THIS IS FINDON VILLAGE — www.findonvillage.com  created by Valerie Martin, contains scenes from her home village of Findon, West Sussex, U.K.

PREPARING FOR D-DAY IN FINDON

Copyright Valerie Martin 2000

Part printed in the Findon News in March 2001.

I can hardly believe it now but back in 1942 the whole stretch of the top of the Findon Downs was requisitioned by the War Department and out of bounds to the public. It was a battle training area used in preparation for D-Day. During the fearsome mock battles, machine guns were positioned on the north face of Cissbury Ring. The tremendous clatter from the guns filled the air as they were fired in a continuous stream across the downland. Simultaneously, a creeping barrage of 4-inch phosphorus and 2-inch high explosive mortar bombs were put up. The exercise included the troops utilising bren-gun carriers fitted with monstrous flame-throwers. Unbelievably, amongst this mayhem the soldiers were deployed.

Following the army's manoeuvres on Cissbury, the Findon children would search the hillside for any spent cartridge cases left behind. By the time they went home for tea their pockets were bulging. Tony Hammond, a village boy at the time, recalled collecting some rather nasty high explosives, such as gun cotton and powerful gelignite, together with detonators and fuses. He said that a highly prized item was a 2-inch flare mortar — the flare being extracted together with the parachute. He recalled that the flare made a simply wonderful display when ignited and the parachute became a major "swap" item afterwards.

Findon boys had a passion for souvenirs and built up huge collections of bomb tails and bits of crashed German aircraft and shrapnel.  It is unbelievable now but several gangs of Findon boys had small arsenals deposited around the countryside unknown to their parents — some would have put the local Home Guard stores to shame. This highly dangerous game came to a sudden halt when one of Tony's friends, Richard Carey, suffered severe facial burns when setting light to the contents of a thunderflash. Richard survived his ordeal and went on to become a successful jockey until another injury cut short his riding career.

The villagers of Findon continued to live their lives as normally as they could during the conflict. Many families bred rabbits during the war, not as pets, but to augment their meagre wartime dinner table.

Poaching in the area was rife. Villagers risked legal proceedings to provide the welcome addition to their plates and make a few pennies on the side from the sale of rabbit skins in spite of the threat of prosecution.

Fruit was, however, plentiful in the summer months and most Findon gardens had at least one tree or bush giving a good yield.  Young scallywags went to extreme measures to go scrumping and Tony recalled that scrumping was the order of the day. He remembered one such expedition when a large tree was targeted with the idea of gathering pears. When sharing out the booty later the lads discovered they had a very large quantity of tart, yellowish pear-shaped fruit on their hands — quinces. Their mothers came to the rescue in turning it into some fine preserve. How they came by the sugar for making jam is another question.

On the 18th DECEMBER 1942, at 4.30 p.m. there was a violent explosion in nearby Worthing.   It was the military destroying a German mine found floating in the sea near the pier.

On 3RD JANUARY 1943 there was much activity in the sky. American heavy bombers escorted our fighters in an attack on the U-boat base at St. Nazaire.

There were still air-raids being conducted by the Germans and much damage was done in Worthing on 9TH FEBRUARY 1943.

The war was hotting up and on 1ST MARCH 1943 there was a mass exodus of soldiers from our area, Canadians and British. The roads were blocked by tanks going on manoeuvres.

The late Bill Day told me — "The lower end of Church Drive packed with bren-gun carriers and trucks. The soldiers showing us lads over them and then playing football with us in the adjoining field. 

The Canadians showed us how to play, I think it was softball, very similar to our rounders.

Just before D-day all along the bye pass was packed with lorries, tanks and army vehicles of every kind.  Then suddenly when we got up they were all gone, the place seemed so quiet, so strange and so frightening".

 

At teatime on 9TH MARCH 1943 there was yet another raid. Twelve Luftwaffe aircraft appeared flying extremely low in towards our coast.   They were so low that they appeared to be just above the waves.  They came in at sea level so as not to be detected by the radio-location.  Six attacked our area and the others flew on to Brighton.

A month later, during a calm clear night on APRIL 14TH there was an terrific droning sound of bombers over Findon.   The noise went in waves.   One wave was continuous for about 20 minutes and many many aircraft were engaged in an attack on the enemy in Italy.  

