Pillboxes
Ten pillboxes were known to be constructed at Jurby which fits in quite nicely with the minimum requirement for a Class III aerodrome as recommended in the Taylor Report 25 on the ground defence of aerodromes published in September 1940.
The report divided airfields into three main classes according to the scale of attack that they were likely to expect; Class III stations were therefore, third in priority where a threat against them was considered small. Taylor defined them as ‘liable to air attack or a small-scale parachute attack for no particular tactical reason but as a diversion or nuisance’26.
Nine structures are extant, the missing one (110/2) being removed during construction of the runway extension in the 1960s.
The surviving pillboxes consist of thick-walled (42in) reinforced concrete structures with a brick outer skin and the interior features a rather unusual central web-shaped concrete anti-ricochet wall. They may have originally been thin-wall (15in) types but it is not known if this was the case. There are two sizes corresponding roughly to FW3/22 although sharing a similar design, but the larger version has wider loop holes and often has earth and grass on the roof. The presence of an earth-covered roof may not necessarily have been for camouflage purposes but could be the remains of a sand-bagged anti-aircraft position mounted on the roof (the hessian bags having now rotted). Although it is acknowledged that below loop hole height a bank of earth helps to conceal the structures at ground level and the earth on the roof may too have been there for concealment.
They were placed at random usually on the corner of existing field boundaries for concealment and overlooking an aircraft dispersal area. Plate 63: Type 22 Pillbox (large version) (110/5).
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THE CACHE
This cache is placed to show a prime example of a Pillbox from the Jurby of 1939, but it is also placed here to try and stimulate more interest in the Jurby Parish for geocaches. Do you know that of all the Parishes on the Island, Jurby has the least caches placed within its boundaries. The micro is placed near the Pillbox and should be easy enough to find. The cache can be accessed from the road and parking is available for one car at the roadside.
Any wartime stories would be of great interest in your logs, but not essential.