Special Acknowledgement: Once again we are greatly indebted to John Maple for his kindness in sharing these rare images from his family archive. Without his generosity and his keen eye for detail, this vital chapter of the Lancing Carriage Works story might have remained hidden in a desk drawer. Thank you, John, for helping us bring these men back into the light.
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The Lancing Belle: The Industrial Arterial
While Frank Lucas was ferrying workers across the canal at Portslade, a much larger transport operation was moving the masses. The Lancing Belle was the dedicated workmen's train that ran specifically to serve the Carriage Works.
The Route: It collected staff from Brighton, Hove, and Portslade, steaming along the coast to the dedicated 'halt' at the Lancing workshops.
The Purpose: At its peak, it carried hundreds of skilled labourers, including many of the 105,000 women who had joined the railway effort by 1943.
The Defence: Because this train carried the lifeblood of the works, the entire route—from the Gas Works gasholders to the Lancing sheds—had to be heavily defended by the Bofors gun positions we are exploring today.
Did you ever ride the 'Belle'? > Many of our readers might remember the sights and sounds of the workmen’s train, or perhaps you had a relative who worked 'up the line' at the Carriage Works while living in Portslade. If you have any memories of the journey, or stories of the 'Gassies' who made the daily trip, please share them in the comments below. Your local history helps us complete the picture!
While the Lancing Belle stood as a gleaming testament to the skill of the local railwaymen, the view from the workshop windows had changed forever. To protect the home of the Belle from 'tip-and-run' raiders, the shingle had been stripped of its civilian life. Where children once played around horse-drawn carriage 'skeletons', the Pom-pom boys of the 1st LAA Regiment now stood over their Bofors guns, eyes fixed on the Channel. The pride of the railway was now a fortress.
The Locomotive: LB&SCR A1/A1X "Terrier" Class
While many legendary engines passed through Lancing, the "Lancing Belle" name is often associated with the Stroudley A1 Class (later A1X) tank engines that served the works.
Technical Specs : These were 0-6-0T locomotives designed by William Stroudley. They were famous for their "barking" exhaust and high acceleration.
- The "Departmental" Connection: At Lancing Carriage Works, specific Terriers were used as "shunters" to move those heavy carriage bodies we've been discussing.
The Shielded Belle
The Pride (Interior): Inside the gates of the Works, the men and women are meticulously repairing these "Belles"—the carriages and engines that were the lifeblood of the South Coast.
The Shield (Exterior): Just outside the fence, on the shingle where the residents were evicted, the Bofors gunners (the "Pom-pom boys") are waiting.
- The Raid (July 1942): When the bombs fell on the Works in 1942, they hit the very heart of this operation. A bomb destroyed a carriage from Unit 1305 and damaged many others. The Bofors guns were firing over the heads of the "Lancing Belle" workers as they scrambled for cover.
From the Footplate to the Firing Lever
"The arrival of the Lancing Belle at the factory gates wasn't just a signal for the shift to begin; it was the daily heartbeat of a town at war. But as the workers stepped off those vintage LB&SCR carriages, they were stepping into a landscape that had been fundamentally altered. The very shingle that had once been home to the bohemian 'skeletons' was now a restricted zone of sandbags and steel. For men like Fred Maple, the transition was seamless: the same steady hands that operated the high-precision drills in the Frame Shop were the ones now required to 'layer' the Bofors guns. They weren't just defending a factory; they were defending the 'Belle' itself—the crown jewel of their craft—from the shadow of the Luftwaffe."
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Part 5: The Lancing Squad – Precision on the Front Line
The "Watch on the Cliffs" was not kept by strangers, but by the very men who built the Southern Railway.
As the war reached its height in 1941, the Lancing Carriage Works became more than just a factory; it became a fortress. Among the hundreds of workmen who traded their tools for Lee-Enfield rifles and Bofors guns was Frederick James Maple, a Driller from the Frame Shop.
In this fifth part of our series, we look at rare, newly discovered images from the Maple family archive. These photographs capture the "Lancing Squad" of the 18th Sussex (Home Guard) Battalion—men who spent their days amid the heat and noise of the Blacksmiths and Machine Shops, only to spend their nights standing guard on the bleak, wind-swept heights of Ovingdean Gap
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"Since posting, local historian John Maple has clarified that while the Lancing crew trained at Ovingdean, their primary mission was the four-corner defence of the Works. John recalls his father mentioning four Bofors guns in total—two on the ground and two on towers, including the one pictured here outside the Paint Shop."
