WW2 Battery Site Honley,UK

Anti - Aircraft bunker near Huddersfield

WW2 anti-aircraft battery site,







Located not far from the village of Honley, Kirklees district just off Ashes Lane in the locale of Stirley Knoll, Farnley Tyas. Close to Castle Hill , which is dominated by the Victoria tower, built in 1897 as a homage to Queen Victoria, and was built on top of an original 12th-century motte-and-bailey castle, also in previous millennia was the site of an Iron Age fort.

Image by Richard Harvey, Castle Hill and the Victoria Tower viewed from Farnley Tyas


According to locals, some claim as one older gentleman said ‘ we used to go in there and explore’ he also said that the site was a Prisoner of War [POW] camp that held 20 German prisoners, but there is no evidence to support this. We parked up near Hey Lane Cemetery , I then walked 500 meters in the direction of Farnley Tyas to a gate, that was strewn with concrete obstacles..[my theory to prevent certain people from setting up camp?] I went through the gate thinking ‘ something with easy access for once’,however the place is surrounded by an electric cattle fence..luckily it was turned off. Following an S-shaped road up a gentle incline which led onto a circular concrete path. The remaining structures that were here consisted of what was a garage, a control building and a large grey bunker with a heavy anti-aircraft gun emplacement (Cotterill, 2018). This last building has a ladder leading to the roof and stairs on each side and an awe-inspiring structure. Spoiled by a bit of graffiti, the part that caught my attention were the green triangular markers carved on the roof. Which prompted the notion, I bet the gun placements were locked into this section?

 

The mount section, now submerged by a deep puddle.



 

 

The concrete enclosure structures, are found close to the entrance..

The above section, may have been billets.. which may have led to where the POWs were interned?

Inside the tower was a possible store room, now layered with non-offensive graffiti

   Facing north-west

   Facing east

    Facing south

This could be the maintenance section..?

 The images below, located on a subsection below the battery tower

The site has two heavy anti-aircraft gun emplacements, a control building, ammunition depots, a garage and many other notable buildings. There is also a well maintained contemporary path up to the site. The emplacements would have housed two guns, most likely a 3.7-inch QF AA, which was Britain's main heavy anti-aircraft gun during the Second World War. It was roughly the equivalent of the German 88mm FlaK and the American 90 mm, but in a slightly larger 3.7-inch caliber, about 94mm. The site would be used to target high altitude bombers during the war. The two gun emplacements are directly across from a formidable concrete bunker and have sloping concrete trenches leading down to the ammunition depot. The ammo holder is semi-submerged to protect it from blast damage. It was manned by the 294th Battery of the 96th Battery Royal Artillery in 1940.