Monument record 4121/0/6 - Site of Anti Aircraft Battery at Hassal

<1> CBA, 2002, Defence of Britain Project, 2253 (Digital Archive). SCH4380.

Destroyed Heavy Anti-Aircraft Battery. Crewe H2

<2> C S Dobinson, 1996, Twentieth Century Fortifications in England. Volume I.3 Anti-Aircraft artillery, 1914-46 (Report). SCH4454.

Earliest reference - 22 June 1942, latest reference - 22 June 1942. It had 4 x 3.7inch (mobile) guns. See also source 3.

<3> C S Dobinson, 1996, Twentieth Century Fortifications in England. Volume III Bombing decoys of WWII : England's passive air defences, 1939-45 (Report). SCH8257.

<4> Various, Various, Oral communication to the HER (Oral Communication). SCH2330.

The anti-aircraft battery and associated structures are clearly visible on photography dating to the 1940s (see source 5). Four gun emplacements, centred at SJ 76315 57251, are arranged in crescent formation around the command post building. To the west of these, are numerous military buildings of varying size and shapes. Some of these appear to be rows of accommodation nissen huts which are uniform in size and shape, circa 12m by 4m, also they appear to have a curved roof.

Air photographs dating between 1971-73 (see source 6) indicate that the gun emplacements and command post have been largely levelled, although the site of the most southerly emplacement is still discernable as earthworks. The associated military buildings also have been demolished although the concrete bases are still intact and clearly visible.

Air photographs dating to 2010 (see source 7) show the area of the gun emplacements to be levelled and it is uncertain whether any below ground remains still exist. However, the approximate area of the military buildings is wooded and rough set aside, so it is more likely that sub-surface remains of these structures still may exist.

<5> GeoInformation Group, 1945-1948, 1945-1948 RAF National Survey (Aerial Photograph). SCH8190.

<6> Huntings Surveys Ltd, 1971-1973, 1971-1973 County Survey (Aerial Photograph). SCH4881.

<7> Bluesky International Ltd, 2010, 2010 Bluesky Survey (Aerial Photograph). SCH5444.

<8> Council for British Archaeology, 2001, 20th Century Defences in Britain : An Introductory Guide, p.48-59 (Book). SCH4453.

Until late 1940 virtually all HAA sites were temporary, consisting of earthwork gun pits, tented accommodation and mobile guns, but as the war progressed, these were replaced by permanent structures and static guns. The example east of Hassall Road is an example of the latter more permanent HAA site and appears to conform to a typical battery layout and comprising the standard set of components. The command post was usually a rectangular concrete or brick, single storey semi-sunken structure often protected by earth banks. It was invariably located at the centre of a 130 foot radius semi-circle formed by the gun pits, which consisted of the gun's holdfast (securing bolts) set into a concrete slab surrounded by ammunition lockers and protected by a blast wall or earth banks. Heavy anti-aircraft gunnery relied upon large calibre guns to combat high flying aircraft. The different issues of the 3.7 inch gun had an effective ceiling of between 32,000 to 45,000 feet. Ammunition was stored in magazines, often an open, rectangular, concrete hard-standing sourrrounded by a brick or concrete blast wall, or sometimes a nissen hut or building built within a blast wall. Other elements of the site comprised a radar platform, engine room, and gun store. The domestic site of an HAA battery was usually a combination of Nissen huts and timber huts providing accommodation, also workshops, garages and a sewage treatment plant.