As an aspiring historian, perhaps more of an enthusiastic amateur, I appreciate that nothing can beat information from a primary source. The National Archives, at Kew outside London, is the national repository for official documents. The value can’t be understated; war department maps and plans, war diaries from frontline fighting… Read More »A visit to the National Archives
In 1942 the Second World War was taking on a new, global element. December 1941 saw the attacks on Pearl Harbour that drew the Americans into frontline conflict, while units from Northern Ireland were engaged in Burma, North Africa, Leros, Sicily and Italy. It was written soon after the war… Read More »The most secret ARDS plan; fighting to the end
The pillbox is synonymous with the Second World War. Thousands were constructed across the United Kingdom (and Ireland) to defend high-value areas or as part of a National defensive line. Many of them still remain and conjure up the romantic notion of local boys and men bearing arms to defend… Read More »Site Visit Part II – Randalstown Forest, Second World War Defences
This is the current map project KML file dated 22 January 2022 containing 1,089 markers covering pre-1900 fortifications through to those used during Operation Banner. The current version is displayed on the interactive page of this site. This is a long term project and there are still some teething problems,… Read More »Frontline Ulster Map Project
The 1930s and 1940s saw huge advances in the development of radio and radar technologies, with one of the most sophisticated networks of Radio Direction Finding (RDF) being deployed in the form of Chain Home stations around the coast of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Running concurrently with the development… Read More »Second World War Microwave Experiments
A KML file containing the markers for all known fixer station locations across the UK. There are currently a total of 66 sites; 36 extant with some remains present, 24 removed with no trace and 6 tenuous sites that may or may not have been part of this network of… Read More »Second World War Fixer Stations
On the hills approximately 6 miles to the north east of Derry/Londonderry is the small but abandoned signal station at Killylane. Constructed during the Second World War, the site was used for around 20 years as a Royal Navy shore-to-ship radio communication station communicating with naval vessels operating across the… Read More »Site Visit – Signal Station, Killylane
I first published this article in 2018 when I had spent some time in Kent and after walking the River Medway around Maidstone realised that a large proportion of the Second World War pillboxes still remained. There is no interpretation with this article, it is purely a record of each… Read More »Lower Medway Pillboxes
