Help identifying mysterious military structure which has military historian baffled,

Okay so a Military Base located on Reigate Hill in Surrey has a military historian and his team of volunteers and workers from the National Trust and Surrey County Archaeological Unit flummoxed as to its use, they spent two days clearing the overgrown site and structure on Reigate Hill, which lies nearly 200 metres from Reigate Fort.

They are looking for help in identifying its use so I thought id post it on here to see if anyone has any ideas?

It was originally believed to be an observation post, but the project team are not convinced. "Reigate Hill and this unidentified structure are still very much a mystery to us," said Paul Bowen, a military historian and member of the Front Line Surrey Hills team.
"There's 100 years of Surrey's military history here with Reigate Fort, various unidentified structures and the site of a tragic Second World War plane crash.
"Despite this, we still know very little about the area's military history.
"We would be so pleased to hear from readers who remember Reigate Hill during the Second World War; what structures do they recall on the hill? Who was based there? What were the buildings used for?"
The base has two entrances, four windows on the south-facing side and several ventilation holes, and measures roughly 8m long and 3m wide.
According to members of the team it doesn't appear to occupy a defensive position.

They say the windows are too high to be used as an observation point

Read more: www.thisissurreytoday.co.uk...




If you can help identify its origins then you can contact Paul Bowen directly via the link.

Link

It looks like a bunker to me, or maybe an ammo depot.

It also looks old, maybe WWI or WWII era. It might be an old training facility as well. Interesting pictures, I wonder if anyone else has any other clues?

reply to post by MystikMushroom


yeah it does'nt look all that spectacular to me, I mean you would think they would just put it down as 'store' or something lol, just thought I would post it on here on the off chance someone recognizes it, or was maybe even stationed there, ya never know ;-)

It's a bunker... I don't see why it would be mysterious that a nation expecting invasion would construct bunkers on hills...
The windows may be high because they are for artillery barrels and not direct observation making the structure a "casemate" possibly.

Edit: First google link for "reigate hill world war 2"
www.reigatehistory.co.uk...
and another: www.bbc.co.uk...
(beginning to question the "historian"...)

Did they try a "Generator Bunker"?

I know the picture above looks totally different,
but it is a rather high structure.





Some Generators would be narrow enough
to get through that doorway.




And the "Windows" could have been for power cables
to something high voltage like a spot light or transmission tower.
Maybe even a few houses.



/my two pence
Mike

Might sound stupid but ......... have they considered digging further down ?

Without detailed photographs I wouldn`t be able to put a tag on this to be honest.

reply to post by Lady_Tuatha

Whose idea was it to construct the top secret communications bunker right inside that old chalk quarry on Reigate Hill in the North Downs, as Battle HQ for Operation Overlord? The chalk and old lime kilns were a great disguise; the hideout was gas-proof and bomb-proof with three entrances and a full ventilation system. War Office documents show the plans and the Royal Engineers built it (Welsh miners). The secret was let out by accident when they were having their hair cut. Mr Fone the barber worked out "You don't MINE for chalk". The Reigate Hill site was also used extensively for anti-aircraft guns. Eisenhower was stationed at a mansion to the right, Montgomery at a villa to the left, beside his pigeon loft for sending secret messages. Beeches woods straight ahead were used as tree cover for a camp for the motorbike despatch riders. Churchill occasionally stayed at an equestrian estate just beneath the chalk scar of Colley Hill. Further to the west was Colley mine, still in use during WW2 and also used as shelter during air raids. The Colley area was frequently bombed. Montgomery insisted on regular 5 mile cross-country runs with his officers.

From the You tube link.

Same place?

It's obviously a bunker. Probably used for command observation for a defensive point. Wether or not the windows are too high all depends on what they had in there with them. In any war holding the high ground was always of strategic importance because fighting an uphill battle is very hard in areas where artillery cannot get a clear shot at the target.

Maybe ammo storage, did they have anti aircraft guns located in that immediate area?
I don`t think they would keep a lot of ammo right next to the guns in case a near miss from a bomb or strafing could set off ammo stored near the gun and destroy the gun. With the ammo stored in a bunker near the guns they could get more ammo quickly while keeping the ammo safe.
With the windows that high it`s more likely that they are there for looking into rather than looking out of.

reply to post by Lady_Tuatha


It's hard to tell much by these two pictures but two things do stand out to me.

1 is the use of bricks on a bunker or observation point, I find that strange and don't know if it was added later or if the concrete building was built on or around something. If the use of bricks and mortar is on the inside then it cannot be a bunker or used to fire any weaponry other than things like small arms.

2 is why does it have window bases/ledges on those windows? did they hold glass or something?

If it did hold glass then maybe this was a observation post for people who are not keen on the cold, or possibly a spotting point for a artillery squad or something similar. Just seems a bit strange how it's constructed, even if it is pre-WW2.

I'll try to find out more tomorrow when I'm not so sleepy.

reply to post by Lady_Tuatha


just " the first thing that came into my head " but I think that the remains of ` ventilation louvres ` are what are being called " windows " - they are too gig for observation slits [ look at the design of RAF station " battle headquarters bunkers " and are clearly bot weapons ports

example : external image link

and its most likely purpose - a generator room for surrounding bunkers

if I am right - it will have clay drainage pipes running from it - these were used as cable runs [ because fireclay could not be used for aircraft or boats - but wood and metal could be ]