Cockfosters depot WW2 pillbox
 

Saw this as I took a rare trip up to cockfosters today, never noticed it
before - must have been behind vegetation. There's very little about in
online other than it was meant to defend the depot. I'm no military expert
but I can't really see what its purpose would have been. If the germans
had got to cockfosters then it would have been game over for the tube and
probably the country so what was the point?

Anyway here's a google maps link:

https://goo.gl/maps/i4A26d931KctSoVy7

Cockfosters depot WW2 pillbox
 

On 23/06/2019 13:44, wrote:
Saw this as I took a rare trip up to cockfosters today, never noticed it
before - must have been behind vegetation. There's very little about in
online other than it was meant to defend the depot. I'm no military expert
but I can't really see what its purpose would have been. If the germans
had got to cockfosters then it would have been game over for the tube and
probably the country so what was the point?

Anyway here's a google maps link:

https://goo.gl/maps/i4A26d931KctSoVy7




Depends which way round London they were going. One of the problems in
1939-1940 was the British assumption that the Germans would invade East
Anglia as it was good tank country with good beaches for delivery of
troops and materiel, so the original layout of defences was done with
that in mind. The logic of the pill box at Cockfosters was that the
Germans would try to encircle London round the north side. Then it was
realised that the Germans envisaged the invasion as a (wide) river
crossing as they had done successfully in France and Belgium and would
opt for the shortest route via the Dover Straits.

--
Graeme Wall
This account not read.

Cockfosters depot WW2 pillbox
 

On 23/06/2019 13:44, wrote:
Saw this as I took a rare trip up to cockfosters today, never noticed it
before - must have been behind vegetation. There's very little about in
online other than it was meant to defend the depot. I'm no military expert
but I can't really see what its purpose would have been. If the germans
had got to cockfosters then it would have been game over for the tube and
probably the country so what was the point?

Anyway here's a google maps link:

https://goo.gl/maps/i4A26d931KctSoVy7

That looks like Type 27, with the hole in the middle for an
anti-aircraft gun. Would that perhaps have been useful in context?


--
Arthur Figgis Surrey, UK

Cockfosters depot WW2 pillbox
 

On 23/06/2019 18:17, Arthur Figgis wrote:
On 23/06/2019 13:44, wrote:
Saw this as I took a rare trip up to cockfosters today, never noticed it
before - must have been behind vegetation. There's very little about in
online other than it was meant to defend the depot. I'm no military
expert
but I can't really see what its purpose would have been. If the germans
had got to cockfosters then it would have been game over for the tube and
probably the country so what was the point?

Anyway here's a google maps link:

https://goo.gl/maps/i4A26d931KctSoVy7

That looks like Type 27, with the hole in the middle for an
anti-aircraft gun. Would that perhaps have been useful in context?

Also, is it close enough to the POW interrogation site at Trent Park to
perhaps be linked to activities there?


--
Arthur Figgis Surrey, UK

Cockfosters depot WW2 pillbox
 

On 23/06/2019 18:21, Arthur Figgis wrote:
On 23/06/2019 18:17, Arthur Figgis wrote:
On 23/06/2019 13:44, wrote:
Saw this as I took a rare trip up to cockfosters today, never noticed it
before - must have been behind vegetation. There's very little about in
online other than it was meant to defend the depot. I'm no military
expert
but I can't really see what its purpose would have been. If the germans
had got to cockfosters then it would have been game over for the tube
and
probably the country so what was the point?

Anyway here's a google maps link:

https://goo.gl/maps/i4A26d931KctSoVy7

That looks like Type 27, with the hole in the middle for an
anti-aircraft gun. Would that perhaps have been useful in context?

Also, is it close enough to the POW interrogation site at Trent Park to
perhaps be linked to activities there?



Unlikely, the committee that decided where to position such things
wouldn't have known about interrogation sites. An anti-aircraft site to
protect the depot is more likely

--
Graeme Wall
This account not read.

Cockfosters depot WW2 pillbox
 

On 23/06/2019 18:27, Graeme Wall wrote:
On 23/06/2019 18:21, Arthur Figgis wrote:
On 23/06/2019 18:17, Arthur Figgis wrote:
On 23/06/2019 13:44, wrote:
Saw this as I took a rare trip up to cockfosters today, never
noticed it
before - must have been behind vegetation. There's very little about in
online other than it was meant to defend the depot. I'm no military
expert
but I can't really see what its purpose would have been. If the germans
had got to cockfosters then it would have been game over for the
tube and
probably the country so what was the point?

Anyway here's a google maps link:

https://goo.gl/maps/i4A26d931KctSoVy7

That looks like Type 27, with the hole in the middle for an
anti-aircraft gun. Would that perhaps have been useful in context?

Also, is it close enough to the POW interrogation site at Trent Park
to perhaps be linked to activities there?



Unlikely, the committee that decided where to position such things
wouldn't have known about interrogation sites. An anti-aircraft site to
protect the depot is more likely

Presumably someone would have known it was being used for some kind of
military purpose (if it was at the time).


