EASTERN
COMMAND LINE
OR STOP LINES
In
1940, accepting that the over-stretched defences along our coast may not be
able to withstand a German landing, serious thought had to be given how to
improve the situation. Throughout the country, hundreds of miles of inland
defence lines were initiated. These made use of the natural contours of the
land such as rivers, woods, marshes etc.
Where
no ready barrier was evident, a ditch was dug often many miles long. To be
effective against tanks or armour the criteria laid down was for the ditch to
be at least twenty feet wide and eleven feet deep. Fortified by infantry and
artillery pill-boxes, concrete anti-tank obstacles, barbed wire and gun
emplacements, this project was mostly completed by the autumn of 1940.
As they were envisaged
in 1940, the purpose of stop lines was three-fold.
Firstly,
they were forward boundaries for reserves moving up to confront an invader.
British units needed clearly defined and protected boundaries up to which they
could advance before counter-attacking German forces.
Secondly,
stop lines were to act as places where enemy mechanised troops that had broken
out of the beach defences could be confronted and held up. This was to be
achieved by the building of fortified “Nodal” points, which were chiefly
villages that represented bottlenecks in the road network and were perfect
places
to impede the passage of armoured vehicles.
Bures
was classified as a Nodal point because it was the intersection of the River
Stour, the B1508 and the Nayland Rd,
Thirdly,
and only in the last resort, they formed static defensive lines. The idea being
that you could slow the enemy down for long enough to bring up reinforcements
to counter-attack
In
total seven Stop Lines crossed Suffolk, such was the
concern that the Germans may attack by the East Coast.
These
lines amounted to approximately 225 miles (or 360km) of defences and were
provided with approximately 300 concrete pill-boxes
The
Coastal Defence Line: - this ran from Harwich along the coast into the
Thames Estuary
Many
of the areas behind the coastline were heavily fortified to prevent an invading
force pushing inland. Very little remains today of these fortifications, as the
local councils soon after the war were keen to clear up their holiday
coastlines.
The
Eastern Command Line: (later known as the Corps Line)
The
ECL was just one of many fortifications, an English version of the French and
German stop lines used during World War 2. This was the most heavily fortified
line running through Suffolk
This
line was the first inland defence line to be met by a German force driving in
from the Essex coast. As the name suggests, the task was to hold this line at
all costs. Retreating was not an option.
The
capture of Colchester was unthinkable. The loss of an army barracks,
communication site and a garrison town would have been a major disaster for the
British.
The
line started at the mouth of the River Colne near to Brightlinsea. However,
many books incorrectly quote the starting point at Wivenhoe or even Colchester.
Consequently,
this would leave the River unprotected for several miles which makes it totally
implausible.
The
River Colne from Brightlinsea acted as a natural anti-tank barrier, running
north to Colchester. Over 120 defensive
sites have been recorded in the 9.5 miles of this stop line around Colchester
including roadblocks, pill-boxes and other gun emplacements.
The
line then continued its path following the river through Fordham, Ford End and
onwards to Chappel.
Chappel
viaduct represents a gap in the natural barrier afforded by the river and the
man-made protection of the railway embankment
Consequently,
it was heavily fortified with pill-boxes, gun emplacements and anti-tank
barriers. The defences include examples of the four major types of pill-box
built along the Eastern Command Line (Nodal, artillery, infantry and
anti-aircraft) in addition to lines of anti-tank cubes and cylinders and two
spigot mortar emplacements.
The
8th Battalion of the Essex Home Guard manned the defences.
The line then headed
north following the railway embankment to Bures. The track alternates from
deep cuttings to high embankments between these two villages, an ideal man-made
Obstacle. From here it deviates away from the railway and follows the Stour
on the Essex side to Sudbury.
It
continued to follow the Stour to Rodbridge Corner, to Long Melford, Lavenham,
Cockfield and then to Bury.
From
here it followed the River Lark through Mildenhall, to where it joined the
Great Ouse.
Finally
terminating at Kings Lynn and the Wash
<<
Images of Pill-boxes along the Stour north of Bures.
There
were 198 recorded boxes along this Eastern Command Line, approximately 90 still
survive in 1998.
Apart
from Pill Boxes, the line was reinforced with anti-tank measures. These made
use of natural features such as rivers, woods and marshes. Where no natural
obstacle was available, man-made barriers were constructed, such as ditches and
concrete tank traps to impede their progress. Two of these tank traps were
placed either side of the Bures bridge in its centre, making it too narrow for
a tank to negotiate.
