Coventry & Warwickshire in WWII

Thanks Scrutiny. There are lots of places in Coventry where old terraced housing has newer buildings interspersed in it, but I cannot think of any open space remaining as you've described.

If you fancy a stroll in the country... go up Harvest Hill past the kennels (about a mile) a further 50 yards take a left down the green lane towards the Meriden village, after another 50 yards on the left is a pill box. Or you could go into the woods (on the left) at the top of the road climb on the Meriden-Fillongley Road before it levels, and explore to find a couple of small concrete 'huts'. Or from the Saracen's Head on the Tamworth Road before Fillongley, go up Mile Lane opposite the pub to the very top, and in the field on the right is (or was when I ran to work in the late 60s) a whole array of small concrete buildings, used by the local farmer for his pigs. A local lhistorian who worked with me claimed the area was part of the many parallel lines of defence built at the start of the war which stretched from the Channel to the North Midlands, the lines to be used by the Home Guard as successive retreat, fall back lines, in the event of invasion and a German drive north.

Excellent Harrier. By the way, the Saracen's Head is not a pub anymore

These gun emplacements are near Fillongley - info here. There are also some in Baginton behind Siskin Parkway East but these are inaccessible now, behind a works unit in the barriered staff car park.

There are also gun emplacements near Kenilworth, but they are hidden away on private land. You can walk within 10 metres of them and not know they're there; I know because I've done it! Excellent links, by the way, Neil. There seems to be a lot of information about Warwickshire on the internet, but little on Coventry.

For anyone planning a visit, be warned, the site is now an dumping ground used by the farmer who does not encourage sightseers I'm referring to the site pictured at Fillongley

Is this still a bomb site? Unbelievable. I used to play in a bombed area at the bottom of Wellington Street, where my grandparents lived. It was just down from Barbers the food distribution warehouse.

Canterbury Street, close to Winchester Street. Courtesy Google Street View

NeilsYard, I believe you have made a grave error. The post 185 is not an anti-aircraft gun-site, it's a machine gun site, covering the roadway if invasion occurred. The info site is a anti-aircraft site.

My late mother-in-law was part of an anti-aircraft battery stationed on a site on the corner of Wildcroft Road and Broad Lane. There is now a block of flats on this site. The bomb site Scrutiny is referring to off Canterbury Street is on the end of Winchester Street. I think about 6 or 7 houses were destroyed, my maternal grandparents lived at number 33.

Hi Kaga, Neil didn't say it was an anti-aircraft gun site - he only said "gun emplacements". Having said that, it makes no sense it being a machine gun site, next to such a minor road - not even a B-road - and the sites are in a semi-circle, only two facing the road - I would've thought more akin to anti-aircraft sites.

There is a public footpath dropping down to Corley Ash a few hundred yards on the left hand side of the road before you reach this. Halfway down the path the farm gate is next to the stile. Even if the farmer has left the gate open woa betide any one who is brave enough to sneak through the gateway rather than climbing over the stile!!!!!!

The gun site near to Fillongley is described in the Warwickshire County Council survey of the site as 'A Second World War Anti Aircraft Battery' with four circular gun pits with ammunition lockers and shelters outside the gun floor. I have only had a brief glimpse from the road when riding my bike and can confirm it is a dumping ground for farm rubbish. When I went past it was patrolled by at least two barking and snarling dogs. Certainly not a welcoming place. I am sure I read somewhere that it was part of the ring of anti aircraft sites which were built post 1940 to strengthen the city's anti-aircraft defences. The 'Our Warwickshire' website contains details of many such locations surrounding Coventry. I searched the website under 'gun'.

Then someone tell me if this is a wartime photograph. If not, what date was the picture taken? Tell me if there are other multiple gun sites around Coventry, what ground does an anti-aircraft site need, why did the War Office just leave this gun site as such? Does the gun site look that old and worn? My sister served on one for four years, and being in the army I visited many times. I don't think I've lost that many marbles. It does look as though it could take a Vickers or even a pom-pom but it would only need one, and being so close together two grenades would have wiped out the lot. Comments.

Kaga - I have no idea when the photograph was taken but it does not look like that now, at least not when I last saw it a couple of years back. The site is out on open countryside so it did not matter how much room they took up. There were apparently supporting huts and other buildings as well as the gun site itself. Why did the War Office leave it? Well I guess they just did not want it any more after the war and so the land was returned to the farmer who has done nothing with it. The gun sites nearer to the towns would have soon been demolished when the land was needed for something else. There is a very similar gun site at Goodcrest Farm near to Leek Wootton. They have a website here. This site was opened in Spring 1941 and was the last of a ring of anti-aircraft defences for Coventry which were built after the November 1940 blitz. The guns there were the 3.7 inch Heavy Anti-Aircraft gun which I am told was the primary heavy anti-aircraft gun of World War Two. This site has staged public open days and on their website there is a picture of a cardboard mock-up of a 3.7 inch gun in an identical gun pit to the one at Fillongley. I must stress that the site at Leek Wootton is on private ground and there is no public access. I intend to visit as soon as they advertise another open day. These gun sites were probably built after the threat of immediate invasion had passed. I am sure in the event they would have been protected by Home Guard or regular troops. Many of the gun sites are in extremely remote country lanes so even in the event of an invasion they were well away from anyone attacking Coventry or even the surrounding villages. We need to beam you up here Kaga so you could have a look and see the size of it, but not to Fillongley unless you can deal with fierce dogs.