Site Visit – Ulster Folk Museum
On a rather damp and dreary day in January 2018, I took myself and a friend off to the Ulster Folk Museum, Cultra, near Holywood. The living history museum tells…
Randalstown Camp
Dissected by the M22 motorway at Randalstown, an army camp capable of housing more than 5,000 British and Irish soldiers in preparation for the trenches of France once sat, with…
Pre-OCTU Wrotham Camp
The purpose built Pre-Officer Cadet Training Unit at Wrotham Camp was reputed to be at one stage the largest training establishments in the world with up to 10,000 cadets on…
Site Visit – Mereworth Woods Ammunition Depot
Just west of RAF West Malling is a dispersed ammunition site dating from WW2. Still owned by the MOD, the forested site is a dry training area (ie; no live…
Site Visit – Maunsell Sea Forts
A total of three sea forts under the control of the Army were constructed in 1941/42 to protect the vital shipping lane and air corridor along the River Thames which…
Site Visit – Berlin-Hohenschoenhausen
Situated firmly in East Berlin sat a secret and prohibited district, left off maps, and surrounded by high walls, barbed wired and armed guards. Inside lay a facility that bred…
Site Visit – Slough Fort, Allhallows
Slough Fort (so named due to its proximity to Slough hamlet to the north west) was built between 1861 and 1867 to combat a ever growing threat from the French…
Site Visit – Grain Tower Battery
Grain Tower Battery was constructed between 1879 and 1855 of granite in an Martello tower style. Unique by virtue that it was constructed off shore on a mud-spit in the…
Oil Berth 3
It may sound somewhat unassuming, but Oil Berth 3, sitting at the entrance to Musgrave Channel in Belfast Port, was once at the centre of a fascinating piece of Northern Irish…
The Birth of the Military Reaction Force (MRF)
In July 1971 a unique unit was born into the British Army, in particular 39 Airportable Brigade under the command of Brigadier Frank Kitson (September 1970 – April 1972). Brigadier Kitson…