, are adequate but not special ('Malta 1565' map of operations carries two inaccurate and unhelpful 'enlargements' which give no more detail and information than the smaller versions). Another regular failing is the placing of the maps within the text; they frequently and irritatingly appear well before or well after the relevant descriptions. These are very minor problems in what I found to be a thoroughly enjoyable and fascinating read, which brought to life many actions of which I was aware, but ignorant of the details, and some entirely new.
Charles Blackwood
Charles Whiting: Paths of Death and Glory: The Last Days of the Third Reich, Spellmount, (1997) 2003, ISBN 1 86227 210 7. Hardback, 210pp, 153x234mm, 22 b&w photographs. £16.99.
Volume 10 is the final book of Spellmount's Siegfried Line Series and covers some of the same ground as the previous book (Bounce the Rhine, Casemate 67, pp26/27), and I get the impression the author is getting as war weary as his protagonists; the text is a little cursory and the print size large. The story of the conflict between Montgomery and the American generals leading to the opportunistic American thrust across the Rhine, way to the south of the Ruhr and leading to the Cold War shape of Europe, is repeated. Patton may have felt he understood the Russians, but it was his actions that gave them freedom of action. This behaviour does no credit to any of the parties involved, as it was based more on spite, irritation and arrogance than any rational strategic war plan, and as ever took little note of the effect of the decisions on the 'PBI'. There were enormous numbers of men who became casualties, suffered self-inflicted wounds or deserted and the author is clearly concerned to make sure the ordinary soldier's story is told. In this he is successful, with numerous direct quotations from the man on the ground, whose language tended to be succinct and graphic; from the medical staff who had to deal with the wreckage, the burial squads and the appalling numbers they dealt with - and their state - to the active soldier and his officers. Particular incidents are recounted: the 1st January 1945 surprise attack by the Luftwaffe on totally unprepared and relaxed Allied airfields, destroying hundreds of planes on the ground; the difficulties for the British and Canadians fighting through the Reichswald and the Siegfried Line, desperately defended by teenagers, into Germany itself; the tragedy of the Typhoon attack on two liners in the Bay of Lübeck, carrying 10,000 prisoners, of whom 7,500 were killed, and the ridiculous squabble between the French and Americans as to who would get to Hitler's Der Berghof first.
At least Montgomery's drive to the Baltic to restrict the Russian advance, and achieving the surrender of towards 2 million Germans, ended the British war on a positive note, though the words of Lord Haw Haw in his last broadcast proved most prophetic on the future of Britain and Germany: "Britain's victories are barren. They leave her poor and they leave the people hungry. They leave her bereft of markets and the wealth she possessed six years ago. But above all they leave her an immensely greater problem than she had then…"
The lack of any maps is a shame; any story of armies on the move is made more comprehensible by a map; of the photographs, few are action shots but there are two very evocative ones; of a medic helping a German soldier, who looks about fifteen, and of 'A close shave', a remarkable picture of an American soldier in the lee of earth exploding skywards.
Charles Blackwood
Henri Ortholan: Le Général Séré de Rivières: Bernard Giovanangeli Editeur, 2003, ISBN2-909034-33-X, paperback, 620pp, 138 x 224mm, 8pp b&w photos,
30€ (about £23). French text.
Henri Ortholan's 620 page biography of the man who created the new French defences following the defeat of 1870 must be set to become the standard reference on the subject; Ortholan's book spans Séré de Rivières' ancestry, education, early career, as well as his rise to prominence and an analysis of his legacy.
Born into provincial nobility in Albi, Raymond-Adolphe Séré de Rivières was not to inherit the family title, which went to his older brother so, traditionally, he chose a military career. Unusually, he entered the Ecole Polytechnique in 1835, rather than the more traditional St-Cyr; this was under the influence of his aunt, who played a large part in his education. At the Ecole Polytechnique, he did not shine particularly, and opted for the Génie (French military engineers) when he graduated in 1837. After a spell at the Génie school at Metz (where one of the subjects was fortification), Séré de Rivières chose active service in Algeria rather than involvement with the new fortifications of Paris, then being built.
He returned to France at the end of 1842, and had a number of postings, mostly in the South, rising steadily through the ranks. During this period he became involved with the building of new forts at Toulon, as well as the design for a new fort at Tarascon-sur-Ariège intended to protect a new road between France and Spain. Though never built because of budgets, his thoroughness and use of terrain impressed his superiors. He did not take part in the Crimean War (1854-56) but was active in the French Italian campaign of 1859 against Austria. Here he was wounded leading his troops while clearing a road-block at the entrance to Melegnano. After convalescing in France, Séré de Rivières was called upon to investigate the possible fortification of Nice, recently attached to France. Again, though the works were never built , his thoroughness impressed.
