A tale of two batteriesI was in London in May, and although not related to the Battle for Hong Kong, I thought I would begin with an article about the ruins of a coastal defence battery at Dungeness, in South East Kent, dating back to the Napoleonic Wars, and then finish with a look at the ruins of Pinewood AA Battery in Hong Kong.
Ruins of Napoleonic Battery at DungenessDungeness is situated in the southeast corner of Kent. To day it is well known for the nuclear power station, for its bird life, the two lighthouses and the masses of shingle. There is a sense of windswept desolation. On foggy nights you could hear the blast of the foghorn from the new lighthouse. In bygone years this area was famous for smuggling. It was an important area of defence against continental invasion over the centuries. There has always been a constant struggle against the sea. In Roman times Romney Marsh was a large shallow bay over which ships sailed to the Roman port of Portus Lemanis. There were sandbanks and shingle spits and in Saxon times these were "inned" and reclaimed from the sea.
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| Dungeness Nuclear Power Station |
There have been several lighthouses over the years. The shingle spit keeps growing out to sea and the lighthouses gradually became too far from the point. This one (below) is referred to as the old lighthouse.
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| The old lighthouse |
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| The new lighthouse |
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| The water at Dungeness is deep and drops away sharply |
During the Napoleonic Wars it was this area known as Romney Marsh which was considered a likely landing ground for Napoleon's Army. A military canal was built from west to east along the base of the line of hills that mark the Saxon shoreline. Martello towers (circular forts with a gun on a swivel on top) were built along the coast together with redoubts and batteries. This post is about one of those batteries. No. 1 Battery at Dungeness. There is not much left of it now just a grass covered mound, and brick works, but the road sign nearby gives us a clue as to what that mound and walls once were.
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| The mound in the background is all that's left of No 1 Battery. |
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| The remains of Napoleonic ramparts |
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| A swivel for the guns |
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| Ruined battery walls and stonework. |
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| Surrounded by seaside houses |
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| Gun emplacement and swivel |
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| Two hundred year old ramparts |
Nobody ever goes there, there is no information sign, just the windswept ruins. Old maps of the area show the battery and nearby batteries numbered 1 to 4. In the 1904 map below the inlet can still be seen between Greatstone and Littlestone. This has now been reclaimed but the inlet originally led to the port of New Romney now some two miles from the sea. No. 1 battery was originally built close to the seashore but is now several hundred metres from the high water mark.
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| The Invasion Coast (1904 map) |
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| 1867 map showing the batteries at Dungeness (the Martello towers are numbered 21-27) |
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Dungeness is derived from the word Denge. The map shows Denge Marsh and Denge Beach. The word Ness means headland in Old Norse. So Dungeness was once Denge Ness as depicted on the 1819 map. |
Ruins of Pinewood Battery in Hong Kong
Pinewood Battery was an AA Fort equipped with two 3-inch guns. It was built on the north west slopes of the Peak. It was heavily bombed and shelled by the Japanese after war broke out on 8th December 1941. The photo below shows the battery being shelled and bombed.
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| Pinewood Battery under bombardement |
The battery had to be abandoned because of damage to one of the guns, the emplacements and equipment. The damage is well depicted in the photo below showing one of the wrecked 3-inch guns.
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| One of the badly damaged 3-inch guns |
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| One of the two 3-inch gun emplacements |
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| Battery buildings |
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| Blast and fragmentation damage to battery walls |
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| Battery buildings at Pinewood |
The battery was originally built/completed in 1905 to house two 6-inch coastal defence guns. In 1936 the two 3-inch AA guns were installed. The battery was abandoned on 15th December 1941 after severe damage.
Further Reading and Photos on Romney Marsh and Napoleonic War fixed defences:
Please click the link below:
Romney Marsh, the English Arcadia and Napoleonic War defensesbattleforhongkong.blogspot.com
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