I went to Kos in the Greek Islands back in August and spent a couple of days looking the old bunkers, more like pillboxes, that litter the northeast coast between the small resorts of Tingaki and Lambi. There are some more on the main road that runs the length of the island and probably others as well. If you take a coach or bus from Tingaki to Kos Town, you can see literally dozens of these structures. It would take a while, probably a mountain bike, as a large stretch of the coastline is not served by a road and a dedicated visit out of season to see them all. Temperatures on Kos this August reached 50 degrees on a couple of days, UE is not pleasant in those conditions.
I can’t find out much about these structures, its obvious that they were built to defend against a Turkish invasion, as Kos is only a few miles from Turkey, which dominates the horizon. In fact at certain places on this stretch of coast, the mobile phone signal is a Turkish and not a Greek one. No-one seems to know much about them, either the locals are too cagey or the British ex-pats aren’t bothered. I can find nothing on the internet either. A lot of them are in very good external condition, despite being feet from the sea and subject to winter storms. Almost all the ones I looked at are firmly locked. As with many structures abroad, the locals don’t seem to find breaking in and chavving them up a useful pastime. I’m guessing they went out of use in the 1990’s, but this is only speculation.
If anyone wants to see more pictures, I took over 200. I’d also be interested in finding out any more information, or if they are similar structures on other island close to the Turkish mainland.
This is what I call a standard bunker. The gun embrasure is quite well inset on this example.
The entrance. It still has green camouflage material attached
Down into the entrance. Note the sign on the door. Tresspassers will be prosecuted in Greek and English. I saw a few such signs. The door was securely shut
Here’s another one. Less foliage growth on this example. You can see the solid concrete construction.
All of this type of pillbox I found were securely locked. This is a shot inside the gun embrasure. A partition wall halfway across and what looks like a gun mount.
A closeup of what looks like a ventilation pipe on another pillbox. It wouldn’t have been pleasant inside a concrete box in a Greek summer.
A large version spotted amongst houses and fields. It looks like it is on private land, so bearing in mind the common ownership of guns and large dogs in Greece, I reluctantly didn’t investigate closer.
Another type of structure. This looks like it could take a small artillery piece. The two holes in the walls could have held ammunition.
Another artillery bunker a few miles up the coast. This one has the remains of doors.
A large bunker with two embrasures. It was very overgrown with nasty prickly stuff. Just off to the left is the Lambi military base with a large “No Photography†sign and armed squaddies at the gate. It pays to be a bit careful in Greece when wielding a camera near military stuff
The entrance to one of two bunkers located a few hundred yards apart on the coast road at Lambi on the northeast of Kos.
Front view
You could just get a camera through the door. It looks like an infantry bunker with two gunports and firesteps
The other one was open. This is a view out of the gunport
One of the firesteps. Looks like a sandbag
The area at Lambi has a lot of structures, including these smaller pillboxes located right on the edge of the water every few hundred yards. I'm guessing they are older than the larger pillboxes and bunkers
Another one with two large projections that would have fitted over the gunports. These are quite common and as the pillbox is quite small, I wonder whether the guns would have been placed inside them. They look big enough to take a heavy machine gun. Note the Turkish coast in the background
Here’s one nestling among the sunbathers. The encroachment of new hotels along here doesn’t seem to have threatened them at all, though I suppose some further inland could have been swept away in their building
As I said earlier, I have a lot more pictures if people are interested. Thanks for looking
I can’t find out much about these structures, its obvious that they were built to defend against a Turkish invasion, as Kos is only a few miles from Turkey, which dominates the horizon. In fact at certain places on this stretch of coast, the mobile phone signal is a Turkish and not a Greek one. No-one seems to know much about them, either the locals are too cagey or the British ex-pats aren’t bothered. I can find nothing on the internet either. A lot of them are in very good external condition, despite being feet from the sea and subject to winter storms. Almost all the ones I looked at are firmly locked. As with many structures abroad, the locals don’t seem to find breaking in and chavving them up a useful pastime. I’m guessing they went out of use in the 1990’s, but this is only speculation.
If anyone wants to see more pictures, I took over 200. I’d also be interested in finding out any more information, or if they are similar structures on other island close to the Turkish mainland.
This is what I call a standard bunker. The gun embrasure is quite well inset on this example.
The entrance. It still has green camouflage material attached
Down into the entrance. Note the sign on the door. Tresspassers will be prosecuted in Greek and English. I saw a few such signs. The door was securely shut
Here’s another one. Less foliage growth on this example. You can see the solid concrete construction.
All of this type of pillbox I found were securely locked. This is a shot inside the gun embrasure. A partition wall halfway across and what looks like a gun mount.
A closeup of what looks like a ventilation pipe on another pillbox. It wouldn’t have been pleasant inside a concrete box in a Greek summer.
A large version spotted amongst houses and fields. It looks like it is on private land, so bearing in mind the common ownership of guns and large dogs in Greece, I reluctantly didn’t investigate closer.
Another type of structure. This looks like it could take a small artillery piece. The two holes in the walls could have held ammunition.
Another artillery bunker a few miles up the coast. This one has the remains of doors.
A large bunker with two embrasures. It was very overgrown with nasty prickly stuff. Just off to the left is the Lambi military base with a large “No Photography†sign and armed squaddies at the gate. It pays to be a bit careful in Greece when wielding a camera near military stuff
The entrance to one of two bunkers located a few hundred yards apart on the coast road at Lambi on the northeast of Kos.
Front view
You could just get a camera through the door. It looks like an infantry bunker with two gunports and firesteps
The other one was open. This is a view out of the gunport
One of the firesteps. Looks like a sandbag
The area at Lambi has a lot of structures, including these smaller pillboxes located right on the edge of the water every few hundred yards. I'm guessing they are older than the larger pillboxes and bunkers
Another one with two large projections that would have fitted over the gunports. These are quite common and as the pillbox is quite small, I wonder whether the guns would have been placed inside them. They look big enough to take a heavy machine gun. Note the Turkish coast in the background
Here’s one nestling among the sunbathers. The encroachment of new hotels along here doesn’t seem to have threatened them at all, though I suppose some further inland could have been swept away in their building
As I said earlier, I have a lot more pictures if people are interested. Thanks for looking
