Gunnery school site, Great Orme

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In 1940, early in the Second World War, the government decided that with the threat of Nazi invasion and bombing the Royal Artillery’s Coastal Gunnery School should be relocated from Shoeburyness, Essex, to somewhere safer. After much searching of the west coast of Britain, officials chose an area of the Great Orme at the end of Llys Helyg Drive. The site was considered ideal both for its location and its wide estuary mouth, which provided anchorage for target vessels.

Photo of gun firing at coastal artillery school, Great OrmeTraining began in September 1940. In addition to the Gunnery Wing, a Searchlight Wing and a Wireless Wing were established. In April 1941, the first wireless courses began, for training in radio location and radar. A practice battery was built in the quarry of the Little Orme which was used for training and also as a part of the coastal defences.

By 1942 there were 150 officers, 115 cadets and 445 other ranks at the Great Orme gunnery school. They were able to run 14 courses at a time. The personnel were mostly accommodated in local Llandudno hotels and boarding houses.The HQ was in the One Ash Hotel. More than 130 local women married servicemen based at the gunnery school. Men connected with the school fathered an estimated 70 Llandudno babies.

Red flags or red lights (at night) were hoisted around the area, including at Llandudno lighthouse, West Shore bathing pool and Penmon coastguard station (Anglesey), to denote when firing was taking place. Bye-laws introduced in 1942 prohibited the public from entering the foreshore of the firing range or taking vessels into the sea area. Collecting bullets, shells or other projectiles was also banned – with fines of £5 for anyone breaking the bye-laws.

Aerial view of Great Orme gunnery school site in 1947Firing had to cease if aircraft were in the vicinity, flying below certain heights.

In 1942 the Llandudno Home Guard were trained on six-inch and 12-pounder guns, and on the searchlights. In 1943 they were officially named as the Coast Artillery Battery, Home Guard.

The three searchlight stations are still intact but not easily accessible. The site was vacated by 1946 and in the 1950s most of the installations were demolished. The aerial photo, courtesy of the Welsh Government, shows the site in 1947.

With thanks to John Lawson-Reay, of the Llandudno & Colwyn Bay History Society, Adrian Hughes, of the Home Front Museum, and the Welsh Government

 

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Footnotes: Recollections of the site

David Kavanagh of Llandudno recalls: "After the war at least 50 people lived in the gun emplacements. There was a shortage of housing. The last people left in the 1960s. I used to play there with the kids who lived there. They would taxi the kids to school in Llandudno if they were under 10 or 11. The ones who were over 11 had to walk, even if the taxi was picking up a younger brother or sister."

John Lawson-Reay of Llandudno recalls: “My father, a Llandudno GP, had a cabin cruiser named Jancis. It was registered as a Conwy fishing boat. One day he was trawling in Conwy Bay, nearer to Puffin Island, when a salvo of shells dropped around him. He quickly hauled up his fishing nets and beat a hasty exit from the area. Apparently the gunnery school had mistaken his boat for the target vessel which should have been in that area.”

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