World War One Audit of Surviving Remains
Date 16 August 2013
Event ID 963314
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type World War One Audit of Surviving Remains
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/963314
The island was first manned for defence on 16 March 1915, when 72 NCOs and men from the Royal Garrison Artillery in Leith crossed to Inchcolm and Inchmickery. On Inchcolm they were to man a battery of eight 12-pdr Quick Firing guns (see NT18SE 22.02) and two or three Defence Electric Lights (powerful searchlights to illuminate targets at night, see see NT18SE 22.08). These guns and lights were explicitly intended to ‘cover’ the anti-submarine boom that controlled access up the Forth from this point. A map of August 1915 (The National Archives WO 78/4417) shows the location of the eight guns, as well as the layout of the men’s accommodation. Two of the guns were placed in the western part of the island (“H” Group) and six in the eastern part, around the summit of that part of the island (“O” Group facing north; “M” Group facing NE and “L” Group facing SE). The Battery Command Post and the Electric Light Director were behind these six guns. The 1915 map shows three electric lights, all in the eastern part of the island, one at the northern corner, at two at the eastern tip.
The defences of the island were reworked as part of a larger-scale reorganisation of the defences of the Forth in 1916-17 in which Inchcolm was to be provided with a far heavier armament. Two of the 12-pdr guns were to be retained (“O” Group). A battery of four 4-inch QF guns was built just in advance of the other 12-pdr emplacements on the east part (“M” and “L”) (see NT18SE 22.01) and at the top of the hill a powerful battery of two 6-inch guns was built (see NT18SE 22.05), along with a new Battery Control Post. In the western part of the island the “H” Group of two 12-pdrs was replaced by four 4.7-inch QF guns (see NT18SE 22.04). The 6-inch guns came from two batteries in England. The 4.7-inch guns came from batteries at Dalmeny and Downing Point, having previously been moved to those batteries from Kinghorn in October 1914. The 4-inch Mk V guns were new. Drawings (The National Archives WO 78/5181) suggest that the 4-inch guns were originally intended to be Mk III, and that drawings had to be amended to alter the emplacements slightly to accommodate more up-to-date Mk V guns and their more modern carriages. The Mk III guns were sent to Inchmickery.
The armament lists for 1916 and 1921 note the the following batteries:
“O” Group - 2x6-inch; 2x12-pdr
“L” & “M” - 4x4-inch [east part of island]
“H” - 4x4.7-inch [west part of island]
By 1921 the names of the groups had changed, although only the No 2 gun of each pair was at that stage being maintained.
Eastern part of island
R1/R2 2x12-pdrs, formerly “O” Group - these guns had been returned to the Navy.
Q1/Q2 2x6-inch guns, formerly also “O” Group
M1/M2 2x4-inch guns
O1/O2 2x4-inch guns
Western part of island
H1/H2 2x4.7-inch guns
L1/L2 2x4.7-inch guns
By 1921 Inchcolm was the site of the Fire Control command for the whole Middle Line of the Forth defence. A Fire Control Post was built on the west part of the island possibly around this time, and used again in the Second World War.
In 1930 the station and its equipment were dismantled: the 6-inch guns were sent to Inchkeith. The 4-inch guns were returned to the depot and the 4.7-inch guns were broken up for scrap.
The island was re-armed in October 1939, when two 12-pdrs were installed on the old 6-inch gun emplacements (see NT18SE 22.10). A twin 6-pdr gun was later installed, supposedly on one of the old 4-inch emplacements, but possibly on a new emplacement (NT18SE 22.01) and various lighter guns (Bofors AA and 2-pdr ‘pom pom’) were installed on the island.
Information from HS/RCAHMS World War One Audit Project (GJB) 16 August 2013.