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For those who know the coast road today, the Lancing Squad's position was likely near the junction where Roedean Road splits off from the A259. It’s a stunning viewpoint now, but for Fred Maple and his crew, it was a tactical necessity—offering a wide, unobstructed 'killing zone' for any German raiders attempting to slip past the Shoreham and Brighton defences."
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From the gothic towers of Roedean School shrouded in sea mist to the complex machinery of the Bofors 40mm anti-aircraft gun, these images show the "Railway Pioneers" in their dual role: craftsmen by day, and the primary shield of the Sussex coast by night.
| The faces of Lancing. Taken at the Carriage Works, this image shows the 'Lancing Squad' of the 18th Battalion. Frederick James Maple stands on the far left of the back row—a man who spent his days on high-precision drilling machines and his nights guarding the South Coast. Our guide through these images is Fred Maple (marked with the yellow arrow). Having started at the Works as a 17-year-old Hammer Boy, Fred represents the lifetime of service that defined the Lancing community. |
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| The 'Watch on the Cliffs.' Looking through the sea fret, you can see the towers of Roedean School. This was No. 3 Block, where the Lancing men operated the Bofors 40mm. Notice the Loader standing high on the platform, ready to feed the four-shell clips into the breech. |
The faces in these photographs are the faces of a community under arms. From the Wenceling cottages to the Ovingdean gun-pits, the bond between these men was forged in the Carriage Works and hardened on the front line. They weren't just soldiers; they were neighbours defending their own backyard. Nowhere is this connection clearer than in the story of Fred Maple. Thanks to his son John, we can finally look through the lens at the reality of that watch—a story of Lancing men who traded the precision of the 'Sheds' for the thunder of the Bofors gun." |
| Engineering on the front line. The Bofors was a complex piece of machinery, and who better to operate it than the men from the Frame Shop and the Finishing Road? Here we see the 'Layers' in their seats, controlling the elevation and traverse with the same steady hands they used back at the 'Sheds'. |
While they trained in the daylight for these photos, the real 'Watch' was often kept in total darkness. The Lancing men had to operate these complex machines by touch and sound, ensuring that not a single flicker of light gave away the location of the Carriage Works to the bombers above.
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In John Maples' own words, here is his account of his father, Fred and Dixy Dean, his chargehand
1/ My Fathers name was Frederick James Maple, (Fred)he had several jobs in the Works from the age of 17 until Lancing closed, at 17 he was a hammer boy in Blacksmiths shop by the time war broke out he was working in the Frame Shop on Drilling Machines 23-25 years old, after the War worked in Pipe Shop on thread cutting machine until he had an accident and was put on light duties, for the remaining years he worked in the Carriage Shop in the Trimmers stripping seat backs and cushions and working sowing machines making blinds.
2/
Dixy Dean was my charge hand in the Carriage Shop on the Finishing Road. Because of this trade, I would think he was doing this through the war years, but like my father could have had other jobs within the carriage works. My opinion is that he would have had only had the one trade.
A Lancing Gunner’s Glossary
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In John Maples' own words, here is his account of his father, Fred and Dixy Dean, his chargehand
2/
Dixy Dean was my charge hand in the Carriage Shop on the Finishing Road. Because of this trade, I would think he was doing this through the war years, but like my father could have had other jobs within the carriage works. My opinion is that he would have had only had the one trade.
To understand the world of the 18th Battalion, it helps to know the "language of the line." Here are the terms used by the men on the cliffs:
The Bofors 40mm: The "Ferrari" of anti-aircraft guns. Designed in Sweden, it could fire 120 explosive shells a minute. It was the primary defence against low-flying German "Tip and Run" raiders.
The Layer: The two men seated on the gun. One "Layer" controlled the Elevation (up and down), and the other controlled the Traverse (side to side) using hand-wheels.
The Loader: The man standing on the platform who physically dropped the 4-shell "clips" into the top of the gun. It was a heavy, exhausting job during a long engagement.
Stiffkey Sight: That complex, circular metal "spiderweb" you see above the barrel. It helped the Gunners "lead" a target—aiming where the plane would be by the time the shell arrived.
The Frame Shop: The part of the Lancing Carriage Works where the heavy chassis and frames of the railway carriages were built. Men from this shop, like Fred Maple, were highly skilled with heavy machinery and drilling.
- NCO (Non-Commissioned Officer): The leaders within the squad, like the Corporals and Sergeants. In a "Railway Squad," these were often the same men who were Chargehands or Foremen back at the Works.
