Many of the main routes and cross roads were fitted with barriers and some bridges on the main river crossings and railways were fitted with mines that could be detonated if there was in invasion. The home guard maintained a network of pillboxes, observation posts and machine gun emplacements which guarded the coastline and main routes through the mountains in case of invasion. In the Lake District a network of defensive sites were built, with Home Guard battalions patrolling the lakes. However, in one of the biggest blunders of the war, the tanks were kept so secret that the commanders on the front line were oblivious of their potential and Field-Marshall Montgomery failed to put the plans into action. King George VI, Earl Mountbatten, Eisenhower and Winston Churchill all visited Lowther to see the CDL tank in action. In the region of £20 million was spent on the project and 2,000 tanks were converted. In great secrecy, a total of 6,000 men from the 35th Royal Tank Brigade, which in 1942 became part of the 79th Armoured Division, trained to use the tanks in the surrounding countryside. These light emitting weapons were called the Canal Light Defence (CDL). Military experts adapting the turrets of standard tanks to shine intense, flickering lights with the intention of blinding the enemy during night fighting. In 1941 Lowther Castle was requisitioned by the War Office to develop top secret anti-tank weapons. The fells around Walla Crag and Bleaberry Fell were used as a training area for tank crews. The Lakeland fells were also often used for troop training exercises. The ‘Dig for Victory’ campaign emphasised how important it was for people to grow their own food. Many people turned spare plots of land into allotments and grew vegetables and fruit. These ladies became known as ‘Lumber Jills’. Many older people were recruited in to the Home Guard, while women joined the Women’s Land Army, working on local farms and in forestry. Impact of World War II on the Lake District landscape Digging for victory
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