Military Model Scene

Title: Britain's Coast at War
Author: Neil R Storey
Publisher: Pen & Sword
ISBN: 978-1-39900-122-9

The sub-title tells us a lot more about what you will find in this new book, which considers Invasion Threat, Coastal Forces, Bombardment and Training for D-Day. A 276-page hardback book, it is packed with interesting archive images throughout.
The many aspects of the defence of the British coastline that needed to be considered very quickly becomes clear from the outset. A fear of aerial bombing quickly led to evacuation of children from cities such as London and many others. It also tells us the story of what the outbreak of war meant for our coastal towns, as they had been the destination for holidays in a time when cheap foreign holidays were not even dreamt of. It even led to Butlins Holiday Camps offering their sites to the war effort, when several became training establishments. There was the creation of the LDV, the Local Defence Volunteers, later to become the Home Guard. Surveys of the coast and ports identified place to site gun batteries, often using ex-naval guns of the WW1 era, as well as creating beach defences with mines, wire, concrete blocks and more. Foreign nationals were classified as Aliens and removed from coastal areas, as well as other restrictions, based on a risk assessment. The same coastal towns also reacted well when the BEF was brought home from Dunkirk. The threat of invasion loomed heavily, though once that had passed, there was a later move to creating practice areas for the planned invasion of NW Europe. While the SE corner faced so many threats, so did other parts of Britain. Naval bases, potential targets for raiding and keeping the vital ports for convoys protected, and the threat posed by mining, from attack by E-boats all in addition to air attack. The changing face of the threats faced by the British coastline changed over the course of the war and the book does a great job of painting the complex picture for us.
The common image of Dad's Army, the Home Guard protecting the coastline was indeed one element, but this tells us the much wider story and does it very well in my opinion. Great photo references and a really interesting story to read.
Thanks to Pen & Sword for our review copy.

Robin