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Part 5b
Did you know the Lancing Carriage Works had its own 'Steel Ring' of turrets on the roofs? In Part 5b, we look at how the 'Sheds' became a fortress, and how the deafening factory noise actually gave our local gunners a hidden advantage...
For the men inside the 'Sheds,' the war wasn't a distant threat. It was the shadow of a Focke-Wulf 190 crossing the skylights or the roar of an engine competing with the rhythmic thump of the drop-hammers. This 'Steel Ring' wasn't just about military strategy; it was about the resilience of the railwaymen who stood their ground, turning their place of work into a fortress to protect the town they called home."
The Layout of the "Steel Ring"
Where did they place the guns?
To help you place these guns on a map of the Works, here are the three most likely locations based on Southern Railway defense strategy:The North Perimeter (The Main Line): A Bofors was almost certainly placed near the Washing Plant or the Cripple Sidings. Raiders used the straight line of the tracks like a "highway" to the target. A gun here would be looking straight down the line toward Worthing.
The High Point (The Power House): The tall chimney of the Power House was the tallest landmark in Lancing. Placing Bren or Lewis guns on the roofs of the adjacent Boiler House or Engine Room provided a "bird's eye view" of any plane trying to strafe the workshops.
The South East Corner (The Entrance): Near the main gates and the Time Office. This position protected the Frame Shop (Fred's shop) and the Finishing Road. It was the "gatekeeper" position for anything coming up from the coast.
The "Frame Shop" Connection
Since Fred worked in the Frame Shop, his shop was centrally located but closer to the southern side of the site. If the alarm sounded:
Distance to Cover: He would have had to drop his tools and likely head to a sandbagged "pit" or a rooftop ladder within 30 to 60 seconds.
- The "Sawtooth" Advantage: The iconic sawtooth roofs of the Works weren't just for light; they provided excellent "nooks" for machine gun teams to hide from a pilot's view until the last possible second.
These are the tactical spots where armaments would be situated:Location in Works Likely Armament Protecting... Power House Roof Lewis Guns / Bren The factory's "Heart" (Power). North Sidings Bofors 40mm The Railway approach from Worthing. South Gate/Frame Shop LAA / Light AA The main workforce entrance. The Traverser Bofors 40mm The long corridor between the Sheds. How were guns fixed in place?
1. The "Allan-Williams" TurretThis was a very common sight on factory roofs and near airfields. It looked like a small, circular steel dome.
The Design: It was a 360-degree rotating steel turret that could be bolted down to a concrete base or even directly to the reinforced roof of a workshop.
The Weapon: Usually armed with a Lewis Gun or a Bren.
The Benefit: It provided the gunner with total protection from shell splinters and strafing while allowing them to track a plane across the entire sky.
2. The "Fortress" Mount (Pedestal Mount)
For the heavier Bofors 40mm, they used a Pedestal Mount.
Engineering: Because the Bofors had a powerful recoil, it couldn't just sit on a standard floor. At the Works, they would have likely built reinforced timber or steel "towers" or used existing concrete loading bays.
The "Platform": These were often surrounded by "Mushroom" Pillboxes—small, circular concrete shelters where the crew could dive for cover if the plane started firing back.
Imagine Fred Maple at his drilling machine. Above his head, the roof wasn't just glass and corrugated iron. Bolted to the steel girders above the Frame Shop were Allan-Williams turrets, where his colleagues sat in steel domes, scanning the horizon for the 'Tip and Run' raiders. The 'Sheds' were literally a multi-layered fortress, from the shop floor to the sky.
The Steel Ring: Rooftop Defences
When raiders like the FW-190s came screaming in low over the shingle, the guns on the beach (the ones where the "skeletons" used to be) had the first shot. But if a plane broke through that line, it faced the "Steel Ring" on the factory roofs.
The Allan-Williams Turrets: These were small, circular steel huts bolted directly to the reinforced concrete roofs of the Power House and the Boiler Rooms. They could rotate 360 degrees, allowing a gunner to track a plane as it banked over the Lancing Belle on the tracks below.
The "Sawtooth" Nest: The unique "Sawtooth" roof of the workshops provided the perfect "V" shape for sandbagged Lewis gun positions. From the air, these were almost invisible to a pilot, but for the men inside, it gave them a stable platform to fire down onto planes attempting to strafe the works.
Why the "Railway Men" were the best choice
Noise Discipline: The Works was a deafening place—pneumatic drills, hammers, and steam whistles. While a normal soldier might be startled by the sudden roar of a low-flying engine, the Lancing men were used to "reading" sounds through the industrial din.