In the late 1860s Raymond-Adolphe finds himself at Metz, where he is called upon to design the new fortifications. There is some difference of opinion with his superiors, de Rivières wanting to place the forts on the western bank of the Moselle much further out from the city. The old mind-set of a continuous defence line around cities was proving hard to break. In 1868 de Rivières, now colonel, arrives at Lyons as head of fortifications. Lyons already had a ring of forts, but when the city is threatened in 1870, following French defeats in the North and East, de Rivières , aware of the longer range of modern artillery, builds new works much further out from the city. Again, there is controversy, but this time he wins the argument. As it turns out the city is not attacked. De Rivières initially declined a field command, arguing that his experience would be more usefully employed preparing the defences of Lyons, but this done, he requested an operational role.
Promoted to General, he finds himself in the Armée de l'Est under Général Bourbaki. The new army was to relieve Belfort, and then march up Alsace, cutting the Prussian supply lines. Despite a temporary success at Arcey, at which de Rivières positioned batteries forcing the Prussians to withdraw, the Armée de l'Est was forced to retreat to the Swiss border, where de Rivières was interned.
Séré de Rivières returns to France in March 1871; like most of the old Imperial Army of Napoleon III, he rejoins the army of the Thiers government at Versailles. One of the priorities of the government is the re-capture of Paris from the Commune, and in this, de Rivières is instrumental. He directs a regular siege, complete with saps and parallels, on the 1840 forts of Issy and Vanves, leading to their early fall and opening the way into Paris. Because of his part in the victory, Général de Rivières is made a Commandeur of the Légion d'Honneur in June 1871.
The next two years were controversial ones for our General. The surrender of Metz to the Prussians by Bazaine, when it seemed the fortress could still hold out for some time, had virtually ensured the defeat of France. Maréchal Bazaine, who had risen through the ranks, had support in many parts of the army. Thiers, keen not to split France in time of defeat, was happy to appoint a committee of enquiry to investigate the facts without apportioning blame. The committee did a considerable amount of work, and the matter seemed closed. But Bazaine wanted his version of events to be heard, and forced the Government's hand by going into print. A tribunal was inevitable. Thiers deemed Séré de Rivières impartial enough to be appointed Rapporteur to the tribunal. His task was to gather the facts and present them to the tribunal - others would lead the prosecution etc…It was here that de Rivières came in for criticism; in his thoroughness he completely duplicated the Committee of Enquiry's work and went into great detail as to what stores were held at Metz, how long they could sustain the garrison, what communications had been possible between Metz and the rest of France and a host of details. Such was the amount of evidence gathered that he doubtless made enemies in some quarters as being over-zealous. Whole swathes of his document were not used at the trial itself.
The six years from 1874 to 1880 were to be those for which Séré de Rivières is remembered. Through friends in high places ( MacMahon, Thiers, Gambetta) as well as his seniority and experience, our Général finds himself on the Comité de Défence, with particular responsibility for the regions to be fortified. Here, his modern ideas on fortification were to find their full flowering. Trying to break away from a 'Wall of China' mentality adopted by some of his contemporaries, de Rivières developed the concept of defensive screens (Rideaux Défensifs) and entrenched camps (Camps Retranchés). Two defensive screens would protect the new Eastern frontier, the first running along the Meuse river between the entrenched camps of Verdun and Toul, and the second running along the Moselle between Epinal and Belfort.
The entrenched camps were ring fortresses, and the defensive screens a line of forts taking advantage of ridges and rivers, linking two of these fortresses. What was novel in de Rivières' concept was that he left gaps in the defences. Thus, North of Verdun was the Trouée de Stenay (Stenay Gap) and between Toul and Epinal the Trouée de Charmes. These gaps caused great concern among some of his fellow Comité de Défense members, who could not bring themselves to leave stretches of the frontier wide open. It was partly to placate them that isolated forts were built, like Manonvillier, which had to block the Saverne to Paris railway line.
