AA Battery E3, Tournaig Farm, Poolewe, Loch Ewe, Ross & Chromarty, Scotland.

FLAK · Ross and Cromarty · Scotland · United Kingdom

AA Battery E3, Tournaig Farm Loch Ewe

Throughout the Arctic Convoy campaign, Loch Ewe was a hive of activity. 3000 personnel were stationed here, and from the defensive batteries, anti-aircraft, anti-submarine nets and magnetic loop across the mouth of the loch to the command bunker in Poolewe, nowhere was unaffected, which must have come as quite a shock to the local crofting and fishing communities. All this activity has left numerous sites and buildings of significance arrayed around Loch Ewe, many of which are in a serious state of disrepair. This is E3battery and army HAA (Heavy Anti Aircraft) battery an Army unit.

AA Battery E3, Tournaig Farm Loch Ewe

My plan of Loch Ewe and its defences. Here we are at E3 Heavy Anti Aircraft (HAA) Battery. I believe that 379 Battery of the 101 Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment had the longest stay, from 1941 to 1942. The HAA & LAA were Army units. The HAA battery's were numbered, but the LAA I cannot find any information yet..

AA Battery E3, Tournaig Farm Loch Ewe

eDoB Online - EDOBID: e00051 Site is in very good condition. Four 1941 pattern gun pits remain with a non standard command post.

AA Battery E3, Tournaig Farm Loch Ewe

The view from the road, I did not enter the field as there were some lovely cows in there.

AA Battery E3, Tournaig Farm Loch Ewe

Vickers QF 3.7inch Mk's. I to III. 7 x man crew. Shell weight - 28lbs. Rate of fire - 10 to 20 rpm. Muzzle velocity - 2,600ft per sec. Effective ceiling - 32,000ft. QF - Quick Firing. RPM - Rounds per Minuet. Which is on a 'par' with the German 8.8cm Flak36, except the 8.8cm is lighter and has a lighter round.

AA Battery E3, Tournaig Farm Loch Ewe

AA Battery E3, Tournaig Farm Loch Ewe

Anti-aircraft site somewhere in Britain.

Unknown

AA Battery E3, Tournaig Farm Loch Ewe

This is a 'hold fast' to secure the gun to the ground and unlike most, they are not a ring of threads with nuts to hold the gun down. The small trench running into the centre is for command cables to run from the control bunker, up into the gun. This could pre set the the height and direction on a dial and the gunner would then turn the gun in to those settings. later on in the war, the guns could even be fired by the control bunker, thus no ladies were allowed to fire the guns. As the war went on, it was ladies of the ATS whose job it was to press the right buttons. So perhaps Ladies did fire the guns after all/settings

AA Battery E3, Tournaig Farm Loch Ewe

Holdfasts from another site.

My picture.

AA Battery E3, Tournaig Farm Loch Ewe

The view into one of the emplacements.

AA Battery E3, Tournaig Farm Loch Ewe

View towards the camp and the water tower. Where the long low barn is, there was a site for a barrage balloon.

AA Battery E3, Tournaig Farm Loch Ewe

Water tower to supply water to the camp.

AA Battery E3, Tournaig Farm Loch Ewe

Water tower to supply water to the camp.

AA Battery E3, Tournaig Farm Loch Ewe

Water tower to supply water to the camp. looking up at the re in-forced floor for the water tank.

AA Battery E3, Tournaig Farm Loch Ewe

Water tower to supply water to the camp. The only window, looking out on the battery.

AA Battery E3, Tournaig Farm Loch Ewe

Water tower to supply water to the camp.

AA Battery E3, Tournaig Farm Loch Ewe

Batterie position looking west.

AA Battery E3, Tournaig Farm Loch Ewe

Telephone cable man hole laid originally by the GPO (General Post Office) to connect all the wartime establishments in the area. Telephones were coming to the highlands very slowly, when war broke out, communications were very important so more lines were hurriedly put in. A phone line is much harder to tap into by an enemy than a radio transmission and add to that a tele printer, it makes it almost imposable.

AA Battery E3, Tournaig Farm Loch Ewe

The control bunker.

AA Battery E3, Tournaig Farm Loch Ewe

To the left is the control bunker, this is a different layout to others I have seen. Some batteries were mixed units with two-thirds of its personnel supplied by the ATS (Auxiliary Territorial Service), but they were not allowed to fire the guns.