Transcribed courtesy of
the Eastern Daily Press, 30 Jan. 2005
Mines were scattered all around the coast, on
the orders of Prime Minister Winston Churchill, when the threat
of a German invasion loomed.
But when the war was almost won
he ordered them to be removed so local people could enjoy the
beaches again.
It involved bomb disposal crews
combing the sands – and scores of deaths as they carried out
their perilous task.
“The position of the mines were
put on charts. But the plans were lost, and the mines moved
anyway because of erosion and weather.
“So you had to lie on your tummy,
poking a 2ft-long rod into the ground. If you hit something,
you had to clear all around the mine, put a pin back in its
safety device and remove it.”
But sometimes the 45lb, 14inch
diameter explosives went off.
THE HORSEY HEROES
The role of honour (date,
casualty, age):
Feb 26 1945 – Cpl Frank A Violet
(39)
April 23 1945 – Cpl Thomas
Campbell (34)
April 23 1945 – Lance Cpl Albert
H Harrison (35)
May 22 1945 – Cpl Sam Dougherty
(45), Cpl George Jones (28)
July 31 1945 – Sapper Stanley
James Sullivan (19), Sapper Walter Kenneth Gilbert
(23)
July 31 1946 – Cpl Arthur F
Rackett (22)
Waxham, Feb 5 1945 – Cpl William
Vaughan (29), Lance Sgt Leslie G Holbrook (32), Lance Cpl
George W Sweetman (31)
For many years there has been no memorial for
these brave men....Now there is – and researches discovered a
total of twenty-six local land mine clearance victims, all of
whom are now honoured with a cliff-top memorial at Mundesley,
dedicated on May 2, 2004.