But this was to misunderstand (or at least mistrust) de Rivières' strategic concept. The Trouées were designed to present invading forces with a dilemma: attack the defensive screen, and you left your flanks open to attack by French forces emerging from the entrenched camps, and through the gaps, at either end; engage your army through the gap, and not only were your flanks open to attack from the fortresses either side (which were designed to garrison substantial forces for just such a purpose), but you were likely to meet the French field army head-on on a battlefield of their choosing. Many of the earlier subsequent French Mobilisation plans (of which Plan XVII was the last and most famous) were variations on the above theme. Séré de Rivières therefore intended the fortifications to work with the French field army in a unified defence of the nation. It was a shield that was of limited use without the sword.
Like the eastern frontier, the defence of Paris was deemed a priority, and here again the concept of groups of forts forming entrenched camps with gaps between them was used. The City of Light was not to be protected by a continuous line of forts, but by three groups, one to the North-East, one to the South, and the last to the West. These were much further out from the French capital than previous works, and made bombardment and a regular siege very difficult indeed owing to the huge perimeter created. The gaps between the three groups of forts presented the same problems to an attacker as those on the eastern frontier.
As well as the East and Paris, the Italian frontier, the North, and a second line of defence required attention. In the Alps, Grenoble, Albertville and Briançon were fortified, as were individual crossing points such as passes and railway tunnels. Here, one of de Rivières' forts did sterling work against the Italians - in 1940!
In the North, de Rivières anticipated a German attack through Belgium, seeing the route South along the river valleys (for they mostly flow North-South here) as a natural invasion path. Maubeuge and Lille were fortified with rings of forts, and old bastioned works like Le Quesnoy and Rocroi were improved. Dunkirk was to be well fortified but received only a handful of works, and a few individual barrier forts were built to block valleys and railway lines such as Hirson or Les Ayvelles.
Perhaps more disappointing to Séré de Rivières was the second line of defence, which he considered vital, particularly the La Fère-Laon position intended to protect Paris from the North (down the Oise valley). The second line was to run La Fère-Laon-Reims-Langres-Dijon-Besançon. Of these only Langres was fully developed, for it was to act as the base for the Army covering the Charmes gap on the vital eastern frontier. The others received only partial defences.
In early 1880, a few months before his official retirement age, Séré de Rivières' military career was suddenly cut short when he and several other senior officers were dismissed by the new War Minister Farre. Rather unfounded rumours of financial irregularities surrounding the new defensive works at the time, stirred up by contractors, did not help matters.
Still wanting to influence his defence scheme, de Rivières tried to enter the Senate, but after a couple of attempts conceded defeat and went into a quiet retirement. In time, his health deteriorated, and he finally died in 1895.
Ortholan does not leave the story there, and the book continues for a further fascinating 100 pages. A final chapter examines the legacy of de Rivières' fortifications, their impact on German and French strategic thinking, and how they stood up under fire, describing the performance of individual forts in the Great War. He closes in mentioning some of the current
restoration projects.
An appendix includes the Séré de Rivières family tree, the procedure for building a fort, how the building site was organised, and finally a list of every fort built by de Rivières up to 1880, with its function, and map of individual fortresses and defence screens. Sixteen pages of source material and bibliography conclude the book.
As mentioned above, Henri Ortholan has doubtless written the Séré de Rivières biography. This book is a lengthy read, and must represent considerable research; the amount of information contained is colossal. In many ways, it is really two books: the first traces the very average rise of a provincial aristocrat in an unremarkable military career through mid C19th France. The second is of a man whose modern outlook enabled him to play a leading role in transforming France's fortunes; both are well worth reading, but a very good understanding of French will be needed to enjoy them. Definitely recommended to anyone with an interest in the subject to whom the language is no barrier.
Paul Holford
Julien Depret: Le Nord, Frontière Militaire: Tome 1 L'Organisation défensive de Dunkerque à Longwy 1874 - 1914. Published by the author, 2003, ISBN 2-9520574-0-0. Hardback, A4, 206pp, price €40 (about £30), French text.
This is the first of two volumes by Julien Depret exploring the defences of France's northern border between 1874 and 1940. Volume 1 covers the 1874 to 1914 era and is divided into three main parts.
The first looks at the political history (and its military implications) of the northern border from the Treaty of the Pyrenees (1659) to the Treaty of Frankfurt (1871). These various treaties saw the border constantly re-adjusted, and the French careful to retain strategically important fortresses. The 1815 settlement saw the French lose some of these, leaving the border with limited defences, natural or otherwise. The author then looks at Séré de Rivières' plans for the defence of the North, based on fortresses at Dunkirk, Lille, a central position at Valenciennes, and Maubeuge, as well as barrier forts at Hirson and Mézière.
A second position on the line La Fère, Laon, Reims was to secure the approaches to Paris. As a means of saving money a few old bastioned works (Bergues, Rocroi,, Montmédy) were strengthened to act as barrier forts.
