Monument record TR 02 NE 262 - Second World War anti-aircraft landing obstruction poles

The group of vertical anti-aircraft landing obstruction poles is centred at TR 0873 2740, either side of a contemporary anti-aircraft ditch (Monument Number 1535103). The poles extend across an open area measuring approximately 295m north to south between the areas that are now Cedar Crescent and Holly Road, and 290m east to west between the areas that are now Yew Tree Road and Beechwood Close.

These anti-aircraft poles are unusual in they seem to be set out in a randomly-arranged scatter, as opposed to the more usual grid or polygonal patterns seen nearby (Monument Numbers 1535075, 1535072). The poles between the anti-aircraft ditch and the area that used to be the St Marys Bay Holiday Camp (to the north of the ditch) are much more closely clustered than those to the south and south-east.

By the time of the vertical aerial photographs of 1942, all the anti-aircraft poles appear to have been removed. Vertical aerial photographs of 2007 show that this area is now beneath modern housing (1-3).

<1> 1941, NMR RAF/26K/BR242 22-3 10-JAN-1941 (Photograph). SWX23857.

<2> RAF, 1942, NMR RAF/AC81 171-2 26-AUG-1942 (Photograph). SWX23893.

<3> Google, 2007, EARTH.GOOGLE.COM 21-APR-2007 ACCESSED 10-MAR-2011 (Map). SKE57251.