Wanstone Battery: Jane

Wanstone Farm Battery was started in 1942 with the mountings for the guns being completed on February. Building work was controlled by the War Office who were also responsible for laying the railway track to the site. The first gun to be mounted at the site was in place on 20th April 1942 with the second joining it on 19th May, at this time the battery was handed over to 540 Coast Regiment Royal Artillery.

The guns were 15 inch were wire wound and made of a composite of steel and steel wire, they were supplied by the admiralty. Jane had originally been designed for HMS Repulse and was named after a Daily Mirror cartoon character. Clem is believed to have been named after the Labour leader Clement Attlee or Winston Churchill’s wife Clementine.

The battery was designed to be offensive to keep control of the English Channel rather than defensive.