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Memorial
Plaques inside St Mary's Church Although
a rural village, the war had a profound impact on daily life, from our
brave men and women who left to fight for our country to the arrival
of the Americans. |
Like most
other locations on the East Coast, Bures constructed defences in the event
of an invasion by Germany.
The majority
of defence works were built to resist invasion chiefly by an army equipped
with armour and artillery. In 1940, it was considered the most effective method
was through using defences that made use of the natural contours of the land.
Consequently,
at the height of construction, a pill-box was erected every 20 minutes in
the UK.
To defend
the bridge across the river at Bures, a concrete pillbox was built inside
a saddler’s shop, now the entrance to Chambers bus yard.
As the enemy
stormed over the river it was planned that "regular troops" would
be in position inside the shop. This housed a large artillery gun ready to
fire directly along Bridge Street towards the river bridge.
Photograph dated 1950
Left Photo
1972 and above dated 1973
The 5th Royal
Horse Artillery (RHA) battery of 10 to 12 men manned the Pillbox and their
accommodation was at the rear of the Post Office. This Royal Artillery would
have been stationed at Colchester Garrison.
Records indicate
the 5th RHA was armed with ex-Navy
6 pounder Hotchkiss anti-aircraft guns. (see library photo left)
This gun was used extensively during WW1, after which it was considered obsolete for combat use. Of the 3,984 produced
it was estimated that 1,640 still existed in 1939, so those which were still
serviceable were pressed back into service.
With
a 6pound shell, it had an effective range of 4,000 yds so the bridge was well
within easy reach of its firepower.
The use of
the regular Army was confirmed with an interview with Gordon Webber who stated
“that a regular soldier came to ride one of his horses at Bakers Hall”,
this eliminates the supposition the Home Guard manned the gun at Chambers.
XI Corps Operation
Instructions:
Operation
Instruction Number 55, dated 11 January 1941, stated: 6 Pounder at (map
ref 358525) BURES will come under command 42 Division for employment on beach
defences as directed by Commander 42 Division.
XI Corps was
made responsible for the Eastern Region, which included all of East Anglia,
in the summer of 1940
It looks as though the 6 Pounder was removed from the Chambers’ pillbox
that month, and the same happened to the 6 Pounders at CHAPPEL and COLCHESTER
So we must assume after 1941, there was no longer a Gun at Chambers and not
as some believe until the war ended in 1945
What happened
if the enemy unfairly came around the corner from Nayland Road, is unclear!
Captain Mannering would no doubt say “the Enemy, are not playing by the
rules, Wilson”
Extract
from Eastern Daily Times Friday 2nd February 1973
Exposed! A wartime secret weapon
One of
Suffolk`s secret weapons which were designed to strike fear into Hitlers invading
troops in the 1940`s is about to be exposed.
To defend the bridge across the River Stour at Bures, a concrete pillbox was
built inside a shop on the Suffolk side of the river.
As the Nazis stormed over from Essex, it was planned that the local Dads Army
or any regular troops about at the time, would be in position inside the shop.
Part of the wooden fascia of the shop would drop down on hinges and Hitler`s
men would be blasted off the bridge by an anti-tank gun inside the pillbox.
The pillbox was so well constructed, it has made the shop useless for any
purpose.
For several years the Parish Council has expressed concern about the appearance
of this dilapidated building and now plans are afoot to have it replaced.
Boxford builders “W.B. Kingsbury and Sons Ltd” has been asked to demolish
the shop and build a new house on the site for the owners, coach firm “H.
C. Chambers and Sons Ltd” – without the pillbox
Mr Ian Holgate supervisor for the builders, said the demolition of the pillbox
might present problems because of the proximity to other buildings.
Pneumatic
Drills would be used to break up the concrete.
The shop/pillbox
was demolished in 1973, however no evidence was found of any hinge mechanism,
so how did they fire the gun?
The logistics of fitting hinges to a shop front which was possibly 20ft high
and with a considerable amount of weight, would in my opinion be impractical.
To drop the front down, hinges would have been at ground level which would
have been enormous in width and thickness to carry such a weight.
Due to the size of the hinges, I cannot see how they could have been missed
during the demolition.
Village Folk-Lore perhaps?
Further snippets
of information from residents.........................
