"eleven-gun towers". A four-gun tower was originally proposed at Dymchurch, but this idea was revised at the Rochester conference of 1804. Dymchurch Redoubt was built between 1806 and 1809 to the same specifications as its Eastbourne counterpart, although Dymchurch does not have any caponiers. A caponier is a type of fortification structure. The word originates from the French word caponnière. It is a type of fortification structure which allows firing along the bottom of a dry moat that surrounds the main fortress. In 1908, Walter Jerrold described the village as "a quiet scattered village and a delightful place far from the madding crowd". It is typical of this part of the coast, having originally been a very small village which became a much larger settlement during the 1930s. Many of homes from this era were converted railway carriages: very few of these remain, although a few similar ones still exist in nearby Dungeness. Dymchurch is now a popular seaside resort complete with holiday camp, caravan parks, light railway station and amusement park. Today the village is relatively large and mainly dedicated to seasonal tourism. Second World War On 24 August 1940, Dymchurch was bombed and the first local people were killed by enemy action, Alfred and Ada Austin. Their house, Sea Breeze, was rebuilt. The Observer Corps used Martello Tower 25 as a vantage post and it was there that the first V-1 flying bomb to fly over England was spotted. In 1942, the primary school suffered a direct hit from a bomb dropped from a plane. The teacher and pupils had escaped to the bomb shelter, and there were no reported casualties. In February 1944 a USAF Flying Fortress developed engine trouble while returning from a bombing raid and crashed into the police station, damaging several neighbouring houses in Lyndhurst Road. A soldier was killed and three people injured. In May 1944, 22 soldiers were killed by the explosion of anti-tank grenades at Dymchurch. The cause of the explosion was uncertain; at the inquest it was suggested that it may have been the heat of the sun, or a match-head falling into a box of detonators. Dymchurch underwent significant re-fortification during the Second World War, with bunkers and pillboxes. The gun platforms were encased in concrete for machine guns to be mounted, artillery emplacements constructed and an observation post erected. On the western extreme of the Hythe Ranges, during