The northern defences were always destined to play second fiddle to their eastern counterparts, and though rings of forts were built around Lille and Maubeuge in the 1870s and early 1880s respectively, a number of factors led to most other schemes being abandoned, or only partially completed. These included financial constraints, lack of troops to man further fortifications, the development of the railway network enabling barrier forts to be by-passed, the neutrality of Belgium and the development of its own fortresses at Antwerp and on the Meuse, and the need to reinforce existing forts with the advent of high explosive shells, which meant that money which could have been spent in the north had to be spent again on the vital eastern defences.
Also, the shift from a defensive to an offensive doctrine by the French Army lessened the importance of static defences in the eyes of French strategists.
The second part of the book examines the features of the defensive system adopted, such as turrets, magazine design, armament, optical and carrier pigeon communications, as well as fort types.
Julien Depret then takes us along the northern French border from Dunkirk to Longwy, looking at each fortress and barrier fort in turn; this is in many ways the heart of the book and runs from page 76 to 150. Here the reader will find plans of various forts, maps of fortresses with the range of action of turret guns, present and vintage photographs of forts, and most informative panels within the page.
The last part looks at the performance of the defences under fire. Here, Julien Depret charts the abandonment of Lille, as well as that of various individual forts. Particularly interesting is the account of the siege of Maubeuge whose unmodernised forts (except for a handful of Mougin and Galopin turrets between them) were literally shattered by the same German heavy siege artillery that had defeated the more modern Namur forts in Belgium. Nevertheless, Maubeuge detained 60,000 German troops who were unavailable for the vital Battle of the Marne. Perhaps a little surprisingly, Sir John French's decision not to bottle himself up in Maubeuge during the BEF's retreat from Mons is not mentioned (cf Mons: John Terraine, 1960 pp92-93), but this in no way detracts from an excellent account.
The book ends with a few pages on conservation and some excellent appendices listing sites which may be visited; a gazetteer of all works, with current condition and accessibility; and a most interesting extract from an 1898 report on the de-classification of various works. Finally, a two page bibliography concludes volume 1.
At €40 this is not a cheap book, but it is well produced and lavishly illustrated, the author using maps, diagrams, old and contemporary photographs to good effect. It is also a book the reader can "dip into" regularly.
Your reviewer has no reservations in highly recommending this outstanding book to anyone interested in late C19th fortifications. Let us hope the second volume (1918-1940) is every bit as good.
Paul Holford
Reviews from Vesting Flash 2003/4
(Simon Stevinstichting)
Ben Muller: Breskens in Beton (Breskens in Concrete), from bookshop in Zeeland, or from author bennojollo@zeelandnet.nl €24.50. German strongpoints round the port of Breskens, part of the Atlantic Wall in Zeeland/Flanders. Only 27 out of 236 bunkers survive.
K Jordan: Bibliographie zur Geschichte, published by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Festungsforschung, Marburg 2003. History of fortress building from beginning up to 1914. Author worked on it for 20 years, with 4,220 titles. Fortification, attack and defence, siege and siege warfare, coast defence, field fortifications, mine warfare and the history of the Engineers Corps. Appendix: list of 241 encyclopaedias, lexicons and dictionaries: bibliography of 260 titles. €54 + p&p. From Elmar Brohl, Sandweg 10, D-35037 MARBURG, Germany,
email: brohl@Stud-Mailer.Uni-Marburg.de
Willem Segers and Rudy van Nunen: Rantse versterkingen, 9 chapters, 165pp. Architectural and historical description of Forts Broechem and Oelegem and Massenhoven redoubt. €12 + €2.50 p&p. From Heemkundige kring De Brakken, Lindedreef 74, B-2980 Halle Zoersel, Belgium.
Translation and summary by Margaret Pinsent
Maj Martin Green: Railway Walks, Reardon Publishing, 56 Upper Norwood St, Cheltenham, GL53 0DU, pp44, b&w photos, ISBN 1-873877-61-7, cost not known.
Casemate 67 carried a review of War Walks, a study of the Bristol Outer defences. The same author has produced Railway Walks, a description of walks along abandoned railway tracks in Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Oxfordshire.
Railways themselves are not, strictly speaking, within the purview of the FSG, but many members will find the accounts of lines that served such stations as Ludgershall and Tidworth of real military interest, and most will be impressed by the feats of engineering involved in railway construction. The booklet is full of facts and observations, and anyone following one of the recommended walks will end up wondering why we did away with such a superb transport system.
