More Moving Targets

Boyton and Titchwell AFV Ranges

Over a year ago I said that I would return to the topic of Moving Targets on tank and anti-tank gunnery ranges in the Second World War. He we are - better late than never! It has taken an email conversation discussion with someone in Australia to prompt this post and keep to my earlier promise to discuss More Moving Targets. This post is about two similar ranges in East Anglia.

Boyton AFV Range.

The sketch plan below shows the layout of an AFV range built in 1943 on Boyton Marshes in Suffolk. If you want to pop along and have a look, the dugouts for the range machinery still exist (bar one), but the site is now an RSPB reserve and can be very wet. You will need permission to go onto the site, but it can also be well seen from the coast path along the top of the sea wall.

Figure 1

The range was constructed to provide facilities for armoured units in Eastern Command to have the opportunity to practice firing before moving to larger War Office run battle ranges for their annual "pre-operational" workup.

Figure 2

The layout of the range reflected the practices as described in Military Training Pamphlet No. 34, Part 6 (See Figure 2)), which required gunners to be able to hit stationery and moving targets from a tank in a variety of positions and ranges, both with machine guns and main armament. 

The original firing triangle for the tanks has been largely removed form Boyton, as have the banks protecting the mover rails and the dugouts. This was probably done to bolster the sea defences in this are after the 1953 "surge" which inundated much of this coastline.

Figure 3

Figure 3 shows the rather wet remains of the one surviving observation dugout, minus its protective bank and leaning awkwardly as it sinks into the marsh!

Figure 4

Figure 4 shows one of the winch dugouts (TM 3963 4680) that would have pulled the moving targets back and fore across the range. The two openings in the west wall of the dugout (to the left) were for the winch cables and observation of the moving target. The rail track, protective bank and mound have long gone.

Titchwell AFV Range

At the same time as the range at Boyton was being built in Suffolk, another AFV range was being constructed at on the North Norfoldk Coast at Titchwell. Coincidentally, the remains of this range are now an RSPB bird reserve.

Figure 5

The firing track at Titchwell is at: TF 7522 4402
















The role of Titchwell was similar to that of Boyton and towards the end of its life it was the AFV range used by tanks crews preparing for combat in the Far East. The dugouts at Titchwell are quite different to those at Boyton, although most of them are now buried and difficult to interpret.

Figure 6 - The base for a pop-up target.

Figure 7 - Dugout for operating mover(?) and pop-up targets.
Note bases for pulleys and cable runs.

Figure 8 - Winch dugout (view from west) for moving target slowly succumbing to the advancing sea and sand. Target rail ran eastward from this dugout.

Figure 9 - Cable pulley for the moving target associated with the dugout in Figure 8. About 100 metres east of the dugout.

Figure 10 - Remains of two cruiser type tanks on the beach. Probably once old hard targets.

The above gives a brief overview of two of the Second World War AFV ranges in East Anglia. There were others of a more ad hoc and temporary nature, which I may describe in the future. The next post relating to this topic will look at the anti-tank range at Holme Dunes (aka Hunstanton Anti-Tank).

Moving Targets

In  some of the photographs in earlier posts on this blog, there have been distant, incidental,  views of some of the structures built during the Second World War on Castlemartin range. For any gunnery range to work efficiently, whether it be for small arms firing from pistols and rifles or for much heavier weapons, fired by tanks, there needs to be an adequate supply of suitable "targetry". To give adequate practice for the trainee tank crew, there were several distinct types of target:

• Fixed, static targets;
• Pop-up targets, that could be exposed for a few seconds;
• Moving targets to simulate a range of vehicles on the move!

In this post I'll explain a little about the moving targets and their method of working.

Improvised Moving Target Setup

Over the course of the Second World War, many improvised ranges were opened all over the UK to allow tank (and anti-tank) gunners to practice their trade. Initially, the provision of moving targets was accomplished as shown in the diagram (from a contemporary training manual). The target would move back and fore behind an existing hedgerow or hastily thrown up bank. A further refinement was the attachment of the one end of the pulling wire to the front of the vehicle behind the firing point and the other end to the rear, so to move the target back and fore it was just a case of changing between forward and reverse in the towing vehicle.  Sometimes, at locations that might be used in the longer term, rails were laid, but often the target was built upon a sledge (as shown  below) and this dragged along the ground. On ranges intended to be permanent, like Castlemartin Pembrokeshire, the facilities for moving targets were more developed.

Sledge for Moving Target

The range targetry at Castlemartin achieved a quite high degree of sophistication by the end Second World War. Today only two of the areas used for moving targets are still accessible to the public. These are South of Bosherston, on St Govan's Head. They were built in their present form in 1941, and represent just one variation on the theme of "Movers". The picture below shows one of  the two moving target layouts as mentioned above.The target rail described here is at OS Grid Ref:

SR 9735 9296

East end of moving target trench at St. Govan's Head, Pembrokeshire. Note how it was been cut through the limestone bedrock, and the turntable outside the observation dugout.

The picture above shows the western end of a moving target rail, cut through the limestone bedrock of St Govans Head. The photograph was taken from the path to the headland.

The winch dugout at the eastern end of the same target rail.

At the other end of the mover rail track is this dugout, which is of a very different design and was used to house the winches which pulled the moving target back and fore. Again, you can see a turntable in front of the door, which would have allowed the trolleys carrying the targets to be drawn into the dugout or onto the "siding" shown in the next photograph.

Looking west along the target trench from atop the protective mound covering the winch dugout at St. Govan's. Note the "siding" for the storage of other trolleys at photo left and the pit for a pop-up target at top[-centre.

What did the targets look like?

As mentioned earlier, the targets used on St Govan's Head, were mounted on trolleys that were pulled backwards and forwards along the narrow gauge track by a winch housed, in this case, in the larger dugout at the eastern end of the rail track.

It is said that the target hauling winches were similar to barrage balloon winches, with the cable on a continuous loop around the drum. The direction of the target was altered by reversing the gears on the winch when the trolley reached the end of the track. When working on a similar moving target arrangement in the late 1970s, the means of identifying where the target was on the track was by means of pieces of red cloth tied to the correct distance on the winch cable!

Observation Dugout detail.

Observation Dugout

At the opposite end of the track to the winch dugout, there was a much smaller observation dugout. The first picture in this post shows this blocked up to act as a bat roost. The picture to the left shows the same dugout before it was sealed, and that on the right a closer view of the doorway into the shelter, showing the hinges for the steel door and window shutters.The men who manned the observation dugouts had the task of marking and repairing the targets on the trolley after each tank had fired. Sometimes the trolley might be thrown off the track after hitting stones that dropped onto the rails when mis-directed shells hit the bank between the track and the firing point.

Broadside mover target - known as a "Hornet" to all tank gunners.

The target mounted on the trolley were locally produced and made of dark hessian stretched over a wooden frame. The illustration comes from a 1940 military training pamphlet. The target was meant to represent a tank moving broadside to the firing point, and would be pulled along by the winch at about 5 mph. The ranges at St Govan's Head were used to train new recruits, so the targets were not intended to be too difficult to hit!



In later posts I will look at other types of moving targets used at tank/anti-tank gunnery ranges across the UK in the Second World War.