Structural Knowledge: They knew every girder and ladder. When the "Condition Red" siren went off, the Lancing Squad didn't have to think about where to go; they knew exactly which gantry offered the best line of sight.
Does anyone remember seeing circular concrete 'rings' on the ground near the old entrances, or strange steel 'cupolas' on the roofs before the Works were demolished? These would have been the mounting points for our local air defence.
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The Day the "Shield" was Tested: The July 1942 Damage Report
When the "Tip-and-Run" raiders cleared the coastline in July 1942, the "Steel Ring" had only seconds to respond. The Luftwaffe wasn't just dropping bombs; they were aiming for the heart of Lancing’s industrial pride.
The Direct Hit (The Canteen): The most devastating blow was a direct hit on the Works Canteen. Because the raid occurred during daylight hours, the loss of life was a profound shock to the community. It turned a place of rest into a scene of recovery, showing that no part of the "Sheds" was safe.
The Frame Shop (Fred’s Ground): A high-explosive bomb detonated near the southern perimeter of the Frame Shop. The blast shattered the iconic "sawtooth" glass roofs, raining shards down on the machinery. While the Bofors guns on the roof were firing back, the men below—including Fred Maple—were diving for cover amidst the roar of BMW engines and the whistle of falling glass.
Rolling Stock Loss (Unit 1305): The raid claimed more than just buildings. A bomb struck and destroyed a carriage from Unit 1305. For the craftsmen who spent their lives maintaining the fleet, seeing a carriage they had likely worked on reduced to splinters was a bitter reminder of why the "Watch on the Cliffs" was so vital.
The "Worker-Gunner" Instinct: Despite the damage, the Lancing men didn't flinch. The Bofors crews on the shingle and the Lewis gunners in the rooftop turrets kept firing until the raiders were forced to bank hard back over the Channel. They had protected the Lancing Belle, even if the cost to their workplace was high.
The Response from the Pits
The Bofors gunners on the shingle and the rooftop crews didn't just watch. They were firing so low that the muzzle flashes were visible to the workers diving under their workbenches.
The "Lancing Belle" Factor: During raids like this, the workmen’s train often had to be "shunted" into the sheds or left at the halt, with the crew taking cover in the trackside trenches.
The Result: While the damage was significant, the presence of the Bofors guns meant the raiders couldn't stay to "finish the job." They had to drop their ordnance and bank hard back out to sea to avoid the 40mm shells chasing them.
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- Does anyone remember seeing the concrete 'bases' or the sandbag scars near the old Traverser? We believe the Bofors were positioned to cover the long runways between the shops. If your relative mentioned 'climbing the ladders' when the sirens went off, we’d love to know which shop they were defending.
- How did the factory noise help the gunners?
- "While the world knows the 'Sheds' for the sound of steam and hammers, for the Lancing Squad, the factory's roar was a shield. The constant industrial din allowed them to operate their Bofors and Lewis guns with a silent, hand-signalled precision that would have baffled a regular infantryman."
It sounds counter-intuitive, but the relentless industrial roar of the Carriage Works actually provided a strange kind of tactical advantage for the men on the roofs.
The "Acoustic Camouflage"
In a quiet field at Ovingdean, the sound of a Bofors gun firing is a massive "signature" that tells a pilot exactly where the danger is. However, inside the perimeter of the Lancing Carriage Works:
Masking the "Thump": The rhythmic pounding of the heavy drop-hammers and the high-pitched scream of the metal-drills in shops like Fred Maple’s Frame Shop created a wall of white noise. To a German pilot flying at high speed, the initial "thump-thump-thump" of an anti-aircraft gun could be momentarily lost against the backdrop of a factory at full tilt.
The "Hand-Signal" Discipline: Because it was impossible to hear orders over the factory noise and the wind, the gun crews became masters of non-verbal communication. They used a series of precise hand signals to communicate bearing, elevation, and "cease fire." This meant that even if a phone line was cut or a sergeant’s voice failed, the gun stayed in the fight.
The "Home Guard" Hand Signals
On a Bofors crew, the NCO (Non-Commissioned Officer) would stand slightly back, acting as the "Spotter." Since shouting was useless, he used his arms like a railway signalman:
Arms extended out: "Traverse" (Follow the plane left or right).
One arm raised high: "Increase Elevation" (The plane is climbing).
A sharp "cutting" motion across the throat: "Cease Fire."
