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At Mount Bures just a few yards from the railway line, on the east side, is a concrete, hexagonal pillbox. This position is where the anti-tank ditch of the Eastern Command Line 'crossed' from west to east before continuing on its path towards Bures. The pillbox stood between the railway and the ditch. It is an unusual type, 19ft 2in across, 3ft 6in thick, with its entrance on the west face. There are 5 small loopholes measuring 9 x 6 inches flaring out to 16 x 6 inches. But the east loophole, looking out across the former ditch and open fields, is very large 32in wide by 17in high flaring out to 59 x 26 inches. Beneath this, inside the pillbox, is a 6in thick concrete machine-gun table. This spans the complete width of the inner wall, 82in, tapering towards the centre of the pillbox to a width of 36in. Its depth from the wall is 32in. It is not known which type of machine-gun this pillbox was designed to house although the size of the table and its height below the level of the loophole suggests a Vickers heavy machine-gun. At the time of this entry, with over 1,000 WWII sites recorded, this design of pillbox is unique in the county. Coupled with the concrete blocks (SMR 20028) and 'hairpins' (SMR 20030) this trio forms a rare compound site. (photo and text courtesy of Bures Village Website. TL908318
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