Bures at War

• WORLD WAR 1
• War Memorial Records

• WORLD WAR 11
  War Memorial Records

The grave of Katherine Parkhill Carr, killed in action aged 21years. The grave is located on the left side of Bures cemetery along Cuckoo Hill. From the dozens of servicemen killed in both wars, Katherine is the only one of those who were lost, where we have their remains buried in our local cemetery. Sadly, the local British Legion have never taken any interest in maintaining this grave. I make a point every year of placing a "Poppy Wreath" on her grave, in remembrance of her service to our country. Anon. Read More here

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.

	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
	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 10 years of research it`s taken me as far afield as the Military archives in the USA. OFF LINE
	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

Unfortunately the "Forward Ammunition Dump" research is now off-line
Unscrupulous visitors copy (plagiaries)the text and photographs, which they publish on their own sites with no respect to myself who has spent decades researching this information.