The "Worker-Gunner" Instinct
For men like Fred Maple, who spent ten hours a day in the deafening environment of the Drilling Shop, the noise of battle wasn't a distraction—it was their "natural habitat." While a regular soldier might be disoriented by the chaos of a raid, the Lancing men were already "tuned in" to high-decibel environments. They had the "Sheds Muscle-Memory" that allowed them to stay calm and focused while the world was literally shaking around them.
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| Cecil Leslie Allen and the master craftsmen of the Lancing Carriage shops, |
The Master Craftsmen of the Carriage Shops
Before we look at the wartime documents, we must acknowledge the men who were the heart of the Lancing Works. Many of these craftsmen, like Cecil Leslie Allen, were part of the great migration of railway workers from Ashford in Kent. When the Southern Railway centralised its carriage building at Lancing, these men brought generations of skill with them.
The Carpentry & Carriage Building Staff
The Carriage Shops were not just factories; they were hubs of high-end carpentry. A carriage builder had to be part-engineer and part-fine-furniture maker.
The Kent Connection: Cecil Leslie Allen (pictured top right in the group photo) is a prime example of the dedication found here. With a career spanning 52 years, Cecil worked through the transition from Ashford to Lancing, having also served his country at Ypres during the Great War.
The Trade: These men were responsible for everything from the heavy structural timber framing of the coaches to the intricate internal mahogany and walnut panelling that defined the "Southern Style."
A Lifetime of Service: Retirement in 1958 marked the end of an era for men like Cecil, who saw the railway transform from steam-hauled timber coaches to the modern steel-bodied electric units.
The Human Story of the Works
The legacy of the Lancing Carriage Works isn't just found in the steel and timber of the coaches, but in the memories of the men who walked through those gates every morning. Many of our group members have shared poignant links to this vanished era of Lancing’s industry.
We remember men like Patricia Mensa’s father, whose dedication to the works spanned decades. During the dark years of the Second World War, he served as a nighttime fire watchman—a vital and often dangerous role, ensuring that the site remained safe from incendiary threats while the village slept. He remained with the works until his retirement in 1958, seeing the transition from wartime production back to the peaceful rhythm of railway maintenance.
The post-war years also saw many skilled tradesmen relocating to our village to support the Southern Railway's centralisation. Wilfred Law, known to many as "Basil," was one such craftsman. An upholsterer by trade, Basil moved his life down from Ashford to join the Lancing team in the late 1950s. His story is typical of the "railway families" that defined the local culture, remaining a fixture of the upholstery shop until the works finally closed its doors in the 1960s.The Bofors Gun and the Secret War
The Lancing Carriage Works was no longer just a place of varnish and upholstery; it had become a vital cog in the national defence machinery. Under the guidance of military engineers, the workshops were transformed to produce the Bofors 40mm anti-aircraft gun mountings.
This wasn't a simple task. The Bofors was a masterpiece of Swedish design, requiring incredibly tight tolerances. For the Lancing men, it meant moving from the flexible tolerances of wooden carriage frames to the rigid, life-or-death accuracy of artillery. While the Army provided the technical blueprints and oversight, it was the "hands-on" expertise of the local fitters and turners that actually built the units.
During this time, the "Secret" status of the works was absolute. Men like Patricia Mensa’s father, patrolling the site on fire watch, were the thin line of defence against the very real threat of German bombers looking for these industrial hubs. Today, the silence of the Official Secrets Act has been replaced by the silence of time, making these recorded names—Wilfred, Cecil, and others—all the more precious.
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Do you recognise a face in the 'Lancing Squad' photo?
Did your relatives work in the Frame Shop, the Finishing Road, or the Trimmers?
Do you have stories passed down about the 'Watch' on the Ovingdean cliffs?
Help Us Complete the Roll of Honour
History is a jigsaw puzzle, and we are still missing a few pieces. While we know these men were the heart and soul of the Lancing Carriage Works, many of their names have been lost to time.
Please leave a comment below or join the conversation on our Facebook group. Every name we find is a tribute to the men who kept the 'Sheds' running and our coastline safe.
How the railway works were adapted for military engineering tasks such
as building Horsa Gliders
- Part 1:
The Guardians of the Works: Firemen & Veterans Part 3: Mr Warr and the Lancing Railway Fire Brigade- Part 4: The Bofors Crew: From Shop Floor to Front Line
- Part 4b: The Shingle Skeletons - A prequel to the front line
- Part 5: The Lancing Squad – Precision on the Front Line (You are here)
- Part 6: Bomb Alley- The day the FW -190s came to Lancing
Part 7: The Invisible Colony