--
Arthur Figgis Surrey, UK

Cockfosters depot WW2 pillbox
 

On Sun, 23 Jun 2019 20:46:45 +0100, Arthur Figgis
wrote:

On 23/06/2019 18:27, Graeme Wall wrote:
On 23/06/2019 18:21, Arthur Figgis wrote:
On 23/06/2019 18:17, Arthur Figgis wrote:
On 23/06/2019 13:44, wrote:
Saw this as I took a rare trip up to cockfosters today, never
noticed it
before - must have been behind vegetation. There's very little about in
online other than it was meant to defend the depot. I'm no military
expert
but I can't really see what its purpose would have been. If the germans
had got to cockfosters then it would have been game over for the
tube and
probably the country so what was the point?

Anyway here's a google maps link:

https://goo.gl/maps/i4A26d931KctSoVy7

That looks like Type 27, with the hole in the middle for an
anti-aircraft gun. Would that perhaps have been useful in context?

Also, is it close enough to the POW interrogation site at Trent Park
to perhaps be linked to activities there?



Unlikely, the committee that decided where to position such things
wouldn't have known about interrogation sites. An anti-aircraft site to
protect the depot is more likely

Presumably someone would have known it was being used for some kind of
military purpose (if it was at the time).

Military sites were hardly uncommon during the War!

Cockfosters depot WW2 pillbox
 

On 24/06/2019 13:41, Recliner wrote:
On Sun, 23 Jun 2019 20:46:45 +0100, Arthur Figgis
wrote:

On 23/06/2019 18:27, Graeme Wall wrote:
On 23/06/2019 18:21, Arthur Figgis wrote:
On 23/06/2019 18:17, Arthur Figgis wrote:
On 23/06/2019 13:44, wrote:
Saw this as I took a rare trip up to cockfosters today, never
noticed it
before - must have been behind vegetation. There's very little about in
online other than it was meant to defend the depot. I'm no military
expert
but I can't really see what its purpose would have been. If the germans
had got to cockfosters then it would have been game over for the
tube and
probably the country so what was the point?

Anyway here's a google maps link:

https://goo.gl/maps/i4A26d931KctSoVy7

That looks like Type 27, with the hole in the middle for an
anti-aircraft gun. Would that perhaps have been useful in context?

Also, is it close enough to the POW interrogation site at Trent Park
to perhaps be linked to activities there?



Unlikely, the committee that decided where to position such things
wouldn't have known about interrogation sites. An anti-aircraft site to
protect the depot is more likely

Presumably someone would have known it was being used for some kind of
military purpose (if it was at the time).

Military sites were hardly uncommon during the War!


in 1940 the whole of the south of England was a military site.

--
Graeme Wall
This account not read.

Cockfosters depot WW2 pillbox
 

Guy Gorton wrote:
On Sun, 23 Jun 2019 18:17:42 +0100, Arthur Figgis
wrote:

On 23/06/2019 13:44, wrote:
Saw this as I took a rare trip up to cockfosters today, never noticed it
before - must have been behind vegetation. There's very little about in
online other than it was meant to defend the depot. I'm no military expert
but I can't really see what its purpose would have been. If the germans
had got to cockfosters then it would have been game over for the tube and
probably the country so what was the point?

Anyway here's a google maps link:

https://goo.gl/maps/i4A26d931KctSoVy7

That looks like Type 27, with the hole in the middle for an
anti-aircraft gun. Would that perhaps have been useful in context?

Certainly some sort of gun emplacement. It is not a pillbox (one
still in existence by the Thames at Gatehampton Bridge attached).


Guy,

This isn't a binary group, so most people won't have seen your bridge photo
attachment, which isn't permitted in text-only groups. You need to provide
a link to the photo hosted on a web site.

Cockfosters depot WW2 pillbox
 

On Tue, 25 Jun 2019 09:38:00 GMT, Recliner
wrote:

Guy Gorton wrote:
On Sun, 23 Jun 2019 18:17:42 +0100, Arthur Figgis
wrote:

On 23/06/2019 13:44, wrote:
Saw this as I took a rare trip up to cockfosters today, never noticed it
before - must have been behind vegetation. There's very little about in
online other than it was meant to defend the depot. I'm no military expert
but I can't really see what its purpose would have been. If the germans
had got to cockfosters then it would have been game over for the tube and
probably the country so what was the point?

Anyway here's a google maps link:

https://goo.gl/maps/i4A26d931KctSoVy7

That looks like Type 27, with the hole in the middle for an
anti-aircraft gun. Would that perhaps have been useful in context?

Certainly some sort of gun emplacement. It is not a pillbox (one
still in existence by the Thames at Gatehampton Bridge attached).


Guy,

This isn't a binary group, so most people won't have seen your bridge photo
attachment, which isn't permitted in text-only groups. You need to provide
a link to the photo hosted on a web site.

Silly of me! A moment's inattention. This website shows Gatehampton
pillbox in a much better photo than I could take:-
https://www.derelictplaces.co.uk/mai...l#.XRIu-LjpUyI

Guy Gorton