Life in Bures during WW1 and
WW11
For the past two decades, I have
been documenting life in Bures during the Second World War.
Although a rural village the war had a profound impact on daily
life, from our brave men who left to fight the enemy to the arrival
of the Americans.
The Americans first task
was to build the infrastructure such as airfields and roadways
for their large vehicles. West Suffolk was a rural area and Bures
only a remote village. Suffolk County Councils response to local
Air Raid Precautions were summarised as:-
The Government takes the view that there are no worthwhile
targets in West Suffolk and least of all in rural areas. Any damage
from air action will therefore be sporadic and accidental.
The Home Office has recommended that warnings should only be sounded
in Boroughs and Urban Districts.
Considering Bures Hamlet was the site of the largest USAAF Bomb
Dump in East Anglia and we suffered the loss of five lives in
Nayland Road due to enemy action, this is an understatement to
say the least.
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Bures Home Guard, Local
Defence
Bures was well equipped to fight the enemy as we had our
own Home Guard together with a unit of the Secret Army.
These were hand picked men who were highly trained to fight
the enemy covertly and try and reap havoc with their lines
of communication and transport.
The ladies also played a vital part keeping their village
supplied with food and plenty of moral boosting events.
LINK
This was published
on January 1st 2021 as "Bures at War"
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BOMBS Forward Ammunition Dump (FAD)
Bures Hamlet, Pebmarsh, and the Colnes was the site of
a large Ammunition Dump which stored bombs along the roadside
ready for transportation to the local airfields. None
of this information has ever been documented before. After
15 years of research it`s taken me as far afield as the
Military archives in the USA.
This has now been removed from the web site as it was
published as a book in 2021
LINK
TO TRIAL PAGE
Book Now
Sold out August 2023
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Womens
Land Army (WLA)
Many Land Army girls worked on the local
farms in and around Bures.
They were
transported daily by lorry from their Hostel over at Leavenheath
to the local farms.
Link
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Katherine
Carr
Katherine lived at OverHall
Farm in Bures,
joined the ATS aged 20
Sadly, only a year later she lost her life during an air-raid
at the Officer Cadet Training Unit in Cheshire
The Memorial in our Cemetery
is listed
by the Commonwealth War Grave Commission,
who also maintains its upkeep
LINK
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WW11, PILL BOXES
Published 20th July
2021
It tells the story of how the parishioners of Bures coped during
the War.
It describes the work of the Home Guard, Bures Secret Army, Air
Raid Wardens, the local British Restaurant, the WI and lots more
A4 size with 144 pages.
Available
via Ebay
Search
for "Bures at War"
or
Contact me direct for local collection/delivery
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