Cliffhanger Bridlington To Flamborough Would
You Stand on the Top of This Pillbox?
Whilst walking from Danedyke, near Bridlington,
to South Landing, Flamborough I came across
the Pillbox.
Whilst I was up there I saw at least 5 adults
walk on the top of this Pillbox? There is
not a great deal of supprt below!
The cliff near Bridlington has eroded all
along the path and you can see in the video
how the Yorkshire Coast has suffered from
coastal erosion especially in areas around
Bridlington.
On the relatively shot walk from Danesdayke
just North of Bridlington to South Landing
Flamborough, you can see whay it is unsafe
to stand near the edge of the cliff.
What is and why is it called a Pillbox
The origin of the term Pillbox is disputed.
It has been widely assumed to be a jocular
reference to the perceived similarity of the
fortifications to the cylindrical and hexagonal
boxes in which medical pills were once sold;
also, the first German concrete pillboxes
discovered by the Allies in Belgium were so
small and light that they were easily tilted
or turned upside down by the nearby explosion
of even medium (240mm) shells.
However, it seems more likely that it originally
alluded to pillar boxes, with a comparison
being drawn between the loophole on the pillbox
and the letter-slot on the pillar box
The concrete nature of pillboxes means that
they are a feature of prepared positions.
Some pillboxes were designed to be prefabricated
and transported to their location for assembly.
During World War I, Sir Ernest William Moir
produced a design for concrete machine-gun
pillboxes constructed from a system of interlocking
precast concrete blocks, with a steel roof.
Pillboxes are often camouflaged in order to
conceal their location and to maximize the
element of surprise. They may be part of a
trench system, form an interlocking line of
defence with other pillboxes by providing
covering fire to each other (defence in depth),
or they may be placed to guard strategic structures
such as bridges and jetties.
The French Maginot Line built between the
world wars consisted of a massive bunker and
tunnel complex, but as most of it was below
ground little could be seen from the ground
level. The exception were the concrete blockhouses,
gun turrets, pillboxes and cupolas which were
placed above ground to allow the garrison
of the Maginot line to engage an attacking
enemy.[6]
Between the Abyssinian Crisis of 1936 and
World War II, the British built about 200
pillboxes on the island of Malta for defence
in case of an Italian invasion. Fewer than
100 pillboxes still exist, and most are found
on the northeastern part of the island. A
few of them have been restored and are cared
for, but many others were demolished. Some
pillboxes are still being destroyed nowadays
as the authorities do not consider them to
have any architectural or historic value,
despite heritage NGOs calling to preserve
them.
About 28,000 pillboxes and other hardened
field fortifications were constructed in England
in 1940 as part of the British anti-invasion
preparations of World War II. About 6,500
of these structures still survive.
