The concrete nature of pillboxes means that they are a feature of prepared positions. They were probably first used in the Hindenburg Line. This is likely to have been the time when they acquired their incongruous English name. The Oxford English Dictionary's earliest record of the use of the word pillbox in connection with a defensive post is from 13 September 1917, after the German withdrawal onto the Hindenburg Line.
Pillboxes are often camouflaged in order to conceal their location and to maximize the element of surprise. They may be part of a trench system, form an interlocking line of defence with other pillboxes by providing covering fire to each other (defence in depth), or they may be placed to guard strategic structures such as bridges and jetties.
The French Maginot line built between the world wars consisted of a massive bunker and tunnel complex, but as most of it was below ground little could be seen from the ground level. The exception were the concrete blockhouses and pillboxes which were placed above ground to allow the garrison of the Maginot line to engage an attacking enemy.
About 28,000 pillboxes and other hardened field fortifications were constructed in England in 1940 as part of the British anti-invasion preparations of World War II. About 6,500 of these structures still survive.
Several pillboxes with different types are in Israel. The round shape pillboxes are about 5 meters height and 3 meters width in Jerusalem. You can see them near the roads. There are more than one in Jerusalem.
The pillbox was built by the British Army during the Arab Revolt in Palestine (1936-39). It was built from concrete in the shape of a cylinder. The entrance was through a steel door. Inside was a top gallery which served as a lookout post. It also enable shooting through the square metal windows located around the curved walls.
The cache
This old style mystery cache is not located at the published coordinates!! But they will bring you to one of the pillboxes.
You need to find all pillboxes in Jerusalem, get their coordinates and calculate their joint point that it is in the same distance from every one. Check your answer in GeoCheck! For easier case I used coordinates that their thousandths minute (last digit) is five or zero in this format DDD° MM.MMM .
