Defending Dorset in 1940: Blandford anti-tank island - anti-tank ditch (11)

Introduction

The photograph on this page of Defending Dorset in 1940: Blandford anti-tank island - anti-tank ditch (11) by Mike Searle as part of the Geograph project.

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Defending Dorset in 1940: Blandford anti-tank island - anti-tank ditch (11)

Image: © Mike Searle Taken: 8 Sep 2016

- Anti-tank ditch: DoB ID: S0000125 The view south from the pillbox looking along the top of the reinforced concrete wall of the anti-tank ditch. It was designed to stop any tank that had made it across the river and the heavily mined Crown Meadows. The ditch was created in 1940-41 by utilising the natural features of a deer park's late C18 or early C19 brick and flint ha-ha. The 5' deep ha-ha was converted into an anti-tank ditch by creating a 45 degree slope to its approach, and facing the old flint wall with reinforced concrete. The 280 metre long ditch was covered by a pillbox at each end, one was here at Parklands, the other in the yard of the current BT premises in Shorts Lane. Image

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Image Location

coordinates on a map icon
Latitude
50.857709
Longitude
-2.1693