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

WE WILL FIGHT THEM ON THE BEACHES

Originally published in Along the Furlong in October 2005.

Copyright Valerie Martin 2005.

During the Second World War it was considered more than a possibility that German forces might invade Britain along the South Coast and would attempt to penetrate the valleys through the South Downs to proceed to London.

This emphasised the very vulnerability of the main south/north roads such as the A22 (Eastbourne), A23 (Brighton) and most important of all for the inhabitants of Findon, the A24 (Worthing) through Findon. Coils of barbed wire to block the entry road to Findon were kept in readiness at all times.

Enemy plans of invasion tactics did come to light after the war.  These incorporated troop movements up the Findon valley, which would have put the village of Findon in extreme danger.

The bitter cold of winter in 1940 heralded a year when nearby Patching pond was thickly frozen in January and attracted many skaters.    Food rationing in Findon was beginning to bite.

During the early part of 1940 in the Second World War, the nearby Worthing beach (only four miles from Findon) was declared a totally prohibited area for civilians.   

Our familiar English Channel seafront was laid with land mines, barbed wire; ugly jagged chunks of iron appeared and, of course, those concrete tank traps.  

By 24^th MAY 1940, the Worthing pier four miles to the south of Findon had been closed by the military authorities and mined. The sound of a large detonation was heard to the south of Findon.  The military had blown a 120 ft. cavern in the decking.  This was to frustrate an expected enemy invasion and to render it impossible for German forces to use in an attempted landing from the sea. 

Visitors to nearby Worthing were not allowed to sit on the seats on the front near the pier.   All of the bathing huts had been smartly trundled off the shore and loaded with stones and converted into convenient ready-made roadblocks.   All boats were removed from the seafront and no bathing was allowed.

A neat row of 6 ft. high concrete blocks sprung up on the length of the Worthing promenade to delay enemy tanks attempting to make a landing from invasion barges.  Gun emplacements were also swiftly constructed and manned at the sites overlooking the English Channel and anti-invasion defences hurriedly built.

What happened next on the Worthing coastline during the height of the German invasion scare is unbelievable to this very day.  With the imminent threat of a German landing believed to be nearing its utmost peak, the seafront was treated to one of the most unexplainable local happenings of the war.   

Much to everyone's amazement (and amusement and delight), two large areas of the beach were suddenly officially re-opened on 26TH JULY 1940  — for no apparent reason that could be seen.   The imposed ban had been lifted!  Everyone could laze and sunbathe on their days off — and enjoy a swim in the water.   The inhabitants could hardly believe their luck.   To this day no one has discovered who was actually responsible for approving this untimely lapse in security — only that it was the rather strange and ambiguous result of —

The official announcement of the re-opening was made by the Town Hall through the wartime pages of the Worthing Herald and Worthing Gazette of the day.   There was no censorship imposed on the proffered article by the usually over-enthusiastic Government blue-pencil brigade — (as censor makers were nicknamed during the war).

While sunning themselves on the beach, the Worthing residents lazily turned the pages of their local newspapers to read with a smile ....

It appeared that things were looking up and perhaps the war would soon be over.

The information thus freely given out to all and sundry immediately informed the enemy (who at that precise time were assembling just across the Channel) that two large and inviting sections of Worthing Beach had been made safe and welcoming to all.  

It took two weeks for it to dawn on the higher authority that their actions had been somewhat foolish and someone somewhere in cosy Worthing had put their head on the block and been responsible for an immense blunder.

In the meantime local civilians appeared to have no fear of the consequences and continued to enjoy carefree sea bathing  — while just over the blue horizon the feared German army divisions were busily manoeuvring tanks and soldiers in readiness with their barges and landing craft.  No one appeared to have appreciated that the enemy were dangerously close on French soil.  

The Emergency Committee of the Worthing Town Council convened a meeting and fell over themselves to rectify their earlier error of judgement before jackboots methodically tramped up the Findon Valley.   It took less than a day to re-impose the total ban on bathing and accessibility to the entire Worthing front.   Ironically, it was at this point that the Worthing residents read in their newspapers one of Winston Churchill's memorable wartime speeches when he had uttered......

No more sunbathing for the citizens of Worthing.  The shore was out of bounds from then on and remained closed for four long years.

It is worth recording here that the familiar beach huts along the Worthing coastline were also commandeered at this time.   They came in useful and were buried to accommodate troops in underground defences along our coast.

In Findon the firemen were put on alert for the duration of the war and ready to go to Worthing’s assistance if the need arose in an emergency. 

There are always little anecdotes to relate after an event.   Later in 1940, on Friday 6TH DECEMBER to be exact, at about 8 p.m. there was a sudden loud explosion from the direction to the south of Findon.  A bomb had been discarded in the sea by a German aircraft returning home.  The blast, south of Ham Road in Worthing, decimated scores of bass, which were literally hurled onto the shore.   The unexpected haul was soon collected by the local soldiers and cooked for supper.   

Nothing stops boys behaving badly over the years..... even during wartime.  In 1940 there were calls for roller-skating to be banned after reports of young lads dangerously whizzing in and out of walkers on the pavements in and around the nearby town of Worthing.

Usually only seaweed is washed up on the beach on the coastline four miles south of Findon.  There are still nasty reminders of the last war lurking under the sea though.  As recent as September 2000 a Royal Navy bomb disposal team were called to Goring beach following the discovery by a passer-by of a Second World War anti-tank mine.   The mine measured 1 ft. across and appear on the high tide mark.   With the assistance of the Solent Coastguards and police, the team carried out a successful controlled explosion.

The photograph shows soldiers are caught in a mock Home Guard anti-invasion exercise on 3RD AUGUST 1941.    The packed action is performed near the pier in Worthing.   Note that the promenade leading to the bandstand above the steps is thick with defensive barbed wire.

The above is not a Hollywood movie shot watched by onlookers..... but the men of the 5th (Worthing) Battalion of the Home Guard and the Post Office Home Guard in Union Place (opposite St. Paul's Church) in nearby Worthing during an exercise.   The date is again the 3RD AUGUST 1941.

I think it is truly amazing that you still have the shoulder flash, Peter.    Even more amazing that it has travelled all the way to New Zealand.

Continue if you would like to read Findon Was Nearly Targeted by the Wehrmacht.

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.