Charlie Martin
the local Blacksmith from Hamlet was killed in a road traffic accident on
July 9th, 1944 with a UK Army lorry. He was looking in the window of Arthur
Beamonts radio shop in the High Street, when he inadvertently stepped back
into the road just as a lorry came around the corner.
This vehicle was most probably returning from one of the USAAF Suffolk airfields,
after delivering munitions for their aircraft
Charlie was fatally wounded by this impact. The lorry driver was only about
20 years old, completely innocent but badly shaken up by the incident.
Large convoys
of soldiers were a common sight passing through the village which included
Canadians, Australians and Americans. One person said “traffic was passing
through the village day and night without any respite”
Also, in 1943
saw the arrival of the USAAF constructing the Forward Ammunition Depot by
Butlers Farm.
All of the sand and aggregate required for the concrete work would have been
extracted from Ferriers Pit. This would have generated a massive amount of
traffic to the west of the village
The Parish
Council applied to have a Siren mounted on top of the Dye Works, but this
was rejected.
Consequently,
the village had to rely on the works “hooter” sounding the alarm in case of
an attack.
However, this
had the advantage that it was far louder than a siren. It wasn`t a matter
of throwing a switch, in reality it meant climbing a ladder to the top of
the works boiler and turning a steam valve on/off for a warning or permanently
on for an all-clear.
Some nights there may have been several warnings.
In this event,
Mr Creek who looked after the welfare of his children and their disturbed
sleep during the night, allowed them to start school an hour late in the morning.
However, as Mr Creek may well have been busy through the night, it also allowed
him to catch up on some sleep
The church
bells would be rung in the event of an invasion.
Although Bures
was a rural village, it did not escape the attention of the enemy.
Sadly, a plaque inside St Mary's Church lists the names of four residents
(Willingham family) who lost their lives in the village. (see Chapter 13)
Regrettably,
we also suffered a further loss, not by the Germans but inflicted by our own
side.
Gordon Drake
was treated at St Leonard’s Hospital in Sudbury for his injuries, when a stray
antiaircraft shell hit the slaughterhouse on October 19th, 1942.
Another workman,
Reginald Drury was killed and another two, including Walter Smith who was
admitted to hospital. The shell was reported to have come from the Colchester
Anti-Aircraft Battery.
Incendiary
bombs fell on the Cemetery, St Edmunds Hill and land at Lt. Bevills.
Doodlebugs were not only confined the major cities, one fell on farmland between
Bakers Hall and the railway line, breaking numerous windows.
There is a report of the Signalman in his box near the rail siding being killed
by shrapnel (unconfirmed)
Another rocket
fell on Cattleys Farm, near Daws Cross causing a substantial crater in a field
To keep morale
high in the population, men arrived in the village to cut up iron railings
and gates from every property without even asking for the owner's consent.
The intended destination for all this scrap was to be melted down and turned
into munitions. Like a lot of other villages found after the war, it was just
dumped and made no use of whatsoever.
Another source
of raw material was aluminium which was required to manufacture aircraft,
Aluminum saucepans were the ideal candidate and were readily handed over by
housewives.
All roadside signposts were removed to hinder the enemy if they were
ever to invade. This was not common to Bures but all over the south &
east coast.
However, I
have seen photographic evidence that the Germans photographed every square
inch of the British Isles to such high definition that houses, roads, bungalows
can easily be defined.
I doubt very much whether the enemy would have relied too much on our signposting.
It is thought
that the collection obtained by the Germans, is now held in an American Library.
Find the Bures
signpost in the photograph?
Bures Hall
(now Nether Hall next to Bures Mill) had rooms at the rear to accommodate
a few German POW`s They were employed on the farm at Nether Hall, such as
Milking the dairy herd.
November 9th
1945 - the USAAF pulled out of Butlers Farm and Bakers Hall.
Fred Staples
recalls he came across an unexploded bomb on land owned by Secretaries Farm
at the
Lamarsh end
of the village. He quickly returned to report the incident, but it was initially
greeted with some scepticism. The bomb disposal unit later turned out to defuse
the object.
Supposedly,
a dam was built across the River between the modern-day Millennium Bridge
and Bures Mill to prevent the Germans using it as a means of transport. However, this is unconfirmed and does not appear
on any defence maps