Forums Forums Wirral History : Chasing the Past History Information Request Stanley Avenue/WW2 Rocket Site

The radar site beside Levers Causeway has Stanley Avenue on the other side, this had a WW2 rocket projector, does anybody now whereabouts this was located?

There is a path at the end of Stanley Avenue that continues to a building of sorts that was there in 1970 (before mobile sites), does anybody know what this is? 3 pictures are attached, I am wondering if it is just a pump station.

If from this building you go straight across to levers causeway, where the southern end of the copse joins the road. Right in the corner of this field there used to be some sort of concrete structure.

That site pictured has been mentioned before, but I don't remember whether anyone knew what it was. Looking on Livesearch, it ought to be possible to follow the track to it from the end of Stanley Avenue. It may have something on it which would identify it. Any volunteers?
I can't say I've ever heard of the rocket projector. Interesting.

I would hazard a guess that it's a sewage/water flow gauging point. Have seen similar green cabinets alongside surface water/sewage chambers before.

It's surely within a few minutes drive of local folk to nip along and have a look. Plates on cabinet, types of manhole covers, comms.connections, phone number displayed, sounds of running water ???

Hi-vis jacket, wellies, white hard hat, clipboard, confident manner. Go for it ....... and report back !

The picture below is of a "Z" site rocket launcher, it's from the book "ack ack" by Sir Frederick Pyle, around 1951.

The location is unnamed, but I think it is in the dips at New Brighton, which was a Z Site, I have some others which I'll have to scan.



also for fun, a picture of the Mersey gun forts :

better pics:

Z battery rocket site ( I believe to be the New Brighton "Dips" )



Z battery rockets



Z battery multiple launcher



Mersey Maunsell AA forts

Thanks W10694 - good stuff.

I will have a quick look tomorrow if I'm free. That green box does look like the sewage pump box, sometimes they have am orange light on top to remind you that you are up to your neck in sewage, when it has gone wrong.

I think this was the rocket launcher site - the sewage people might of taken advantage that there was already a path & eleccy there.

Source for Stanley Ave was "Birkenhead at War"

Rocket launch sites for Merseyside (from Pastscape):

ZH1 Noctorum SJ287 879
ZH2 Bebington SJ3074 8534 (which puts it at NW corner of copse, I think - but please check!)
ZH3 Wallasey SJ 286 931 (is this New Brighton?)
ZH4 Bootle (actually near Walton hospital) SJ355 954
ZH5 Newsham Park SJ376 920
ZH6 Princes Park SJ366 881

Interesting that Bebington has 8 digit location - but with the accuracy of other sites it may mean could be anywhere within eyesight.

the problem with the rockets was mathematical !

The home guard were not allowed to perform more than 48 hours training and and duty in 28 days.

The rockets were laid out in groups of 64 single barrelled projectors, the Liverpool sites were formed in 1941.

Every site, each night needed 178 Home Guard personnel, therefore 1400 Home Guard were required for each rocket site !

The problem was not recruiting, but a training one.

Presumably the Wallasey site really meant New Brighton, which was in the dips, the original pic above does look convincing.

Thanks for that info. Interesting that they give an 8 fig. ref. for ZH2 (+/- 10 metres). Using the current 1:25,000 (2 1/2 inches to the mile) O.S. map & measuring accurately with dividers, it puts the site half way between the NW corner of Marsh Hey Covert (which I played in as a child), & the site under discussion. I have no memory of anything there after the war, but I can't trust my memory any more! I wonder how accurate the ref. is; I would have thought very accurate, since they've used 8 fig.

Cheers, Chris.

That's an amazing number! More than Captain Mainwaring could have coped with!! My father was in the Home Guard (he was in a reserved occupation; shipbuilding). I wonder if he ever manned that site.

Cheers, Chris.

The 1951 "ackack" book is an excellent read (Author Sir Frederick Pile), it's often on Ebay. He gives it as it was !

yes - the 48 hours duty in 28 days was quite a restriction ! the figures are Sir F P's own, so should be accurate.

Great pics w10694,and some great info on this thread guys.

The rocket sites were apparently very "lightweight" and took up a lot of space. The only "concrete" they needed was a couple of square yards of 6 inch thick concrete to stand each launcher on, and a shed / nissen hut for storage, and one for the staff, so very little would remain. The concrete hard standings were usually in a regular pattern.

The launchers came in various "multiplicies" (my own word !), single, double, nines and 20's.

There were quite a number of rocket sites, as they were very cheap, easy to put up (all you needed really was flat field) - the opposite of HAA guns.

They tended to be favoured near ports for some reason.

Wow - really great photos!

The sea platforms are really impressive

You'll need to be a good climber - there's a big fence with a locked gate at the end of Stanley Av. You may be better off cutting accross the fields from halfway along Lever Causeway.