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Summary

Site of an anti aircraft battery positioned here as part of the defensive measures put in place prior to D-Day, 6th June 1944.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses

• Tide Project: 29/03/2024

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• ANTI AIRCRAFT BATTERY (World War II - 1939 AD (Between) to 1945 AD (Between))

Full description

Armitage, P. L., 2008, A 'Lost' WW2 Bofors Anti-Aircraft Gun-Position at Berry Head, Brixham, 17-22 (Article in Serial). SDV360534.

Excavations carried out by Brixham Heritage Museum Field Research Team and young archaeologists in 2007 on the site of two cottages on Berry Head Common recovered a number of World War II artefacts.
It had previously been considered that WWII activity on the Common took place at some distance from the enclosure. Finds of WWII artefacts recovered during this and indeed previous excavations on the site were, therefore, unexpected. A reappraisal of the site discovered that a Bofors anti-aircraft battery was located where the nearby navigation beacon now stands, brought onto Berry Head as part of the defensive measures put in place prior to D-Day, 6th June 1944. The adjacent walled enclosure, where the cottages once stood, would have provided a convenient, sheltered base for the soldiers stationed there. As contemporary aerial photos show, the area would have been open ground at that time.
The finds included .303 rifle cartridge cases, artillery shell fuse covers, inscribed sherds of mugs and plates dated 1941 and 1943, a shaving brush dated 1940 and bakelite covers for two motorcycle batteries, thought to date c. 1940.

Armitage, P. L., 2008, Further archaeological evidence for military activity at Berry Head during WW2, 10-11 (Article in Serial). SDV365169.

Finds of World War II artefacts from the site also included three base plugs from Mills 36M grenades. Two appear to have come from unexploded grenades. The third, however, looked to have been detonated suggesting that live firing practise took place on the Common.

Armitage, P. L., 2008, Mysterious earth mounds, a WW2 'pig's tail', old toothpaste tubes, and a Napoleonic re-enactment/boot camp, 28 (Article in Serial). SDV365170.

Excavations by young archaeologists on the site of two demolished Victorian cottages found Victorian potsherds and also further evidence of WWII activity in the area including an artillery shell fuse cover, a 'pig's tail' used to secure barbed wire emplacements into the ground and two toothpaste tubes.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events: none recorded

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