The
11th Corps Eastern Command Line (also known as the Corps Line) was the
responsibility from the Colne to Wakes Colne Viaduct by the 15th Div Royal
Engineers (RE).
From
Wakes Colne northwards it was the responsibility of the 11th Corps Royal
Engineers
In
Suffolk, the line was divided into three sectors, with a Royal Engineers Field
Company (228, 229 and 230) responsible for each sector.
The
Field Companies were deployed to the area in July 1940 to start building the
structures to form the Command Line until September when the War Diaries note a
slowdown in work. By October 1940 no
more pill-boxes were to be built, those already under construction were
approved to be completed.
(1)
The Pillboxes and heavy to medium artillery emplacements were constructed by
civilian contractors, the siting of the pill-boxes being determined by the
Division based in the area. Once the site had been chosen, RE Field Companies
handed over the details to the contractors.
The
primary workforce in the Bures area seemed to be a travelling gang of Irish
labourers.
Locally
some of the boxes were constructed by Henry Everett & Son, a Colchester
based building company.
Contractors
were appointed by the Federation of Building Contractors through a District
Leader and Group Contractor.
(2)
Roadblocks were constructed by County Councils under the supervision of the
Divisional Road Engineer of the Ministry of Transport.
(3)
Direct labour (some unpaid volunteers) was employed in clearing fields, tree
felling and trimming up the anti-tank ditch.
(4)
Divisional engineers prepared all the river bridges along the line for
demolition. At the same time, civilian
contractors were responsible for damming streams in order to make for improved
anti-tank capability.
In reality, the construction
of the lines was often more haphazard, with all these stages proceeding concurrently,
rather than in the prescribed sequence
.
An Operational Order from XI Corps from 18 July 1940 laid down specific
responsibilities for those building this defensive line in an effort to make
the process of construction more efficient.
The
actual situation on the ground was summed up by the war diarist of 229 Field
Company Royal Engineers, who were responsible for a section of the Corps Line
between Lavenham to Chappel, during July to October 1940. He wrote in clipped
military style
“Took
over Command Line from Lavenham to Earls Colne. Indescribable chaos. Everybody
has a finger in the pie, without any coordination. Roadblocks – – the most
important thing don’t exist, spent days trying to get a ruling, no one will
give decision decide to act. Ministry of Transport at Bury St Edmunds agrees to
a proposal and will order the work. I
say, if no action within 24 hours will start work with local contractors. “This
shakes them”
In
May 1940, when an imminent invasion was feared, the Royal Navy had made
available a large number of guns that had been removed from warships.
These
had been scrapped after the First World War and retained in store. The majority
were assigned to the Emergency Coastal Defence Battery programme, with a number
of smaller weapons were mounted on mobile and static mountings to be used as
anti-tank guns. The guns were mounted on modified ten-ton lorries
Two were allotted to
the Eastern Command in 1940-41 and manned by personnel from Field and Medium
Artillery Regiments.
Dad’s
Army humour is provided, if desired, by these mobile anti-tank guns.
The
arc of fire was very restricted, so that the gun could only be fired directly
ahead or behind.
If
the gun was fired facing sideways, the force of the recoil could turn the
vehicle over.
One
report suggests that when the gun was test-fired facing forward, the recoil
forced the lorry moved back 200 feet. The experiment with these improvised
vehicles was short-lived and they were soon abandoned. The likely hood of more
injuries to our own staff rather than the enemy.
But
as early as the winter of 1940/41 the newly built stop lines were subject to a
considerable change. In a significant re-organisation, a decision was taken to
retain only two lines (The Corps and the Back Line), and
the
others were effectively abandoned. The network of nodal points remained in
place, however, and became of greater overall importance, with some places
receiving additional fortifications and defences.
This
new scheme of defence was to remain until 1943, when fears of a German invasion
dwindled and
Britain’s
military began to think about a return to occupied Europe, rather than home
defence.
The
story of Suffolk’s stop lines is one of rapid development in 1940, followed by
a major change in late 1940–41 to just maintenance.
During
the same period, another decision was taken to retain only two lines (The Corps
and the Back Line (Colchester to Beccles) ),
the others were effectively abandoned.