SEA FORTS CALL HALT TO NAZI HOPES.

Camp News, Volume 3, Issue 132, 24 July 1942, Page 2

SEA FORTS CALL HALT TO NAZI HOPES.

Ancient Piles have been Modernised and New Strongholds Built to Protect our Coasts

Of all the men who keep guard at lonely posts round Britain the watchers in our sea forts deserve our gratitude. Little is known of their isolated vigil, but their constant alert watchfulness of the surrounding sea is one of our greatest sureties of the failure of Hitler’s plans. ) f Most famous of the ancient fortresses which have stood since Palmerston’s days, overshadowing the strip of water between Southsea promenade and the Isle of Wight. >. Built on sandbanks, with accommodation far below sea-level, these brown islands are now manned with specially picked troops, and their defences have been modernised so that they are far more formidable than ever before. So near land, they are yet entirely isolated when sea mists wrap them in a pall of obscurity, and angry seas may cut them off for days at a time. Tremendously massive in construction, they cost the people of that time a fortune to build, and their great strength makes them a stout barrier with the addition of modern longrange and' anti-aircraft guns. Some of the stone strongholds round our coasts date as far back as the eighteenth century, when they were originally built by French prisoners. The thick, solid walls form an ideal protection against bombs, and as there are deep vaults there is plenly of storage room for ammunition and other equipment. i

Although sea forts and Martello towers were originally built to withstand far less shocks than modern bombs and shells provide, military experts have been able to bring these defences right up to date and make them a worthy front line in the siege of Britain.

Life in one of these forts is very much like that on a warship. Naval and military personnel work in close proximity and real comradeship results from near contact. Exercise is one of the things most keenly missed, and very often the chief relaxation from this point of view is a kind of follow-my-leader game played over beds and amongst the guns. The heavy sea-pointing guns are

ready for instant action, night or day. So efficient are their crews that within five seconds of the sounding of an alarm shells are belching steely death at any would-be invader.

When these forts were brought up to date they had to be made capable of generating their own electrical supplies. Giant searchlights now wait to pierce the gloom with their thousands of candlepower beams.

Modern communications are, of course employed for sending messages to and from land stations. But the Navy still uses hand flagging as a method of signalling, and on the top of the forts flag messages are sent to shore stations on clear days.

. Anti-aircraft guns on the sea fortresses have more practice than they would get if they waited for Hitler’s hordes to brave the Channel. Luftwaffe planes on their flights of destruction often come within range of the fort guns, and the gunners have many enemy warplanes to their credit.

Besides the big anti-aircraft guns, forts are equipped with quick-firing Lewis guns, and these, operated by highly-trained crews, are capable of dealing heavy blows to any low-flying German planes.

The full strength of British preparations to meet any attack from the sea cannot, of course, be told but the fortresses that jut out into the water and meet an attacker before he reaches our beaches certainly play an important part in these measures.

When Napoleon made his threat on the island the people protected the coast with every means at their disposal. War was much slower in those days, and attack and defence were sufficiently leisurely for our soldiers to have warning of the invader’s coming.

To-day war, like everything else, moves at breakneck speed. Troopcarrying planes and self-propelled barges can move into position for sudden attack. The need for constant watch is much greater, and first-class training is an essential to any army’s victory. The fact that old fortifications are

I' • y serving their purpose in these days of vicious explosive attacks is a great tribute to the skill our forefathers exerted in defence of Britain. They constructed fortresses that have stood up to the buffeting of Nature and have treated time with such contempt that they can now be modernized to serve their country once again. No doubt when the war is over there will be many objects to be seen at our favourite holiday resorts. Concrete forts and posts may take the place of the more solidly constructed stone sea forts of previous centuries, but they too bristle with all the latest defensive gadgets that will provide a grim welcome for “Jerry” should he try to land;