Brean Down, Somerset. Bombing Range
Brean Down, Brean Sands, Brean, Somerset.
Site of a WW2 bombing range.
Bombing.
Brean Down, Somerset. Bombing Range
Brean Down, Somerset. Bombing Range
Arrow –Bombing direction arrow.
P –Parking you have to pay and check what time it closes as they lock the gate.
We actually came here to walk to the old Brean Down Fort and found the bombing range arrow on the way back. Also there is an area where Lewis guns could be fired at target drogues towed by aircraft for AA practice. More of this later.
Brean Down, Somerset. Bombing Range
The Down is geologically part of the Mendip Hills and is where these limestone hills dip their toes into the sea.
Taken from the website of "A Scotsman in Somerset" now I am afraid not working.
Brean Down, Somerset. Bombing Range
Car park and you pay at the shop, take the zigzag steps up to the top and walk to your right and the concrete structure on the top is the range lookout or quadrant tower?
Brean Down, Somerset. Bombing Range
Looking down the length of Brean Sands. The bombing range would have been slightly to our right and out at sea. The targets would have been floating and secured to the sea bed.
Avro Lancaster.
Brean Down, Somerset. Bombing Range
The concrete structure was the quadrant tower for observation and the round peace of concrete a level plinth for a measuring device.
Floating target plan.
Quadrant tower at Drigg.
Brean Down, Somerset. Bombing Range
The arrow was used to guide aircraft onto the bombing range. Painted white.
Weston-Super-Mare can be seen in the distance.
Plan.
Brean Down, Somerset. Bombing Range
I have outlined the arrow to show it up and the spot forward of it. To the right is the observatory.
The interpretation is that this structure was a Low Altitude range marker for aircraft which pointed to a large cork floating target (possibly designed to look like the conning tower of a submarine, that was anchored in Morte Bay (SS 442, 418). The arrow itself is comprise of concrete slabs and evidence from the 1947 aerial survey suggests that it would have originally have been painted white.
From Morte Bay web page.
Bomber crew.
Brean Down, Somerset. Bombing Range
Air Ministry Plan of the arrow.
Brean Down, Somerset. Bombing Range
You are looking at the tip of the arrow.
Bomb release.
Brean Down, Somerset. Bombing Range
The spot meant to pilot -
If uncovered, 'Arrow in use'.
Covered ' Arrow not in use'.
At MAWBRAY WWII BOMBING RANGE there were two arrows offering different target directions.
From Russell W. Barnes'
20th CENTURY DEFENCE
ARCHITECTURE PAGES. A very good website covering the Cumbria area.
Google.
Brean Down, Somerset. Bombing Range
Now I am only guessing here - down at the other end of Brean Down is this post. Now it could have been used by the range officials to measure the angle of the dropped bomb and with another quadrant post on the beach to the south (not found or corroborated) the accuracy of the bomber could be deduced.
details
Brean Down, Somerset. Bombing Range
© 2013 Richard Drew