AA sites in sheffield

[Guest Ron]

Hello again,

I was wondering whether anyone knows where the anti aircraft gun sites were situated in sheffield during WWII.Has a map been produced showing where they were situated?

Regards

Ron

[dunsbyowl1867 21]

Hello again,

I was wondering whether anyone knows where the anti aircraft gun sites were situated in sheffield during WWII.Has a map been produced showing where they were situated?

Regards

Ron

A couple of photos from "Sheffield at War". The caption below the bottom photo suggests there were 3 rocket sites. One was at Shirecliffe.

[Guest Ron]

Thanks alot for the reply. I assume that before the rocket sites were introduced there would have been a number of Heavy anti aircraft batteries with 3.7 inch guns as elsewhere around the country.

Thanks

Ron

[Bayleaf 8]

Hi Ron

There was an AA battery on the playing fields at High Storrs School. There were three 3.7s and one 4.7 naval ack-ack, plus a range finder manned by ATS personnel, and a search-light. An eye-witness who talked to the gunners was told that in Sheffield this was the only site with a 4.7 naval gun.

Someone has done an overlay for Google Earth with all the sites marked. There was a link on the Sheffield Forum some time ago. Here are the map references for the sites in and near Sheffield. The placenames are approximate but the references are accurate, taken from a book called AA Command by C. Dobinson, published a couple of years ago.

Near Ringinglow SK296 832

Shirecliffe SK351 897

Burngreave SK360 895

Loxley SK313 890

Near Norton SK 360 815 and SK363 815

Chapeltown SK352 956

Parson Cross SK347 931

Grenoside SK324 936

High Bradfield SK273 937

High Green SK321 964

If you can find the overlay all the sites in the UK are marked, along with Starfish etc.

[Guest tsavo]

Ron said:

Hello again,

I was wondering whether anyone knows where the anti aircraft gun sites were situated in sheffield during WWII.Has a map been produced showing where they were situated?

Regards

Ron

Warminster Road was one according to Picture Sheffield: Link: https://www.picturesheffield.com/;s03553

[neddy 55]

 

Dunsbyowl said:

A couple of photos from "Sheffield at War". The caption below the bottom photo suggests there were 3 rocket sites. One was at Shirecliffe.

 

There was one at the top of what is now the ski slope, at Parkwood Springs, there were a series of concrete bunkers used to play in them as kids, can just remember the wooden huts that presumably housed the soldiers, i'm sure there was mention of a heavy gun being there.

[Guest zep]

There was a site near where the Coit school is at Chapeltown. We used to play around in the concrete blocks on the way to Chap baths from Ecclesfield Comprehensive.

[Bayleaf 8]

There's a wartime book been republished called 'Roof over Britain, the official story of the AA defences 1939-1942'. Although it doesn't mention Sheffield has some good illustrations of equipment and descriptions of how sites were laid out. I picked up a copy from Postscript Books (google for the address) , cost me less than a fiver, plus postage of course!

[ayfer 11]

I'm sure I remember some concrete emplacements on the top of Wincobank Hill (but I haven't been up there for 50 years).

My father told me that he was attached to 131 battery HG Heavy Anti Aircraft Battery at Norton. As far as I can make out this was either as a cadet from Dronfield Grammar School cadet corps, or as a member of the Home Guard at Bradway. Unfortunately, he's not around to ask for clarification.

[Guest Fangorn]

Three AA guns on top of Wincobank hill with 2 or 3 observation posts, still trying to find out exactly what types of gun they were

Andy

[Guest Carveti]

Hello again,

I was wondering whether anyone knows where the anti aircraft gun sites were situated in sheffield during WWII.Has a map been produced showing where they were situated?

Regards

Ron

I believe there was a site on the outer perimeter of Ecclesfield Comp. playing fields, above what is known locally as "the quarry".

There was also a gun-site on the field by the side of Ecclesfield Road, near the junction with Grange Lane. We used to play in the "trenches" back in the 60s.

[RichardB 23]

I believe there was a site on the outer perimeter of Ecclesfield Comp. playing fields, above what is known locally as "the quarry".

There was also a gun-site on the field by the side of Ecclesfield Road, near the junction with Grange Lane. We used to play in the "trenches" back in the 60s.

Welcome to the Site, mooch around, find stuff, ask questions, post stuff - enjoy ...

If only we had a bunch of "old-ish" maps and some people that knew what they were doing...

<Sigh>.

