On the eastern mountainside at Branscombe beach you can find another pillbox halfway up the slope. It was built in the early 1940s to defend the beach together with 2 or 3 other bunkers (of these bunkers only 2 survived) and more defences like barbed wire fences, anti-tank obstacles and minefields. They guarded the entrance to Branscome and Vicarage in case of a German assault. The pillbox is type FW3/24 for light machine guns and was adjusted to a rectangular shape instead of the hexagonal shape. This FW3/24 Pillbox is square, 4 by 4 meters and 3 meters high. It is buried 2 meters deep on the landward side. The walls are 60 cm thick and it has a concrete ceiling. There are 7 embrasures, four larger facing the beach and slope, one smaller facing the upward slope and two even smaller next to the door for close defence.
Mentioned is pillbox type FW3/24, as far as we know is this a hexagonal shaped pillbox with a embrasure on five sides and the last one is the entrance. It is common for the Brits to adjust the bunkers to the location and need for defence. but a complete rectangular shape can refer to another type like the FW3/23 or FW3/26. If the typology is incorrect we would love to hear it from you so we can learn more on the British defensive positions, bunkers and pillboxes.
On the opposite slope, the eastern slope, there is another WW2 survivor, a second pillbox of the same FW3/24 type on the western slope.
Visit
This pillboxe are accessible to the public and can be reached using a public footpath. Your car can be parked in the paid parking lot near the restaurant.