On the morning of 25TH MAY 1943 the dreaded Luftwaffe went all out to attack the town in the worst bombing raid of the Second World War.

The enemy were confident enough to swoop in and out in daylight in a neatly planned exercise.  They were over English soil for just six minutes and left behind a toll to be remembered.

A total of twenty four people were killed and over 130 were injured in Brighton.   

The Germans left over 150 Brighton homes uninhabitable.   The Black Rock gasworks was a blazing inferno.   The London Road viaduct received a direct hit and was a devastating scene.   

The Luftwaffe dropped a total of 22 1000 lb bombs on the raid before disappearing over the horizon and back to Germany.

By JUNE 1943, the defence of the Findon area was mainly in the hands of the Canadian Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Highland Regiment encamped in Nissen huts under the tall trees at Muntham.  The 2nd Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders were at the Cissbury Estate.  They were actively engaged in battalion exercises in the area.

The last servicemen you would expect to find in Findon during the Second World War were sailors.  But Reginald Charman together with his Royal Navy colleagues were ordered to complete a seven-day endurance course at the battle training area situated on the Muntham Court Estate.  I'm not quite sure of the date. If anyone knows the year that the Navy were at Muntham, perhaps they'd let me into the secret so that I can record it for posterity. 

Reg and nine other sailors became landlubbers and practiced orienteering around the Chanctonbury Ring and Cissbury Ring areas of the South Downs.  Their course wound up on a night exercise.  Reg came into his own on this occasion and quickly and effortlessly guided his comrades home with his sense of direction via Rogers Farm and the two Rings and beat all records in doing so.  

The naval lads cheerfully returned earlier than expected to Muntham and our intrepid sailor walked into the guardroom at Muntham Court and was cordially complimented on his achievement by his superior officer. He conveniently forgot to mention to him that he had been born in Findon and had lived at the Black Horse public house, which his mother ran and knew the local terrain like the back of his hand.

On 26TH SEPTEMBER 1943 it was Battle of Britain Sunday to commemorate the Royal Air Force's victory over the Luftwaffe in September 1940.

A great force of bombers flew south in the afternoon leaving a great white vapour trail in the sky over Findon.

CHRISTMAS EVE 1943 dawned and was another lovely sunny winter's day with a clear sky. Many bombers passed over Findon heading to the south and disappeared out to sea. Villagers later heard on the radio news that over 1,300 aircraft had been sent to bomb occupied France.

In FEBRUARY 1944 black strips of paper with a silver underside were picked up on the Findon Downs. This had been dropped from enemy aeroplanes in a desperate attempt to upset the radio-location.

Nearby Worthing had an early warning of momentous events to come when elements of the 4th Armoured Brigade (veterans of the famous 8th Army, which had defeated the legendary German General, Erwin Rommel, in North Africa) arrived in the town on 12TH FEBRUARY  1944.   They brought with them more than two hundred tanks to line the town's streets, quickly settled into billets in The Steyne and surrounding streets and formed their headquarters in the Eardley House Hotel in Marine Parade.

By the close of FEBRUARY 1944, the United States 39th Infantry Division was undergoing intensive training in the nearby Arundel area and great tracts of our countryside (encompassing Angmering, Patching, Burpham and Clapham) were requisitioned by the War Office.   There was evidence to all Findonians that something of great significant was imminent.

On 6TH MARCH 1944 A Spitfire crashed south of Cissbury Ring — to the north the golf links.

In preparation for D-Day, previously empty quiet meadows where cattle had once been put to pasture were overflowing and crawling with Bren gun carriers, armoured vehicles,  Jeeps and army transport.   Camouflaged army tanks lined the  length of many nearby roads.   Some coastal roads in nearby Worthing were completely sealed off.

Meanwhile, Courtlands, the large mansion at nearby Goring, had been transformed into the headquarters for the Canadian 1st Army.   Canadian troops were already familiar to the residents of Findon and Worthing, having been here since 1941.   But now they arrived in their thousands in Southern England.

In nearby Littlehampton and Shoreham, the port workers had for some time been sworn to the greatest secrecy .  Without knowing precisely where or when they would be used, they had been gathering numerous blunt-nosed landing craft in the two harbours and along the banks of the River Arun and River Adur.    It is said there were also loaded ammunition barges tied up to the banks of the Arun for miles inland.    These almost resulted in disaster when, after D-Day they were being towed down river and out to sea when en route to the invasion armies on the French beach heads.    One of the ammunition barges (said to be carrying at least 400 tons of ammunition) was departing Littlehampton harbour and almost collided with a Dutch coaster which was entering the port against orders.

