COASTAL MINE CLEARANCE THE UNSUNG HEROES

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 taks 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 but in several cases it destroyed the searcher before he could destroy it.

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. Ironically the mines that blew them up were British – making them victims of friendly fire.

In the spring (2004) a memorial will be 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.”

But sometimes the 45lb, 14inch diameter explosives went off. The case which first caught Mr Cashford's interest was a mine at Corton near Lowestoft being dealt with by two fellow Navy bomb disposal men. A young American, John Howard, was helping experienced Lt Cmdr Roy Edwards with the task when they came across a tight plate on a mine. Attempts to prise it off using a bit of driftwood explode it, killing the 48-year-old Navy man and 24-year-old ensign, who was soon to be married.

“In another part of the country two men were clearing mines in a fenced off area when a dog wriggled under the wire, came running towards them and stood on a mine. It blew him up, and the debris which fell down set off six more mines killing the men,” Noel Cashford recalled.

The New Memorial

Mr (Lieutenant) Cashford, from Derbyshire and now in his eighties, was disgusted to find that there were no memorials within Norfolk to honour these men, and the work that they had done. He set about the task of honouring them in the form of a memorial to be placed on the clifftop at Mundesley on 2nd May 2004. He has also reseached the names of those who died performing this thankless task. A 1000lb bomb case with plaques bearing all their names will be unveiled at a ceremony to be attended by civic leaders and relatives. Although 17 relatives are already pledging to come, Mr Cashford is still trying to track down yet more. He is also raising funds for the project, and has attracted some donations from giving talks about mine clearance which demonstrate how precarious the process can be.

Lt Cashford walks away after making safe a mine in 1945

Those Who Gave Their Lives

5 September 2004