TWENTIETH CENTURY DEFENCE SITES of TYNE and WEAR

Section 3 The Second World War
Ryhope Tyne Q (HER 5506)
South Shields, Horsley Hill Tyne B (HER
5493)
Southwick Tyne V (HER 5510)
Tunstall Tyne P (HER 5505)
Tynemouth Tyne A and Z (HER 5514)
Walker Tyne N (HER 5503)
Westerhope Tyne H (HER 5498)
Whitley Bay Tyne T (HER 5508)
Rocket Batteries (Fig 3)
34 Tynemouth, The Broadway,
Rocket Battery (HER 5492)
Rocket batteries, or Z batteries, were
introduced in 1940 as an addition to the antiaircraft
defence array. They consisted of
simple launchers and projectiles, which
made them easy to use, but gave a very low
level of accuracy. Their effectiveness relied
on firing very large numbers of explosives at
an enemy in the hope that one would hit. At
the site in Tynemouth there were 64 separate
launchers, each operated by a two man
crew. An individual launcher would have had
two barrels, with one rocket in each. Sites
would usually have some form of support
buildings, such as Nissen huts and troop
shelters, but they were often notably less
developed than conventional Light and
Heavy Anti-Aircraft sites. There were some
buildings unique to ZAA sites, such as Troop
Control Posts. These gave cover to the
commander of each troop of launchers as he
controlled the firing of his men. There was no
universal design for these posts, which could
be wooden huts, sandbagged
emplacements, Nissen huts or trenches
(Lowry 1996, 61). It is unclear what form they
took at Tynemouth, but there would have
been four in total, with each one responsible
for 16 launchers.
There were also Rocket Batteries at Harton
(HER 5502) and Seaburn (HER 5512), each
with 64 projectiles (information provided by
Alan Rudd).
36
Searchlight Batteries
(Fig 3)
Searchlights in the Tyneside area were
manned by men of the Royal Artillery
attached to the Northumberland Fusiliers,
under the control of fighter command. When
the Royal Artillery were posted on the south
coast in advance of the D-Day invasion, the
225th Anti Aircraft Artillery (Searchlight
Batallion) USA took over. Their headquarters
was at Debdon Gardens in Newcastle (HER
5559). Many of the searchlight sites were
used as low security POW camps after the
American troops left, accommodating the
prisoners who were working on local farms.
The use of searchlights as anti-aircraft
defences began in World War One and
despite the introduction of Radar technology
before World War Two, searchlights were still
very necessary, used to guide anti- aircraft
fire and to direct interceptors at night, as well
as forcing enemy bombers to fly higher,
reducing bombing accuracy. They could also
be used to help friendly fighters back to
base. Most searchlight sites consisted of a
circular earthwork, usually 10m in diameter
for a 90cm light. There would have been a
number of ancillary huts on site, such as
domestic buildings and generators (Lowry
1996, 63 and http://www.skylighters.org).
36 Heaton, Debdon Gardens, Drill
Hall (HER 5559)
This was the headquarters for ‘A’ battery of
the 225th Anti-Aircraft Artillery (Searchlight
Battalion) USA, an American unit who were
based in the North East in early 1944. They
left the North East four days before D-Day,
and landed on Juno Beach as part of the
Normandy invasion. After the war, the drill
hall became home to the Tyne Electrical
Engineers (TA), one of the first Territorial
Army searchlight units to be formed, and it is
still used as a TA centre today. The main
building survives, heavily modified and
modernised, but still recognisable from its