WWII defences in the environs of Bournemouth & Christchurch: Bourne Valley viaducts - pillbox
Introduction
The photograph on this page of WWII defences in the environs of Bournemouth & Christchurch: Bourne Valley viaducts - pillbox by Mike Searle as part of the Geograph project.
The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
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WWII defences in the environs of Bournemouth & Christchurch: Bourne Valley viaducts - pillbox
Image: © Mike Searle Taken: 4 Mar 2016
- Pillbox (type FW3/22): DoB ID: e11751 One's imagination is required here, but trust me, there really is a pillbox under that mantle of ivy immediately behind the lamp post. It's apparently a type 22 located close to the Bourne Valley viaduct over Gordon Road. It would have witnessed the devastating raid on 27 March 1941 by a lone enemy aircraft that was almost certainly aiming for the viaducts. All three bombs released missed their target, and instead scored a direct hit on the nearby Bourne Valley Gas Works canteen. It was lunchtime, and full of workers, 33 were killed, and 23 more injured, many seriously. It was the single most serious loss of life to date, and one of the worst in the districts of Bournemouth and Poole during the whole of WWII, second only to the raid on the Metropole Hotel in Bournemouth in May 1943 that killed 131. Image
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Image Location
Latitude
50.728937
Longitude
-1.913521