Monument record MDO19667 - Second World War heavy anti aircraft battery, Waycroft Quarries, Portland

A heavy anti aircraft battery site of the early 1940s. The battery is visible as a structure on aerial photographs of 1949 and recent aerial imagery. Heavy Anti Aircraft Battery Portland 3 or B.

ANTI AIRCRAFT BATTERY. SRF. HAAThe Verne Recorder- R. Perry. <1-3>

Possibly the site of Portland B Battry, documented in 1944. <4>

Anti aircraft battery site of early 1940s period, appears to be well preserved according to aerial photographs and maps.

The heavy anti aircraft battery described above is visible as a structure on aerial photographs of 1949 and can still be seen on recent aerial imagery. <5-6> The battery is Portland 3 at The Verne and was armed with four 3.7 inch guns (see NRHE 1413298). An army camp is located to the east of the HAA battery and may have been associated with it (see linked record). This site was digitally plotted during the South West Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey (Dorset).

<1> Council for British Archaeology, 1995, Defence of Britain Project (Digital archive). SWX5.

<2> Council for British Archaeology, 2003, Defence of Britain Project Database (Machine readable data file). SDO128.

<3> Council for British Archaeology, 2006, Defence of Britain Project Archive DEB01 (Excavation archive). SDO17227.

<4> Dobinson, C S, 1996, Twentieth century fortifications in England, volume 1. Anti-aircraft artillery: England's air defence gunsites, 1914-46, 439 (Monograph). SDO11874.

<5> Royal Air Force, 08-NOV-1949, RAF 541/385 3004-5 (Aerial Photograph). SDO13045.

<6> XX-XXX-2009, Google Earth (Aerial Photograph). SDO12705.

<7> National Record of the Historic Environment, 1413298 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Jan 1 2024 8:55AM