Defending the East Coast.

The Illustrated War News, Number 21, Dec. 30, 1914 carried this photograph and story of the cliff defences that were put in place against a threatened invasion by the Kaiser’s army.

The Home Defence Force was a popular outlet for those men unable to join the regular army.




DEFENDING OUR EAST COAST FROM INVADERS: ENTRENCHMENTS OF THE TYPE USED AT THE FRONT, ON THE CLIFFS.

The entrenchment of the East Coast is not only a wise precaution, but the work of digging and fitting up the trenches is excellent practice for the troops who may later on be called upon to do similar work abroad. It will be seen from our photographs that the trenches on the East Coast are constructed on the latest pattern as developed in the war, with deep passage-ways, roofed sections, traverses, and zigzags to avoid an enfilading fire from the flank. They are, indeed, to judge by the photograph, remarkably similar to those constructed at the front in France and Flanders. Even if occasion should not arise to use them against the enemy, the labour of making them has not by any means been in vain