Henry Wills (born 1930) was a British journalist and photographer with a passion for local history and archaeology. He is best remembered for his writings on
British anti-invasion preparations of the Second World War
British anti-invasion preparations of the Second World War entailed a large-scale division of military and civilian mobilisation in response to the threat of invasion (Operation Sea Lion) by German armed forces in 1940 and 1941. The British Ar ...
, his most often cited work being ''Pillboxes: A Study of U.K. Defences, 1940''. His interest in the topic was triggered when, in 1968, as a photographer for the ''
Salisbury Times'', he was sent on a journalistic assignment to photograph the demolition of a
pillbox Pillbox may refer to:
* Pill organizer, a container for medicine
* Pillbox hat, a woman's hat with a flat crown, straight upright sides, and no brim
* Pillbox (military)
A pillbox is a type of blockhouse, or concrete dug-in guard-post, norm ...
. His inquiries led him to conclude that there were few official records of Britain's wartime defences.
After some further investigation and some publicity on radio and in newspapers, he planned and organised the first nationwide survey of Britain's WW2 defences. With the help of many volunteers, more than 5,000 defence sites were recorded.
[Wills, 1985, pVi, pVII]
The value of Henry Wills' work was acknowledged by the
British Archaeological Trust and the
British Broadcasting Corporation #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
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which awarded him the Chronicle Award in 1979. After 15 years of work, he published ''Pillboxes'' in 1985.
Wills' work stimulated the interest of many enthusiasts and academics including local historians and former soldiers. Their interest was given further impetus by the realisation that these under-appreciated remains were disappearing at an alarming rate – mostly because of demolition to make way for new developments. A project to make a comprehensive survey of all 20th-century defence works throughout the UK was formed. Between April 1995 and December 2001 the Defence of Britain Project, with funds from the national Heritage Lottery Fund,
[Osborne, 2004, p9] compiled thousands of records.
The project also resulted in the discovery of many previously unsuspected contemporary records.
Wills' papers now comprise the Henry Wills Collection at the
Historic England Archive
The Historic England Archive is the public archive of Historic England, located in The Engine House on Fire Fly Avenue in Swindon, formerly part of the Swindon Works of the Great Western Railway.
It is a public archive of architectural and arch ...
in Swindon.
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Wills, Henry
1930 births
British male journalists
British military writers
Living people
British military historians