Kent Defence Research Group

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Defending Chatham 1939-1941: Kent Defence Research Group Study & Fieldwork Project
Defending Chatham 1939-1941: Kent Defence Research Group Study & Fieldwork Project

A Kent Defence Research Group Project 2022-2024 undertaken by Jay Curtis, Keith Gulvin, Clive Holden, Andrew Kershaw and Martin Laws.

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New publication: The Lower Lines, Brompton
New publication: The Lower Lines, Brompton

Excavations of the 19th and 20th-century defenses of Chatham Dockyard at The Lower Lines, Brompton feature in a new Canterbury Archaeological Trust report by James Holman and Peter Kendall.

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Kent Defences Archive Reports available on the Society website
Kent Defences Archive Reports available on the Society website
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Capel Battery Project
Capel Battery Project

Chris Harman of the Capel Battery Preservation Group provides an update on a project to restore the remnants of the structures at Capel on the north of the Weald.

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A Roman military discovery in Gravesend?
A Roman military discovery in Gravesend?

Recently published findings from the excavations of the Kent Archaeological Rescue Unit in Gravesend in 1989 draw attention to the discovery of a riverside Romano-British settlement over an area of at least 5 acres, a road extending inland, and a possible Roman military site.

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‘Fortress Maidstone’ by Clive Holden now available on Society website
‘Fortress Maidstone’ by Clive Holden now available on Society website

Clive Holden’s report is the culmination of his two years research into the military history of Maidstone in the Second World War and the plans for its defence.

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Featured
Defending Chatham 1939-1941
Defending Chatham 1939-1941

Kent Defence Research Group, 2024. Maidstone: Kent Archaeological Society.

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Could Hitler have captured ‘Tonbridge Fortress’? How a market town prepared to confront a Nazi invasion during Britain’s darkest hour
Could Hitler have captured ‘Tonbridge Fortress’? How a market town prepared to confront a Nazi invasion during Britain’s darkest hour

Paul Tritton of the Kent Defence Research Group, 2020, Maidstone: Kent Archaeological Society

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Fortress Maidstone
Fortress Maidstone

By Clive Holden of the Kent Defences Research Group.

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Featured
Kent’s twentieth-century Military and Civil defences. Part 5 – Swale
Kent’s twentieth-century Military and Civil defences. Part 5 – Swale

Victor T. C. Smith, 2021, Archaeologia Cantiana, Volume 142. Maidstone: Kent Archaeological Society.

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The military pontoon bridge between Gravesend and Tilbury during the Great War

Victor Smith, 2019, Archaeologia Cantiana, Volume 140. Maidstone: Kent Archaeological Society.

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If the Kaiser should come: defending Kent during the Great War
If the Kaiser should come: defending Kent during the Great War

Victor Smith, 2016, Archaeologia Cantiana, Volume 137, pp. 63-106. Maidstone: Kent Archaeological Society.

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Kent's Twentieth Century Military and Civil Defences - Part III - Canterbury
Kent's Twentieth Century Military and Civil Defences - Part III - Canterbury

Victor T. C. Smith, 2012, Archaeologia Cantiana, Volume 132, pp. 153-188. Maidstone: Kent Archaeological Society.

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Kent's Twentieth Century Military and Civil Defences - Part II - Medway
Kent's Twentieth Century Military and Civil Defences - Part II - Medway

Victor T. C. Smith, 2011, Archaeologia Cantiana, Volume 131, pp. 159-196. Maidstone: Kent Archaeological Society.

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Featured
Kent Defence Research Group
Kent Defence Research Group

Researches the county’s defences of all types and periods through the study of records, maps, aerial photographs, ground investigation and by other means.

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Kent Defences Archive Reports available on the Society website
Kent Defences Archive Reports available on the Society website

Victor Smith has very kindly supplied scans of a number of reports, now made available on thee Society website.

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Capel Battery Project
Capel Battery Project

Chris Harman of the Capel Battery Preservation Group provides an update on a project to restore the remnants of the structures at Capel on the north of the Weald.

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Surviving Doomsday?: The Cold War Bunker at Gravesend
Surviving Doomsday?: The Cold War Bunker at Gravesend

Victor Smith, 2021, KAS Magazine, Issue 116 (Summer 2021). Maidstone: Kent Archaeological Society.

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Kent’s twentieth-century Military and Civil defences. Part 5 – Swale
Kent’s twentieth-century Military and Civil defences. Part 5 – Swale

Victor T. C. Smith and Alan Anstee, 2021, Archaeologia Cantiana, Volume 142. Maidstone: Kent Archaeological Society.

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A Roman military discovery in Gravesend?
A Roman military discovery in Gravesend?

