Mundesley Royal Engineers Memorial

Mary&Neil
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Mundesley Royal Engineers Memorial
Mundesley Royal Engineers Memorial

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

The clearance of mines, started in 1944, went on until 1953. 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.

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Taken on: April 10, 2019
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