1. The History
An Allan Williams Turret is a Pillbox formed by a metal turret, which could be rotated through a full 360 degrees, set above a steel and brick-lined pit. It was designed for a machine gun to be fired either through the front loophole, which was further protected by shutters, or through the circular opening in the roof in a light anti-aircraft role. According to the manufacturer, it was suitable for Vickers, Bren, Hotchkiss, or Lewis machine guns in either a ground defence or anti-aircraft role, or a Boys anti-tank rifle or rifle grenade for ground defence.
The turret was designed by A.H. Williams in conjunction with Colonel V.T.R. Ford and Lieutenant Williamson. Williams was MD of Rustproof Metal Windows Company in Saltney, Chester where the turrets were produced. The turret had a “garrison” of two men or, if necessary three men. Seated on folding seats inside, one man would rotate the cupola, which was mounted on roller bearings and required 15 lb of force to move it. Easy to install, four men could dig the position out and install the turret in two hours at a cost about £125 per turret.
Nearly 200 Allan Williams Turrets were made and installed but salvaging of the metal after the war means that only 33 remain, in various states of repair, including one on display at the Imperial War Museum, Duxford.
Bizarrely, can’t find a single archive picture of one from World War II.
2. The Explore
OK – so this was about as small an “explore” as you can get. You wouldn’t really know this one was there unless you were really looking for it. So, yeah, I know it’s stretching it a bit doing a report, but I’ve got a soft-spot for these wartime-R2D2s. It’s a very small space and makes an ROC post look like an underground bunker system. But popping this fella in here as good things come in small packages and they need to be seen!
3. The Pictures
A few externals:
Sadly minus it's lids/shutters now...
The entry trench:
And we’re in. One of three small caster-wheels the turret revolved on. It apparently took 15lb of force to rotate it manually:
The lower hatch was for mounting the gun to fire at ground targets:
You can just see the upper gun bracket here there the gun was mounted for anti-aircraft purposes:
And one last panorama shot...
An Allan Williams Turret is a Pillbox formed by a metal turret, which could be rotated through a full 360 degrees, set above a steel and brick-lined pit. It was designed for a machine gun to be fired either through the front loophole, which was further protected by shutters, or through the circular opening in the roof in a light anti-aircraft role. According to the manufacturer, it was suitable for Vickers, Bren, Hotchkiss, or Lewis machine guns in either a ground defence or anti-aircraft role, or a Boys anti-tank rifle or rifle grenade for ground defence.
The turret was designed by A.H. Williams in conjunction with Colonel V.T.R. Ford and Lieutenant Williamson. Williams was MD of Rustproof Metal Windows Company in Saltney, Chester where the turrets were produced. The turret had a “garrison” of two men or, if necessary three men. Seated on folding seats inside, one man would rotate the cupola, which was mounted on roller bearings and required 15 lb of force to move it. Easy to install, four men could dig the position out and install the turret in two hours at a cost about £125 per turret.
Nearly 200 Allan Williams Turrets were made and installed but salvaging of the metal after the war means that only 33 remain, in various states of repair, including one on display at the Imperial War Museum, Duxford.
Bizarrely, can’t find a single archive picture of one from World War II.
2. The Explore
OK – so this was about as small an “explore” as you can get. You wouldn’t really know this one was there unless you were really looking for it. So, yeah, I know it’s stretching it a bit doing a report, but I’ve got a soft-spot for these wartime-R2D2s. It’s a very small space and makes an ROC post look like an underground bunker system. But popping this fella in here as good things come in small packages and they need to be seen!
3. The Pictures
A few externals:
Sadly minus it's lids/shutters now...
The entry trench:
And we’re in. One of three small caster-wheels the turret revolved on. It apparently took 15lb of force to rotate it manually:
The lower hatch was for mounting the gun to fire at ground targets:
You can just see the upper gun bracket here there the gun was mounted for anti-aircraft purposes:
And one last panorama shot...
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One of my reasons for doing this hobby/passion is research 
