plan looking down on a type 22
typology
As a rule pillboxes were fabricated from concrete. However you can see the same types with different exteriors. This is because wood was in short supply for the shuttering for the concrete, so bricks or corrugated sheets were used as well. They were also made from local materials, stone for instance to fit in with the local area. this applies too most pillboxes.
type 22
The type 22 pillbox is by far the most numerous type and is easily recognised by its hexagonal shape.
plan looking down on a type 22
Type 23
This type of pillbox is rectangular in shape and split into two halves the first half being covered and the other half open with a anti aircraft weapon mounting. The walls are about a foot thick, and the pillbox sometimes has rungs like a ladder on the wall of the open side for access.
Type 24
Also called the Type 360 or Type 22 Modified. This type of pillbox is easily misconstrued as it is hexagon in shape, but has one wall longer than the rest, usually about 10 feet long. It is normally longer than a Type 22. This type also has loop holes either side of the door and the walls can be up to 3 feet thick.
Type 25
This is a small circular pillbox which has three loopholes and walls about a foot thick.
Type 26
A square pillbox with a door in one wall and loopholes in the others. The walls are about a foot and a half thick.
Plan of a Type 26 from above.
Type 27
This type was hexagonal but is open with loopholes in each wall and an anti aircraft mount in the middle. The walls are about three feet thick. They are normally found in and around airfields.
Type 28
These are large square pillboxes with walls about twenty feet long and a large opening in the rear wall for an anti tank gun to go in, with a large aperture at the front for the barrel to stick out and give a large arc of fire. The gun used in this pillbox would normally be a two pounder anti tank gun, with some hotchkiss six pounder anti tank guns also used. The other two walls have loopholes in and all the walls are about three feet thick.
Type 28a
This has a separate area added on to a standard type 28 for extra infantry.
Type 28a twin
This type has two openings for anti tank guns.
Type made for Vickers machine gun
This type is about fourteen feet square, with a large opening for the medium Vickers machine gun. There is a concrete shelf built under the opening for the guns tripod to stand. They also had loopholes in the other walls.
Norcon Type
This was really a concrete pipe about six feet in diameter with slits cut out for the loopholes. The walls were about four inches thick.
Pre Fabricated Type
This type was made with an inner and outer panel, which were placed between two poles and then the gap in between the panels filled with concrete. Then a panel would be fixed on top as a roof. They could be rectangular or round.
Pickett-Hamilton Counterbalance Fort
This was a special type of pillbox used at air fields which was raised up out of the ground when needed. It was manned by five men, and needed four of them to raise it.
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picture in typology picture page
Tett Turret
This was a small concrete turret on top of a concrete pipe and housed two men. The pipe was sunk into the ground and the turret was about a foot above the ground. It was designed to be used at road junctions.
Allan Williams Steel Turret
Only 199 of this type were built. Bigger than the Tett Turret, they again were buried so that only the steel turret was showing. But this type was made with a number of different mounts e.g., Bren, Lewis, Hotchkiss, and Browning machine guns. Lewis, Vickers and Bren in the anti aircraft role. Also the Bhoys anti tank gun.
Armadillo or Bison Type
This type was made to go on the back of a lorry. Which was a rectangular four inch thick box with loopholes and could hold between ten and twenty men. There was an example of one of these vehicles at the tank museum at Bovington.
bigger picture in
typology picture page
