PFS Publications

 

The Society has published several booklets connected with the Victorian Fortifications of the UK. These are as follows:-

 

British Fortification in the Late 19th and Early 20th Centuries - Nick Dyer

A general history and description of the fortifications built to defend the major harbours of Britain including a gazeteer and resource list for the newcomer to the subject.

A4 format, 36 pages, illustrated with many example plans and photographs of forts.

ISBN 0 9523634 61 Price £4.00 Sterling

 

 

Arming the Forts. David Moore.

A description of the ordnance of the Victorian land Forts. This includes the 7-inch Rifled Breech Loading gun, the 64pr, Rifled Muzzle loading gun, the 13-inch mortar, the 40 and 20 pr. Rifled Breech loader, the Moncrieff mounting and the 6.6-inch howitzer.

A4 format, 40 pages, illustrated.

ISBN 0 9523634 0 2 Price £4.00 Sterling

 

 

A Handbook of Military Terms. David Moore.

An explanation and A to Z of terms associated withVictorian forts with tables of information on ordnance, carriages, platforms and other related matters.

A5 format 66 pages.

ISBN 0 9523634 2 9 Price £5.00 Sterling

 

 

Mallet's Mortar. David Moore & Geoffrey Salter.

A history and description of the two largest mortars ever built. Designed to bombard Sebastopol, they each weighed 30 tons and had a calibre of 36 inches, firing shells weighing over a ton. One mortar now stands outside the headquarters of the Society, the Museum of Artillery of the Royal Armouries, at Fort Nelson.

A4 format - 12 pages.

ISBN 0 9523634 3 7 Price £1.50 Sterling

 

 

 

The Brennan Torpedo. Alec Beanse.

The Brennan Torpedo was an ingenious wire-guided and powered torpedo, invented and developed by Louis Brennan in the late 1880s and 1890s. It was adopted for use in the defences of the UK and at two stations abroad, Hong Kong and Malta, for a short period to 1906. During its brief operational life it was operated by the Royal Engineers. Some of the great Victorian coast defence forts were modified to receive Brennan Torpedo stations whilst other stations were built from new. The existence of this amazing piece of defence engineering has, up to now, been little known. The method of its operation, the nature of of the mechanism by which it worked and the story of this torpedo's development has been painstakingly researched over many years by the author, who now explains how it worked and how it was incorporated into the Victorian defences.
A4 format on high gloss art paper, 64 pages with many illustrations and photographs.

ISBN 0 9523634 4 5 Price £5.00 Sterling

 

 

 

The London Mobilisation Centres : Alec Beanse and Roger Gill

A4 format, card covers, 80 pages; A description of the purpose behind, the building and the history of the late Victorian defence scheme to protect London with detailed isometric drawings and plans.

ISBN 0 9523634 5 3 Price £7.50 Sterling.

PFS members can purchase this book at the special discount price of £6.00.

 

Also available

The Solent Papers

 

No.1 Spitbank and the Spithead Forts by Garry Mitchell

A4 format, card covers, 40 pages; with drawings, black and white photographs and plans explaining the construction, purpose and history of the four forts in the sea at Spithead, Spitbank, Horse Sand, No Mans Land and St. Helens forts.

ISBN 0 9513234 6 6 Price £4.00 Sterling

 

 

No.2 The Needles Defences by Anthony Cantwell

A4 format, card covers, 36 pages; with drawings, black and white photographs and plans explaining the construction, purpose and history of the forts on the west side of the Isle of Wight, including The Needles batteries, Hurst Castle, Warden Point, Hatherwood, Freshwater Redoubt, Forts Albert and Victoria, Golden Hill, Cliff End and the later battery at Bouldnor.

ISBN 0 9513234 0 9 Price £4.00 Sterling

 

 

No.3 Fort Nelson and the Portsdown Forts by Garry Mitchell

A4 format, card covers, 36 pages; with drawings, black and white photographs and plans explaining the construction, purpose and history of the forts on Portsdown Hill. Including Forts Wallington, Nelson, Southwick, Widley, and Purbrook with its outworks at Farlington and Crookhorn.

ISBN 0 9513234 5 8 Price £4.00 Sterling

 

 

No.4 Hilsea Lines and Portsbridge by Garry Mitchell

A4 format, card covers, 36 pages; with drawings, black and white photographs and plans explaining the construction, purpose and history of the Hilsea Lines at Portsbridge Portsmouth.

ISBN 0 9513234 7 4 Price £4.00 Sterling

 

 

No.5 Fort Gilkicker by David Moore

A4 format, card covers, 44 pages; with drawings, black and white photographs and plans explaining the construction, purpose and history of the great Coast Defence battery at Stokes Bay, Gosport.

ISBN 0 9513234 0 7 Price £4.50 Sterling

 

 

No.6 Fort Brockhurst and the Gomer-Elson Forts by David Moore

A4 format, card covers, 60 pages on high gloss art paper; with drawings, black and white photographs and plans explaining the construction, purpose and history of the Gosport Advanced line of forts: including Forts Gomer, Grange, Rowner, Brockhurst and Elson.

ISBN 0 9513234 3 1 Price £5.00 Sterling

 

 

No.7 Fort Fareham by David Moore

A4 format, card covers, 24 pages; with drawings, black and white photographs and plans explaining the construction, purpose and history of the only one of the outer line of forts constructed to defend the western approach to Portsmouth Harbour.

ISBN 0 9513234 8 2 Price £4.00 Sterling

 

 

Plymouth Papers

 

No.1 Crownhill Fort by David Moore

A4 format, card covers, 36 pages; with drawings, black and white photographs and plans explaining the construction, purpose and history of the most important fort constructed to defend the north eastern approaches to Plymouth Harbour.

ISBN 0 9513234 4 X Price £4.00 Sterling

 

 

How to Order

 

 

An order form for the above publications can be printed out from this website.

PFS Publications

Solent Papers

 

Alternatively some of the publications can be purchased online via www.amazon.co.uk.

 

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