TWENTIETH CENTURY DEFENCE SITES of TYNE and WEAR

Section 2 Inter-War Period
For fifteen years following the Armistice, the
nation pursued a policy of minimum
expenditure on the armed forces – what
resources were available were focussed on
colonial requirements and defence against
an expected French threat. Hitler’s rise to
power and the collapse of the Geneva
disarmament talks in 1933 forced the British
government to undertake rearmament and
re-align to counter a threat from across the
North Sea rather than the Channel.
During the Munich Crisis of September 1938,
leaders from many of the major European
powers met in Munich to discuss Hitler’s
attempts to gain control of the Czech
Sudetenland. Although eventually a decision
was reached which managed to avert war (at
least until one year later when Hitler invaded
Poland), it seemed at the time that a major
Inter-War period
Red Barns. Reproduced with permission from Archaeological Services Durham University
18
conflict was both inevitable and imminent.
The crisis led to acceleration in defensive
preparations, including the construction of
anti-aircraft batteries, like the one at Red
Barns, South Tyneside (No 33. below), and
the hasty refurbishment of the coastal
defences. The major technical development
was the invention of Radar as an early
warning system. By the mid 1930s, moves
were underway to integrate airfields, radar
stations, anti-aircraft and searchlight
batteries, bombing decoys and barrage
balloons into a coherent defensive system.
The civilian population was mobilised on the
eve of war to construct air raid shelters for
civil defence, in the event that bombers
penetrated the defensive screen (English
Heritage 2000).