BEAUTY IN DECAY
This is the eighty-third geocache in the “Beauty In Decay” series, which was started by myself in 2015 to highlight abandoned objects, which once had purpose and now take on a different life, left to ruin and decay in their current surroundings. To discover more about “Beauty In Decay” and how you could add to the series, click on the following link to discover more about “Beauty In Decay” and how you could add to the series.
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Alan Williams Turret's are a pre-fabricated defence structure that were used during WWII. It was designed to rotate for all round fire. There were only 1GH built, and most were installed at airfields. Salvaging of the metal after the war means that only 33 remain. It is unknown whether this one in Barton-on-Sea is included in the 33.
This turret can be found at the published coordinates.
It was designed for a machine gun to be fired either through the front loophole which was further protected by shutters, or through the circular opening in the roof in a light anti-aircraft role. The army, however, did not favour the design.
The turret had a garrison of B men or, if necessary D men, for whom there were folding seats inside. One man could rotate the cupola, which was on roller bearings and required 1E lb of force to move it.
According to the manufacturer, A men could dig the position out and erect the turret ready for firing in two hours and remove it completely in F0 minutes. Each turret would cost roughly £JCK.
The cache can be found at
N50 4A.B(C+K)(DxF) W001 3(E+F).GH(J+C+K)