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View Full Version : Archived: Farthingloe Anti-Aircraft Battery. Dover. Nov 2010



Herbivore
13-11-2010, 09:59 AM
Farthingloe Heavy Anti-Aircraft Battery. Early History...


The first AA guns destined for Farthingloe arrived in Dover on September 4th 1939; a batch of eight brand-new 3.7" mobile guns to be devided between itself and Wanstone. The planned static 3.7" guns were in short supply.
After first towing the guns along the Folkestone road they then had to be dragged up the narrow track to the proposed site. The tow trucks only managed the first thirty yards as the hill was much too steep. So one truck was sent up the hill to winch the guns up one at a time. At 9.5 tons each, quite a task.
After all this they discovered that the gate to the site had been locked by the local farmer but this was easily remedied by the first truck driving straight through.
This site in common with the other four Dover HAA sites was green-field with sandbag protected emplacements and control room, tented accomodation and bucket latrines. It was a year before any concrete structure was built on the site although for half of that time it stood unmanned as it's guns and personnel were split and sent to D6 and D7. Hawkshill Down and Sandown. Both near Deal.

On May 10th 1940 D6 and D7 were abandoned and the four guns returned to Farthingloe although the codes, D6 and D7 were used again from 1942 for different new sites.

On June the 13th these mobile guns at farthingloe were replaced by new static 3.7" ones, the mobile ones being sent to D4 Buckland. This took all day as there were only two tow trucks available. The Gun Laying station (radar) was also installed at Farthingloe on this day. By mid 1942 the men had been moved to Derby and Sheffield and replaced by Canadian crews.

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Command post personnel, 233 Bty. Summer 1940.
Note the two men with megaphones. This was how the command post crew communicated with the gun
crews before the telecom. equipment was installed.
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The later 3.7" Static guns.
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May 1942 Aerial.
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