[neddy 55]

Found on this site a map of the Parkwood Springs emplacements,

http://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/sidebyside.cfm#zoom=16&lat=53.4019&lon=-1.4742&layers=10&right=BingHyb

SK35110 would be in the middle with concrete bunkers.

[Keith_exS10 18]

On 20/06/2007 at 20:56, Bayleaf said:

Hi Ron

There was an AA battery on the playing fields at High Storrs School. There were three 3.7s and one 4.7 naval ack-ack, plus a range finder manned by ATS personnel, and a search-light. An eye-witness who talked to the gunners was told that in Sheffield this was the only site with a 4.7 naval gun.

Someone has done an overlay for Google Earth with all the sites marked. There was a link on the Sheffield Forum some time ago. Here are the map references for the sites in and near Sheffield. The placenames are approximate but the references are accurate, taken from a book called AA Command by C. Dobinson, published a couple of years ago.

Near Ringinglow SK296 832

Shirecliffe SK351 897

Burngreave SK360 895

Loxley SK313 890

Near Norton SK 360 815 and SK363 815

Chapeltown SK352 956

Parson Cross SK347 931

Grenoside SK324 936

High Bradfield SK273 937

High Green SK321 964

 

If you can find the overlay all the sites in the UK are marked, along with Starfish etc.

As a pupil at High Storrs from 1942 to 1949 I was intrigued by Bayleafs comments   As an Old Centralian my father hoped I would make it there and moved to Banner Cross in 1939. That gave us chance to occasionally get the 28 bus and then walk home along Ringinglow Road.  Looking across the top field to the left there looked to be anti aircraft guns pointing toward the city. What we wondered was the horizontal fine mesh screen which covered the whole 100 yards length of the cricket field  and extended  to the groundsman's big shed.  In the middle was a sort of small observation post with no obvious  way in or sign of life. There was a war on,  it probably had to do with defence and you just didn't ask. 

Comes the 1942 exams and I made it to Form 1 with a view over the field. The mesh contraption had gone without trace but we could see guns in the distance. In the dinner hour we were usually allowed on the bottom football fields. After a while several of us set off to have a close look and got a shock. Plywood replicas. Just them, no sign ofany army buildings  except the genuine gun enclosures. They looked realistic from the road and probably from overhead. .In truth by then there was not much aerial activity and gas mask and shelter drills were things of the past. After another year and even the decoys had gone.

I have no doubt  they were genuine at the beginning of the war but as usual ideas changed and about this time there was a major redistribution. I suspect the inhabitants of Bents Green Road would be relieved as the guns were only just  across the road  on the waste ground. The reference to a naval anti aircraft gun is interesting. It would be the 4.7" design from the mid  twenties. The army had some and these  were passed back to the navy at about this time.

 For those who are still looking in there is a sting in the tail.  Leaving in 1949,  I did the mandatory year in industry before going to St. George's Square. The war  was far away.  then National Service in the R.E.M.E. It was decided  I would go for trade training which ultimately took up some fourteen months. First day in the training workshop : "This is a 3.7 anti aircraft  gun and you lot are going to take it apart and put it back again"  We were used to cranes.  "No cranes in the desert"  We were actually in deepest Hampshire but we were trained in a continuous worst case situation. The plywood decoys were no preparation. There were some horrible lumps to heave about, the biggest  needing eight of us and even  then we put it down a bit too quick. . I suppose typically soon after we had seen the latest 4.7 auto loader being made at Woolwich Arsenal  Anti  Aircraft Command was abolished.

Overall it made up for not having the real thing on the High Storrs  fields but  I still don't know what the mesh screen was for. As civilian photography was  banned ( there weren't  any films anrway) unless someone gets into M.O.D. archives that will be the end of that

.

 

 

 

 

 

[History dude 107]

There was for certain an AA site on Manor Lane. The Lodge grounds had the gunners stationed there. 

[miked 0]

On 20/06/2007 at 20:56, Bayleaf said:

Hi Ron

There was an AA battery on the playing fields at High Storrs School. There were three 3.7s and one 4.7 naval ack-ack, plus a range finder manned by ATS personnel, and a search-light. An eye-witness who talked to the gunners was told that in Sheffield this was the only site with a 4.7 naval gun.

Someone has done an overlay for Google Earth with all the sites marked. There was a link on the Sheffield Forum some time ago. Here are the map references for the sites in and near Sheffield. The placenames are approximate but the references are accurate, taken from a book called AA Command by C. Dobinson, published a couple of years ago.

