Suffolk Coast WW2 DEFENCES, Sizewell to Thorpeness.
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- Опубліковано 10 лют 2025
- #WW2 #Defences #MilitaryHistory #Suffolk
This week we head down to the Suffolk coast to take a look at what remains from the vast military defences set out all along the coastline here during WW2 to protect us from German invasion.
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Thanks for watching 😊
As someone with the same interests I do enjoy your content and your enthusiasm for hidden military sites. Keep up the good work 👍
Thanks James, we really appreciate you watching and for the support 😊👍
Another great video! Love how I always learn something I didn't know watching your video. Thanks for taking us for a look 😁
Thanks glad we managed to teach you something about these fascinating places 😊
A great video so much information and I enjoyed the video so much Keep up with the good work 😊
Thank you! Glad you found it interesting and enjoyable, we appreciate you taking the time to watch 😊👍
I live near, and it's one of my favourite local walks, especially along the beach. Shame about Sizewell C now being a construction site for the next 10 years
It's a beautiful part of the coastline to visit but yes the new Sizewell C is having quite an effect on the countryside around there which is a real shame 😞
A path I have walked many times.
In the 50's Sizewell was a great attraction to us schoolboys. About where you saw the line of blocks north of the power station there was a dis-used rifle range. Memories can get distorted but what I recall is a brick building just in from the beach with back to the sea and the front sloping down almost to ground level and banked with sand. A row of big iron numerals 2-3 ft high along the top, some with bullet holes, and I believe moveable targets controlled by operators inside the building (which we couldn't get in).
We would climb the embanked sand and dig out 303 bullets.
At different ranges inland from this were trenches for the shooters where we could collect the empty cartridge cases. It was said that some had collected sacks of them and sold 'em for scrap brass.
But best of all, on the beach nearby there was washed up an old frogman's chariot which we could sit on and try and work the rusted up controls. I think it was still fitted with a warhead, hopefully a dummy training one?
I can imagine with how defended this area was that before the Power Station was built there was still an incredible amount of military remains to still be found.
I had heard there was a rifle range along here which wouldn't surprise me as the whole area was used also for training.
I'd read that during the recent preparation for the construction of Sizewell C they had unearthed numerous firing and trench systems in the woods just to the north which have now been properly recorded but will sadly be lost. I just wish I'd had the opportunity to explore the area in the past..
Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment 😊👍
@@ExploringWithEmAndStu although its forbid i metal detected that strip of dunes and beach was numerous 303 bullets,shell fragments and bits of aircraft alloy.i found 2 very old coins one is dutch 1547
Another great video, I'm really getting into the coastal defences now because of you as I remember seeing concrete blocks on beaches when I was young but never knew what they were for. Really nice to see the shelves on the pill box. Also, a big thanks for all the information you always give us, it really brings these places to life
Thanks Autumn, glad we've been able to enlighten you about the amazing history of these places. Thanks for watching and supporting us 😊👍
This video provides a fascinating look into the WW2 defences along the Suffolk Coast, from Sizewell to Thorpeness. It's amazing to see these historical remnants and learn about their significance. Thank you friend for sharing this insightful exploration of our local history!Big Like.New sub
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Thank you so much for liking our video and subscribing.. This part of the coast has a fascinating military history with lots more to find when we next get the opportunity.. Really glad you enjoyed it 😊👍
This was a really interesting watch. Very much enjoyed watching. Big thumbs up 😊👍
Thanks Matt and Bec's really glad you found it interesting and enjoyable. Thanks for watching and commenting 😊
I never knew these were here !!
I'm definitely gonna have to make a trip down :)
And get some film and photos!!
Great video
You definitely should! And so much more to find along the Suffolk coast! Thanks for watching 😊
Wonderful I always learn something new watching your videos.
That's great to hear and one of the reasons why we enjoy doing this so much! Thanks for watching 😊👍
Brilliant exploration from the dynamic duo of WW2 explorations,you bring history alive.This brings back great memories of my holidays in Suffolk,when i used to visit RSPB Minsmere for bird watching.You must visit Orford Ness one day,where atomic bomb ballistics testing was carried out! Also experiments with radar,it was a top secret MOD facility up to the Cold War years,none of the locals were aware of it,s significence.The island is also a National Trust Nature reserve and is accessed by boat from Orford.😀👍
There was also a ww2 battery at Minsmere that we are hoping to take a look at the remains of hopefully in the near future..
I last visited Orford Ness a good few years ago now and like you say its a fascinating place with an amazing history.. Hopefully one day we'll visit again now I have a better understanding of what went on there but it will probably end up being a 2 hour long video! 😆 Thanks again for watching and all your support 😊👍
Nicely done, it's always great to explore former coastal defence locations. Not sure about that building, from the outside, it did look like a generator building, but the large windows seemed to contradict that, unless they were cut out post-war if it was perhaps used for something else. Great scenary from a lovely part of the country 🙂
That's was exactly our thinking.. we've been to most of the remaining gun batteries along the Suffolk and Essex coast and never really come across something like this that wasn't more to do with radar or something but there definitely wasn't one of those here as that was just abit further up the coast near Dunwich, so I guess it remains still a mystery.. Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment, always appreciated 😊👍
Great video as usual, me and my neighbor watched this we both live in Leiston for 18 years or so ,we both walk our dogs at Sizewell , quite embarrassing we never knew this things existed, we need to revisit !
We get told this so often so it's always nice to know we've managed to enlighten people abit about their local area and one of the reasons we do this.. thanks for watching 😊
The 6-inch Guns were sited inland on Sizewell Common, near two more of the Pillboxes you looked at on the cliffs.The concrete base of the gun battery is still on the common slightly north of the grey stone house set back on the common next to the footpath to Thorpeness. I could show you. The Pillbox on the cliff as well as the two on the common I used to play in as a child in the 1970s. Much has changed since then but well done for your video.
Its sad how much the coastline as change along here over the years mainly due to erosion. There much still be so much to find now overgrown and forgotten. We'd like to return one day if we get the chance to hunt for some more, thanks for your information and taking the time to comment 😊👍
Love the vid guys, reminds me of Lakenham Middle School in Norwich, early 80s there was an air-raid shelter in the back playground, there were steps going down then blocked off. There were rumours it was a tunnel going to County Hall, which isn't that far 😅
Thanks Simon, glad you enjoyed watching.. I love hearing all the rumours about ww2 tunnels connecting places, we have the same about smugglers tunnels in my area, most of which are of course made up stories 😁
There is a very unusual underground bunker, between Thorpness & Aldeburgh, who's entrance was wide steps going down and which headed out from the beach, towards the sea. I remember going down into it in the 1970'. A wide, long corridor that spurred off into 2 in 90 degrees. I guess it was filled & buried.
That's interesting.. I'm not aware of any significant military structures that used to be along that part of the coast so I'm guessing it is likely buried now like you say.. I have tried to look into it but have found no information anywhere.. another one of the many bits of military history now lost and forgotten 😞
my headphones are broken, so I only got em!
Oh no.. could have been worse, it could have just been Stu you heard! 😆
Very interesting, a lovely area with lots of history. I struggled with the sound through headphones though, not sure why.