 During the Second World War, Walney Island was home to two of the country's many coastal artillery installations (Hilpsford Fort and Fort Walney), numerous pillboxes can to this day be found littered across the Walney coastline.They were used as lookouts and contained rifles and light machine guns that could be used to defend Barrow against the "Luftwaffe".The entrance to a large underground air-raid shelter that was used by shipyard workers can be found in the car park of the Waterfront Barrow-in-Furness development.