Anti-Invasion Defences of the Forth – WWI

< Military History around the Forth

Introduction

At the beginning of the 20th century the British Army began to plan systematically against the invasion of the east coast of Scotland, at first from a range of European enemies, but increasingly in the face of a perceived growing threat from Germany. Much of what was planned and built in the Second World War reflected earlier arrangements but there is no evidence that those in charge in the later war were aware of their predecessors’ work .

The defences planned in Scotland were a development of arrangements made in southern England from the 1880s, when the perceived threat was a French attack on London. The extension of defences to the east coast of Scotland reflected growing concerns about the vulnerability to a German attack.

The Riddle of the Sands by Erskine Childers was one of a number of ‘invasion novels’ written between 1871 (The Battle of Dorking) and 1914 , based on the premise that a continental power (usually Germany) was planning or had undertaken a surprise attack on the largely unprotected east coast of Britain.  These novels reflected, and indeed helped to fuel, the growing commercial and naval rivalry and tension between Britain and Germany.

Location map, showing the main anti-invasion features.

Background to the plans

Anti-invasion defences – background
Anti-invasion Defence Schemes 1900 to 1912
Anti-invasion Defences Planned or Built – 1914 to 18

Plans for specific location in the Forth

Fife shore

Fife Ness (Naval Radio Station)
Largo Bay
Methil–Balgonie line
Around and inland from Kinghorn
Inchkeith
Downing Point battery
Braefoot battery
The Crombie Royal Naval Armaments Depot
The northern approaches to the Forth Bridge, incorporating the defences of Carlingnose and Coastguard batteries, Rosyth Dockyard, and Castlandhill Naval Radio Station

Lothian shore

The southern approaches to the Forth Bridge, incorporating the defences of the Dalmeny
Hound Point
Blackness Castle
The beaches west of Dunbar
Beaches to the north and north-west of Gullane
The coast at Prestongrange
Edinburgh