Near Ringinglow SK296 832

Shirecliffe SK351 897

Burngreave SK360 895

Loxley SK313 890

Near Norton SK 360 815 and SK363 815

Chapeltown SK352 956

Parson Cross SK347 931

Grenoside SK324 936

High Bradfield SK273 937

High Green SK321 964

 

If you can find the overlay all the sites in the UK are marked, along with Starfish etc.

Has anyone made sense of these locations, I cant.

[rover1949 14]

I tried it on OS maps and it works if you add 00 to the coordinates to make 5 digits.  Parson Cross came up as Remington Road.

There are online converters for different systems.

[SteveHB 215]

32 minutes ago, rover1949 said:

I tried it on OS maps and it works if you add 00 to the coordinates to make 5 digits.  Parson Cross came up as Remington Road.

There are online converters for different systems.

UK Grid Reference Finder  https://gridreferencefinder.com/

"High Bradfield SK273 937"

https://gridreferencefinder.com?gr=SK2730093700|SK273_s_937|1&t=SK273 937&v=r

[miked 0]

On 20/06/2007 at 12:56, dunsbyowl1867 said:

 

A couple of photos from "Sheffield at War". The caption below the bottom photo suggests there were 3 rocket sites. One was at Shirecliffe.

Robert Joseph Nightingale was killed along with his wife whilst shopping for slippers in Exmouth on  26th Feb 1943. So the date may be wrong. They left behind a daughter. I am trying to organise an interpretation board on site.  Not a lot of information on the  site so any information welcome.

[lysandernovo 54]

Before he was called up into the RAF my Dad, as a member of the Home Guard, manned one of the "Z" rocket batteries on Shirecliffe ( He is on one of the  battery photos). He always said that when fired they did more damage ( shrapnel) to the City than any  intruding Luftwaffe aircraft.

[RLongden 166]

Does this provide any more info on AA sites around Sheffield?

http://www.anti-aircraft.co.uk/HAA_gun_sites_map.html
 

Doesn’t work for me on iPad, as it needs user to hover mouse pointer over locations....

[miked 0]

On 06/01/2021 at 11:09, lysandernovo said:

Before he was called up into the RAF my Dad, as a member of the Home Guard, manned one of the "Z" rocket batteries on Shirecliffe ( He is on one of the  battery photos). He always said that when fired they did more damage ( shrapnel) to the City than any  intruding Luftwaffe aircraft.

Thats interesting can you point him out please?

[makapaka 15]

There was definitely the base of one still around on wincobank hill  when i was a kid in the mid 80s.

 

[lysandernovo 54]

I think that was an anti-aircraft gun emplacement dating from WW1. On the night of the Zeppelin raid the officers were at a function in Sheffield... most of the men were drinking in a Grimesthorpe pub...and not a shot was fired from the battery...so my Granddad told me!

 

Miked ....my Dad is on the back row next to the launcher!

[hilldweller 30]

On 06/01/2021 at 11:09, lysandernovo said:

Before he was called up into the RAF my Dad, as a member of the Home Guard, manned one of the "Z" rocket batteries on Shirecliffe ( He is on one of the  battery photos). He always said that when fired they did more damage ( shrapnel) to the City than any  intruding Luftwaffe aircraft.

My wife's uncle who lived in Calver, Derbyshire, had a busy war. He enrolled in the Lincolns (Imps) as soon as he was old enough and spent the first part of the war helping to man Z rocket batteries with the RA. He was based in parks in central London and then moved to Portsmouth where they were kept very busy. The plan was to fire rockets from a number of batteries on the same site to put up a "Square" of exploding rockets around enemy aircraft. The individual rockets had a variable fuse which had to be set to allow the rockets to go off at the correct height. The men were picked to be young enough to lift the heavy rockets with good eyesight to set the fuses. Of course scores of rockets going off in a short space made  lerge amounts of shrapnel which fell on the population below. Many rockets didn't explode until they hit terra firma.

At one time they fired some experimental rockets with small bombs with parachutes suspended above on wires. This didn't go down well with the Portsmouth locals and wasn't repeated. Later in the war he was landed in Holland by glider and took part in the efforts to liberate Holland. He visited Holland a number of times by invitation after the war and was feted and he gave his best battledress to a small military museum near Arnhem. After the war he returned to his job in the local boot factories. He lived in the same house for more than 60 years and lived a quiet batchelor life. Perhaps he'd had enough excitement to be going on with.

hilldweller