11/11/2021
Royal Engineers Bomb Disposal memorial - Mundesley, Norfolk
During World War II steps were taken to protect the United Kingdom from invasion. The immediate point of entry were the coastal areas surrounding. Winston Churchill ordered that these be mined to protect from this threat. As the mines were laid so they were mapped for removal at a later date; as the war progressed, through one reason or another, these maps were lost. When the threat of invasion became less likely, around 1944, the order was given to clear the mines that had been laid allowing the population to return to the coastal areas. Without the maps the task became an immense and dangerous undertaking and with the movements of the tidal flows the mines themselves had moved also. The only method available was to searh for these mines and destroy them.
The clearance of mines, started in 1944, went for many years after the end of the war. For many years bomb disposal crews could be found clearing mines from the region's beaches; 26 of them lost their lives as they painstakingly prodded the sands for hidden explosives.
In the spring (2004) a memorial was unveiled on a Norfolk clifftop to the men who died clearing the land mines between Yarmouth and Holkham during 1944-53.
The former bomb disposal officer behind the idea, Noel Cashford, says: “They were heroes.” “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.”
Location:
Beach Road public green
Beach Rd
Mundesley On Sea, Norfolk England
Commemoration:
Royal Engineer Bomb Disposal personnel who lost their lives during the clear up of World War II landmine's from Norfolk's cliffs and beaches
