Friday 11 March 2016

Second World War mystery

Whilst on a trip to see my cousin's new house only a
few miles away from the Lock-Up we came across a little
piece of history - one of the intriguing Norfolk red barns;
a story closely guarded by the Official Secrets Act
until recent years.

Back in 1941 a young Flight Commander returning in his
Blenheim from a bombing mission over Germany spotted an
anomaly on the ground below and circled back for a second 
look.  What he saw were straight lines and arrows made out 
of piles of lime (used widely in the local sugar beet industry)
all of which were in close proximity to a big red barn.

Beighton Red Barn

The find was reported and a blanket of secrecy was immediately
thrown over the matter.  The sites discovered were around the
villages of Sporle, Beighton, Cantley, Halvergate, Paston,
Guestwick and South Repps.

Were they intended to be secret enemy landing strips or were
they cunning British Government decoys laid out to draw German
bombers away from the real airfields?  Norfolk being both very
flat and bordered by the North Sea was the ideal home to the
many airbases constructed at the time.

Nothing to do with this story, I just like the picture.

So - cunning ruse or sinister enemy plot?
You'll have to decide for yourself because, despite the release
of the MI5 papers, the conculsions of the inestigation have
never been released.  And all on my doorstep - whatever next?

2 comments:

  1. There are many secrets left from the WWs which we will never know about. Its a shame we do not know more about the brave men and women who fought for are freedoms. Sharon F

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