Wick pillbox event stirs wartime memories
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A LARGE crowd turned up for the opening of a World War II era defensive structure in Wick.
Built into a cliff overlooking the North Baths, the building, known as a pillbox, was supposed to have opened the week before but the weather prevented that as torrential downpours flooded the area and caused safety concerns.
The opening went ahead last Saturday and from 10am until 4pm a steady stream of visitors arrived at the manned HQ at the top of the brae – where raffle tickets, food and beverages were available – and then made their way down the concrete steps that lead to the small brick fortress below.
The volunteer manager of the project, Denny Swanson, was on duty along with the rest of the team who had cleared tons of "muck and detritus" from the site over the past few months to recreate the feel of wartime Britain within the pillbox.
He said: "The volunteers have done a fantastic job on it. We have taken it back to what it looked like in 1942. We wore gas masks and boiler suits and had proper shoes on to tackle the rubbish that had heaped up. You would not believe how bad it was in there."
Starting in May, Denny was helped by the other volunteers – Tommy Munro, Derek Bremner, Leslie Sutherland and Charlie Bain – to clear the pillbox, dig out the steps and returf the roof. The project also involved the placing of a bench, the installation of a new flagpole and the erection of a memorial stone.
"The pillbox would have originally had a camouflage net over it but we thought painting it was a more practical alternative," Denny explained.
During the war the structure was manned by five soldiers 24 hours a day to guard against any German invasion force coming from occupied Norway. These tiny brick and concrete fortresses were originally called pillboxes towards the end of World War I and either referenced the small containers commonly used at that time to carry medicinal pills or alluded to pillar boxes, with a comparison being drawn between the loophole window on the pillbox and the letter-slot on the pillar box.
The British coastline was dotted with a variety of shapes and sizes of pillbox and of the 28,000 built it is estimated that fewer than 6000 still survive as a testament to the dark days of 1940 when the country stood alone against Nazi Germany.
Within the North Head pillbox the volunteers had done sterling work to replicate the wartime atmosphere and, along with three replica Bren guns pointing through the loophole windows, there are various artefacts from the war that local historian Harry Gray talked about.
"The Bren gun was the only gun in the British army that jumps away from you when you fire it – everything else slams into your shoulder. The only reason I know that is because I was a Bren gunner in the army myself during national service," Harry told the visitors.
He went on to show the casing of a naval shell that had been found close by on the shoreline after the war. "This came from an ammunition ship that sank in 1940," he said.
"When we were youngsters we used to find these shells strewn along the shore here and sell them to the scrap merchants."
Strands of cordite used to propel the shell were then shown to the public and lit up like a children's sparkler to illuminate the gloomy interior of the pillbox.
Shedding some more light in the darkened chamber, Harry then lit an oil lamp similar to what the troops who manned the pillbox would have used. Then there was an impromptu game of cards with Denny to show how the men would have whiled away the monotonous hours of sitting in a cold concrete box.
One of the men who talked about the pillbox had a family connection to it. Des Broomfield from Wick said: "My father, Peter, was actually one of the men serving in here. They did four-hour shifts and lived in Nissen huts that were close by but have been demolished."
Reminiscing about his school days, Denny, who lived in Willowbank, said: "We played in that place. There were 11 steps going down to the dungeon, and on both sides going down there are hundreds and hundreds of names scratched in the wall. Some people have found their names that they scratched there."
He said that £539 was raised for charity on Saturday and hopes that the pillbox will open on a more permanent basis next year as a museum. The pillbox team also received donations of various WWII artefacts on the day and are currently seeking other related items that can be displayed there.
