SShhh….! National Park goes top secret with war-time memories!

Top secret maps, Luftwaffe photographs and a one-legged chicken story are among the fascinating insights into World War II in the New Forest being captured by the National Park Authority.

The National Park’s Archaeologist Frank Green and Interpretation Officer Jim Mitchell are working to create a complete ‘picture’ of WWII in the New Forest.  

They are compiling details of war-time structures (such as air raid shelters, airfield control towers and relics of the D-Day preparations), collecting written evidence (such as documents, maps and photographs), and capturing local anecdotes of what life was like in the Forest during the war years. The National Park team is currently exploring funding options to put a comprehensive project together to capture and record more information.

Frank said: ‘The impact of WWII has strongly influenced parts of the National Park’s character. Fascinating insights into how institutions and people managed their lives and work during the war period need to be recorded.

‘Visitors and residents now and in the future can then appreciate the sites and the part played in the war effort by the New Forest, brought to life by the human interest stories people still have to tell us.’

Helped by Richard Reeves, librarian at the New Forest Centre, the National Park has accumulated previously ‘top secret’ documents relating to war-time in the New Forest from national archives. These include maps of the preparations for D-Day (pictured) and war-time logs from officers preparing for battle (pictured).

One war diary dated 13 May 1944 describes how General Eisenhower, Supreme Commander in Chief of the Allied Invasion Forces, visited Brockenhurst to inspect the troops and after a speech, was introduced to senior officers and walked among the ranks.

Uncatalogued German Luftwaffe photographs showing war-time activity around Lymington Harbour have also been obtained from the Imperial War Museum. The enemy air force was photographing towns, cities and military establishments many months before war was declared on 16 Sept 1939. Much of the photography was taken under the guise of civil flights before 1939 but when war broke out and the bombing started in 1940, the Luftwaffe continued to photograph before, during and after raids.

Frank said: ‘A project to record the coastal heritage of the national park is already under way and this will include archaeological surveys of the D-Day relics such as the evidence at Lepe for building the Mulberry Harbours – temporary harbours used to off-load cargo on the beaches of Normandy during the Allied invasion.’

Wartime buildings are another aspect that Frank is working to catalogue. Examples which still exist include part of an army barrack hut at Woodgreen which was turned into a home (pictured), a public air raid shelter at Bisterne and an air raid shelter recently discovered on the Cadland Estate during a woodland survey.

Frank said: ‘As the Planning Authority for the area, the National Park can work with landowners to preserve some of these structures and where it isn’t possible to save them, planning conditions can be used to make sure detailed records and photographs are made for future generations.’

Interpretation Officer Jim Mitchell is busy making the information more available to the public. An audio tour of the Stoney Cross airfield has been created with the help of Forestry Commission volunteer and local history enthusiast Henry Cole. People can print off a map and download the guided tour onto their mp3 player to listen as they walk round the area, or just listen to or read the anecdotes on the National Park’s website.

Jim said: ‘I am also working with the Forestry Commission to replace interpretation boards at three of the 12 former WWII airfields in the New Forest – Stoney Cross, Holmsley and Beaulieu.’

Frank and Jim are also keen to capture first hand accounts of the war-time in the New Forest before this generation that has the memories dies out. One such story comes from Frank’s own family – his Royal Marine grandfather returned unexpectedly to his wife and family members then living in Brockenhurst to discover that no Christmas dinner had been planned for him and with rationing in full swing was told he would have to find his own. Guided in his uniform all around Brockenhurst by Frank’s father with the local knowledge gained by his school being evacuated to the village, local farms were explored that might be able to provide a bird for the Christmas table. A one legged chicken was located and the farmer was persuaded to part with the bird for the then princely sum of 10 shillings!

These and more serious anecdotes are needed to fill gaps in our knowledge. Frank said: ‘We know that the larger country houses such as Beaulieu and Cadnam were used by the military as operational bases, hospitals, and for institutional purposes, and that many smaller houses quite often functioned in the war effort as places to store important collections from our national museums. However around 600 Irishmen building the Mulberry Harbours on the Cadland Estate had to be housed and fed locally. We don’t know how and where they and other similar groups were housed and often the best way to find out is through talking to those involved at the time.

‘We would like not only to understand local and long-term traditions but also to gain personal stories of people’s views about the war years - quite how they managed with rationing, what their memories of bombing raids might be, what they did in any spare time, or quite simply how the war changed their lives for the better or worse.’

Words: 926
Written by Hilary Makin, Communications Manager