1940: Invasion England.

Oberon · 08-21-06, 10:01 AM

I live in a little town called Aldeburgh on the Suffolk coast, it's not a very big place, there's a carnival once a year (taking place today I might add), and to the uninformed eye, it could be any seaside town on the East Anglian coastline...yet there's a sinister side to Aldeburgh, one that can be seen from my bedroom window, one that pokes into the skyline to the south of the town. Orford Ness and Shingle Street, home of several Radar sites and testing grounds which (along with Bawdsey) formed the birthplace of radar itself.
It's also the site of what seems to be a German raiding party in late August 1940, a raiding party that was pre-empted by the British forces and resulted in heavy German casualties...perhaps the first use of the sea of fire here.
Why do I bring this fascinating little gem of history up? Well, today at work, I was talking to a workmate of mine who mentioned that he had met up and been talking to a gentlemen who knew his father (my workmates father

) during the second world war, and who also had been present at the raiding site, he said that the fuel had been let into the water as the boats came in, and the RAF then bombed the water and set fire to it. He also mentioned that some of the bodies of the Germans killed in the raid were buried on the beach, it kind of feels strange to know that.

Anyway, now that I've perked your curiosity, take a look at this site:
http://www.shford.fslife.co.uk/ShingleSt/

I guess we might well find out in 2021....

08-21-06, 10:01 AM	#1
Oberon Lucky Jack Join Date: Jul 2002 Posts: 25,976 Downloads: 61 Uploads: 20	1940: Invasion England. I live in a little town called Aldeburgh on the Suffolk coast, it's not a very big place, there's a carnival once a year (taking place today I might add), and to the uninformed eye, it could be any seaside town on the East Anglian coastline...yet there's a sinister side to Aldeburgh, one that can be seen from my bedroom window, one that pokes into the skyline to the south of the town. Orford Ness and Shingle Street, home of several Radar sites and testing grounds which (along with Bawdsey) formed the birthplace of radar itself. It's also the site of what seems to be a German raiding party in late August 1940, a raiding party that was pre-empted by the British forces and resulted in heavy German casualties...perhaps the first use of the sea of fire here. Why do I bring this fascinating little gem of history up? Well, today at work, I was talking to a workmate of mine who mentioned that he had met up and been talking to a gentlemen who knew his father (my workmates father ) during the second world war, and who also had been present at the raiding site, he said that the fuel had been let into the water as the boats came in, and the RAF then bombed the water and set fire to it. He also mentioned that some of the bodies of the Germans killed in the raid were buried on the beach, it kind of feels strange to know that. Anyway, now that I've perked your curiosity, take a look at this site: http://www.shford.fslife.co.uk/ShingleSt/ I guess we might well find out in 2021....