Monument record 4058/0/3 - RAF Woodford Defences Pillbox near Red Brook Farm

This is a semi-circular cantilevered pillbox. It has a concrete roof supported on pillars and is sunk into the ground to give a low profile. Pillboxes are small squat and heavily constructed buildings designed to give defensive cover to soldiers while allowing them to observe, or shoot out at, the enemy through openings called embrasures. This pillbox covers the A352 and flat land to west. It is on Western Command Stop Line Number 6. Command stop lines would have acted as a line across the country that, in the event of an invasion, would hold up enemy forces and allow the armed forces to move around behind the line, and concentrate forces on the enemy. Unusually it does not appear to be like the other pillboxes that once defended RAF Woodford. It probably housed soldiers with light weaponry such as rifles. It is one of a group of pillboxes that surround the airfield, covering the main areas where any attackers might come from, especially critical points such as bridges. It was built during World War Two, a time when most other pillboxes around Britain were constructed.