Recently published findings from the excavations of the Kent Archaeological Rescue Unit in Gravesend in 1989 draw attention to the discovery of a riverside Romano-British settlement over an area of at least 5 acres, a road extending inland, and a possible Roman military site.

Read More →
‘Fortress Maidstone’ by Clive Holden now available on Society website
‘Fortress Maidstone’ by Clive Holden now available on Society website

Clive Holden’s report is the culmination of his two years research into the military history of Maidstone in the Second World War and the plans for its defence.

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A gun for Slough Fort
A gun for Slough Fort

Keith Gulvin provides an update on the restoration of Slough Fort, Allhallows.

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General Gordon's Key?
General Gordon's Key?

Victor Smith highlights an iron key thought to have been used by Lt. Col. Charles G. Gordon (later General of Khartoum fame) during his stay at New Tavern Fort in Gravesend from 1865-71 when acting as Commanding Royal Engineer for the Thames District.

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New Defence Project at Gravesend
New Defence Project at Gravesend

With a study of Kent’s defences during the Great War submitted to the editor of Archaeologia Cantiana for publication and an historical overview of the 20th century defences of Thanet near completion, two research and publication projects by Victor Smith are scheduled to begin in 2016.

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The artillery of the Great War anti-invasion defences of Swale
The artillery of the Great War anti-invasion defences of Swale

Volume 23 of the Journal of the Ordnance Society has been published including a pap“r The artillery of the Great War anti-invasion defences of the Swale area of Kent” by Alan Anstee.

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Guns at Gravesend
Guns at Gravesend

New Tavern Fort (armed from the 1780s-1908) on Gravesend’s riverside displays a regionally important collection of 12 pieces of historic artillery.

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Stockbury Valley Defence Line Records
Stockbury Valley Defence Line Records

Report for the KAS AGM by Alan R. Anstee.

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Thanet Defences Project
Thanet Defences Project

Following a meeting with historians of Thanet’s military past, an assessment has begun of the available documentary sources to support a possible new project for an enhanced study of the defences of this council district. 

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Archcliffe exploding gun
Archcliffe exploding gun

Kyn of the Kent History Forum recounts the tale of the explosion of a 32-pounder smoothbore muzzle-loading gun mounted along the front of the battery of Archcliffe Fort on a Thursday evening of August 1860.

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Preparing for Doomsday
Preparing for Doomsday

The history and archaeology of a Cold War bunker at Gravesend: a research and reporting project.

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Fort Luton
Fort Luton

Kyn of the Kent History Forum reports on recent work at Fort Luton, Chatham.

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Hope for a decaying Tudor Blockhouse at Gravesend?
Hope for a decaying Tudor Blockhouse at Gravesend?

Displayed in a fenced area in Royal Pier Road on Gravesend’s riverside are the brick and stone remains of one of a network of five cross-firing artillery blockhouses built by Henry VIII in 1539/40 to guard the river approaches to London.

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A Fatal Fire at Milton Regis 1915
A Fatal Fire at Milton Regis 1915

In February 1915 with large numbers of troops billeted in and around Sittingbourne the potential benefits of having troops in the area was demonstrated by the effects of a fire in King Street.

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The Sad End of the Sergeant Major's Career
The Sad End of the Sergeant Major's Career

Alan R. Anstee reports on the trial, first seen in the 23rd January 1915 edition of the Kent Messenger, of John Murphy, alias Hugh Charles Caston a Royal Engineer Company Sergeant Major.

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Fan Bay Deep Shelter
Fan Bay Deep Shelter

Fan Bay Deep Shelter is a system of underground tunnels located on the edge of Fan Hole on the White Cliffs. The shelter is located on the land which was purchased in the national appeal to buy the remaining section of the White Cliffs in 2012.

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Volunteering opportunities at a number of Kent’s historic forts
Volunteering opportunities at a number of Kent’s historic forts

There are volunteering opportunities at a number of Kent’s historic forts. These can be interestingly varied.

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The Battle of Britain that Never Was!
The Battle of Britain that Never Was!

In May 2014 the Historic Defence Committee in partnership with KAS, Maidstone Museum and KCC ran a battlefield tour of the WW1 defensive sites of Swale and Sheppey.

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An Overview of the 20th Century Military and Civil Defences of Swale
An Overview of the 20th Century Military and Civil Defences of Swale

By Victor T.C. Smith (with contributions from Alan Anstee). General and local context for the assistance of those participating in the Defence of Swale project.

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The Defence of Swale Project
The Defence of Swale Project

The Defence of Swale project is a London Array funded and Kent County Council administered heritage project. The project is designed to map and catalogue 20th century military and civil defence assets of Swale to provide an overview of Swale’s defence heritage.

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