good day cl1.m.yesterday.10:07pm.re:pillbox:bentley priory,middlesex.great photo's.they were prepared for the worst.they did not have to use them??thank you for posting regards bernard85
Clive, I wonder just how effective brick Pill Boxes, compared to Reinforced Concrete structures, would have been if put to the test. Regards Tom
Hello Tom That particular post is set on the hill approx 500ft above sea level with a great view over London just south of Bentley Priory. It would also have been a good viewing point over London during the Battle of Britain and throughout the war. I assume it would have afforded some cover but as you suggest not totally robust. regards Clive
Few pillboxes were actually all brick. Most of the times brick was used for shuttering and infilled with concrete, supposedly because of a shortage of wood. It was the concrete that was supposed to stop the bullets/shells. Whether it would have done it successfully depended on the thickness (there were bullet-proof and shell proof versions of pillboxes)but I wouldn't have liked to have been under sustained assault in either. The Pillbox Study Group website has more details.
I remember back in the early 1970's there being a very similar box at the base of Harrow-on-the-Hill opposite the South Harrow Police Station. There were other dilapidated military buildings/huts in the same vicinity. We used to play in them back in those days, but they were demolished I think, when some flats were built there.