SPOT THE DIFFERENCE....

 Here is Monty at Broadwater Green just to the south of Findon, with troops just prior to D-Day...... or is it?    It is said it was not Monty but Monty's double, Clifton James who was used to confuse the Germans over the date of D-Day.  

This is the genuine Monty.   The one above is Clifton James.   But who do you think was really at Broadwater?

It is reputed that about seven weeks before D-Day in 1944, Clifton James's resemblance to Montgomery was noticed. MI5 decided to exploit the resemblance to confuse German intelligence.    Clifton James was contacted by David Niven, (who was a Colonel and worked for the Army's film unit), and was asked to come to London. The ruse of Monty's double was aimed to divert troops from northern France, by convincing the Germans that an Allied invasion of Southern France would precede a northern invasion.

Another memory is jogged from the grim days of 1944....

I have come across the War Diary of 2888211 Sergeant James Simpson Robertson of the 2nd Battalion Gordon Highlanders.  On 16TH APRIL 1944 he was posted to our area.   I am guessing this may have been at the Muntham Court Estate?   If you would like to read this, click on 16th April 1944 — Findon Woods near Worthing, Sussex and scroll down to that date.

Tony Hammond, who has been a metal detecting enthusiast for a great many years, was often called upon in his early days by the local Aircraft Recovery Group to pinpoint the exact spot where the remains of a crashed aircraft could be found. He has told me that on one such occasion it was for the recovery of a Spitfire north of Findon at Buncton Manor Farm near Washington. It crashed after a mid-air collision on the 26TH APRIL 1944, the pilot Wing Commander Marples from 145 wing Merston was, unfortunately, killed. Two Hispano 20mm cannons, still with live rounds in their breeches, were successfully excavated and immediately seized by the police.

30TH APRIL 1944 was a momentous day when the first of 500,000 prefabricated homes (prefabs) went on show in London.
 

4TH MAY 19044 was Operation Fabius.   It was a final rehearsal for D-Day and was launched on 4th May 1944.   It involved many thousands of troops (including the 3rd British and 3rd Canadian Infantry Divisions) making a full blown  assault on the so-called enemy shore.   This was, in fact, the beach between nearby Felpham and Littlehampton.

On 7TH MAY 1944 a Spitfire belly landed at Central Avenue in Findon Valley but the pilot was uninjured.

As D-Day drew closer, aircraft of a long-range Mustang squadron based at nearby Ford, penetrated deeply into Europe on "spy in the sky" reconnaissance missions.  

D-Day also had to take account of possible failure on the day and for this purpose a large Somtping field was laid out with huts and tents to receive wounded allied troops and German prisoners of war.

On 23RD MAY 1944, General Sir Bernard Montgomery (who had been appointed Commander-in-Chief Land Forces for the invasion of Europe) visited the 4th Armoured Brigade and addressed them on Broadwater Green just to the south of Findon.   Yes, Monty.   It was not until many years later it was revealed that it was not, in act the famous general at all.   It was, in fact, his "double" (a junior officer and former Worthing actor named Clifton James!   This "double" was officially used for "Monty public appearances" on several strategically chosen locations as a way of misleading the Germans over the timing and location of the D-Day assault.

There is an unconfirmed report that "Monty" was present at the Findon Manor Hotel before D-Day and it was most likely on the above date...... and thatit was also his "double".

Another top secret involving double identity was X-Troop, a unique British Army unit of 72 soldiers, based in a large property in nearby Littlehampton and attached to 10 Inter-Allied Commando.   These soldiers had been issued with new identities because most of them were of German origin and many were also of Jewish extraction.   If captured by the Nazis regime, they would certainly have been executed.   They were all volunteers with anti-Nazi views and took part in very risky and invaluable reconnaissance raids on the French coast prior to the D-Day landings.

ANOTHER DOWNED AIRCRAFT QUEST..... Peter Archbold in New Zealand emailed to say....

Continue if you would like to read about Findon's Longest Day.

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THIS IS FINDON VILLAGE — was launched by Valerie Martin in January 1999 and will grow to be a historical record of life in Findon, West Sussex, U.K.