1. THREAD: an amazing day @ryeharbour_NR doing archaeological reconstruction with a Vickers gun in one of the pillboxes! #ww2Sussexe 
2. The 6 concrete tables were designed for the Vickers gun. Shallow sockets in the concrete were probably to prevent the tripod sliding due to recoil. However, we found only 3 sets of sockets fitted the legs correctly - essential for making the tripod level!
3. Having established the tripod leg settings, the gun was set up in each embrasure and the arcs of fire measured.
4. We also investigated the gun's 'beaten zones' listed in archive documents. The pillbox could lay down fire across Camber Sands out to 2,500 yards - nearly 1.5 miles! An invader crossing this line of fire still faced a crossfire from the pillboxes on the beach.
5. We always learn from reconstructions; we found that a gun set up in a flank embrasure could theoretically be swung round to cover an end embrasure in extreme circumstances. We learned a lot about how the pillbox, gun & landscape worked together!
@threadreaderapp unroll
