Fougasse pumping station

You'd pass this unimposing concrete platform and think nothing of it, more than maybe something mundane like a water reservoir or some such. Whereas, in fact it's all that remains of a unique, to my knowledge, World War Two feature, a fougasse pumping station. During the early years of the war, when the threat of invasion was high, the army searched for any means of defending our shores. Here at Studland they tested the suitability of 'Fougasse' or flame weapons.  The 2 types of weapon that I'm aware of were the static flame thrower and the slick method. For the latter, an oil mix was pumped out through pipes, some still visible in the cliff face of South Beach, out into the sea.  The oil caused sizable slicks which were to be lit by the RAF and create a wall of fire off shore. It was said that the Germans were terrified of such weapons; well, you would be wouldn't you? The second method was the fixed position flame thrower, where nozzles were fixed at regular points along the upper shore and when lit would have been capable of covering that entire section of beach in flame. Both a bit grim, though both born of desperation. The pumping station would have been required for the second method. Up into the 80's the site was still accessible and comprised of a semi sunken bunker, reached by a slope in which all the pump machinery and controls were installed; since then though, it has been sealed and the access ramp covered.  You'd never know.