US CAST METAL TURRETED PILLBOXES, PILLBOX STUDY GROUP

UNITED STATES CAST METAL

TURRETED PILLBOX + OTHER CONCRETE PILLBOXES

JOHN D. BENNETT

Kaneohe, Oahu, Hawaii, U.S.A.

I am a member of "The Coast Defense Study Group" in the USA and a resident of the Island of Oahu in the Hawaiian Islands.

I am curious as to whether or not your group has come across any cast-metal turreted pillboxes in the U.K. in conjunction with defenses of Yank bomber bases. The pillboxes were manufactured by the Union Casting Division of the Blaw-Know Company of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, U.S.A., and reported to have been emplaced from Bermuda to the Far East.

I have attached two photographs showing an example found at Sitka.

The pillboxes were buried in the ground and entered via the circular corrugated metal tube through a circular opening in the wall of the pillbox, and able to traverse 360 degrees via a hand wheel..

These two photos depict the extant example found at Sitka, Alaska. Photographs identified as Turret-VW2 and VW3 depicted a sole example imbedded in the ground outside of a security fence of a Naval Communications and Munitions Depot on the Island of Oahu, Hawaii.

I thank you in advance for any assistance that you are able to provide me with this request.

I viewed the photos of the "Allen Williams" and "Tett Turret" and found them to be rather unique. The cast metal pillboxes also include an example located at Shemya Island in the Aleutians. So far I have recorded several on the Island of Oahu in the Hawaiian Islands, one at Eastern Island, Midway Atoll, and one each at Sitka and Shemya Island, Alaska. The cast metal turret or cupola of one example on the Island of Oahu was manufactured by the Blaw Knox's Union Casting Division of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, which was identified by a trademark cast on the top of the turret.

I have included several photos of pillbox types found on the Island of Oahu, Hawaii. It is a WW2 mass-produced variant built of reinforced concrete and built either at Army engineer base yards, then transported to the site, or poured in place on site depending on the location. It includes four firing embrasures, one to each wall, and is located on the west coast of Oahu on the coastline at Makua.

The other photos represent an a typical design of a reinforced concrete pillbox with one example located at Nimitz Beach at the former Naval Air Station Barbers Point (NASBP), Oahu. Two other examples are found at Midway Atoll and Palmyra Island, respectively, both sites of former WW2 US Navy airfields.

Another Pillbox is located at Nimitz Beach at the former NASBP, Oahu. It is found only at Nimitz Beach at the former NASBP and is unique in that two sections of a reinforced concrete structure are joined together, one able to fire towards the sea and the other towards land.

The following photographs are of the same WW2 Pillbox, one of four, built during the early months of the war by the 27th Infantry Regiment at the northwest outer slope of Makapuu Headland at the southeast corner of the Island of Oahu in the Hawaiian Islands.

I took the photos and would like to share them with your group.

The attached photos depict a solitary example of a WW2 pillbox located at "Nimitz Beach" at the former Naval Air Station Barbers Point now known as Kalaeloa Airport. I have seen photos of similar pillboxes extant on Midway and Palmyra Atolls, both locales were USN airfields that played a part in America's defenses.

Below is another variant found at the former Naval Air Station Barbers Point, Oahu.

It is entered from the rear below ground level and appears to have housed at least two men.

Below are photos of a 1934 concrete prototype Pillbox, one of twelve completed in June 1934 that were placed around the Island of Oahu.

I am aware of three extant examples of this type pillbox.

The example pictured is situated on the west bank of the entrance to Honolulu Harbor on Sand Island. It includes four embrasures, one to each wall. The embrasures have been closed to keep vandals and vagrants out.

The pillboxes were replaced by thicker-built variants with smaller embrasures during WWII.

Best Regards,

John D. Bennett, member
Coast Defense Study Group
Kaneohe, Hawaii, U.S.A.