John Plant
While castles are peripheral to the main interests of the FSG, many contain artillery elements and were developed into artillery fortresses, and many, effectively unaltered except for additional earthworks, put up a most stout resistance in the English Civil War of the mid-1600s. Mediaeval design and construction played an active part in military history well after its time had passed.
Several books have recently appeared, very different in content and style, which may be of interest to many of our members. In spring 2003 there was a series called 'Castle' on British television's Channel Four, accompanied as is often the case nowadays by a book: Marc Morris: Castle, Pan Macmillan Ltd., 2003. Hardback, 280pp, 150x233mm, numerous colour and b&w photographs and plans, further reading and index. £18.99. The text reflects the more popular medium, being chatty, relatively non-technical, and full of definitive statements and modern idiom; thus on Bodiam and its superficial martial air; 'Bodiam, then, might talk tough, but it would not have been much good in a real fight'. While the first three chapters deal with motte and baileys, stone towers and Edward I's Welsh castles, the following three are on Bodiam, Scottish tower houses and the Civil War as exemplified by the building and siege of Raglan, so there is plenty of 'gunpowder age' material.
The text is very easy reading, contemporary quotations are apposite and refreshing, and the 24 colour plates, grouped in the centre, illustrate it well, though it is not without error: 'Defences like this (artillery bastions) were unknown in Britain (only the border town of Berwick-upon-Tweed had anything even remotely comparable)'. How can the author forget Carisbrooke? 'Further reading' is good; it relates to each chapter and indicates what is particularly relevant in each work. Chapter 6, (Raglan): 'For the later castles in general, see M. Johnson, Behind the Castle Gate: From Mediaeval to Renaissance (London, 2002) and M.W. Thompson, The Decline of the Castle (Cambridge, 1987). Thompson is particularly good on destruction and slighting, and Johnson has some new ideas on Raglan'. The book is presented in a popular style and is fun to read.
From Sutton Publishing, 2003, comes The Sutton Companion to Castles, by Stephen Friar, ISBN 0 7509 2744 5, hardback, 344pp, 170x243mm, £20.
It is a detailed illustrated A-Z reference book, with every word even vaguely associated with castles identified and defined. If you want to know what a cranequin is, or an imbrex, or an undercroft, you will find the answer here. Post- mediaeval terms are not left out - you will find bastion and flèche, caponier and even ravelin, though none are illustrated, and there is no fortification meaning given under sconce. There are numerous b&w photographs, line drawings and maps to illuminate the text, and 11 good colour photographs in a central block. Throughout the text there are longer pieces on, for instance, sieges, Wales, ironwork, locks and nails and many others. With an index of castles, over 5 close-packed pages of addresses (not including FSG) and over a page of further reading this is a most useful book for the fortification enthusiast, with an emphasis on the mediaeval, but including some of the later material.
Boydell and Brewer Ltd (PO Box 9, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 3DF, and PO Box 41026, Rochester, NY 14604-4126, USA, www.boydell.co.uk), are publishers with an extensive mediaeval catalogue, which includes several castle books. In June they are republishing R Allen Brown's classic English Castles, on which I cut my castle teeth, back in the 50s.
Most recent publication is Anglo-Norman Castles, edited by Robert Liddiard, which was published in 2003, ISBN 0-85115-904-4. Hardback, 414pp, 155x234mm, and illustrated with a good range of b&w photographs and plans, it has an extensive select bibliography and comprehensive index, and costs £45.
Thoroughly academic, but very readable, the book consists of a collection of nineteen of the most significant articles in castle studies, with contributions from experts in history, archaeology and historic buildings, discussing amongst other aspects the military and residential role of the castle. The recognised experts of the castle world are here, with most articles by contemporary practitioners, written from the mid 1980s onwards, but including one from 1934 on Castle Guard, and one from 1955 by R Allen Brown on Royal Castle Building in England 1154-1216. Readers of Château Gaillard and the sadly defunct magazine Fortress will recognize several of the contributions. Articles are generally on tight specific subjects; I found two particularly interesting: Royal power and castles in Norman England by Richard Eales, is extremely readable and enlightening on the development of the castle in England after 1066, and the sheer numbers of 'castles', active at one time, and in total in the country. The great tower at Hedingham Castle: a reassessment, by Philip Dixon and Pamela Marshall appeared in Fortress in 1993 and offered a radical new interpretation of the meaning and purpose of the Great Tower. The wide and diverse range of subjects make this book a fascinating read.
