British Home Defences 1940–45

Osprey Fortress #20

by Bernard Lowry

In the summer of 1940, Britain asked itself not 'will Hitler invade?' but 'when?' SEALION, the German invasion plan, provoked the construction of pillboxes, coastal defences, heavy-gun emplacements and anti-aircraft batteries, as well as the formation of the Home Guard and covert groups. Later, new dangers replaced SEALION: radar detection systems were expanded during the Blitz years, as were intelligence-gathering systems and listening posts. From 1944, Britain was again faced with a deadly threat, Hitler's 'Vengeance weapons'. This title provides a concise assessment of Britain's defensive systems, and presents a vivid picture of war on the home front.

Genres: Nonfiction, Military History

64 pages, Paperback

First published May 25, 2004

Reviews

[Little Timmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice overview of these mostly unknown forces. Recommended

[Andrew Herbert · Rating 2 out of 5]

Like most Osprey books this is a short history that outlines topics, has some good photos and provides a starting point for those who want to learn more. Overall the book is well written and informative. I dropped a couple of stars because:
1) the illustrations are just horrid. The artwork in Osprey books is usually excellent (Angus McBride and others set the bar high). The artwork just isn't that good or informative. We get some birds-eye views of reconstructed fortifications, gun emplacements etc., but they are little more than fleshed out schematics. The artists appear to have trouble with the human form, and some pictures are laughable.
2) There's clearly not that much to summarize because there are a wide variety of topics covered that fall outside the topic of defenses. For example, German V weapons are described over a couple of pages, which seems like an effort to fill the required 64 pages.

So informative, but I'm glad I was reading a library book.