THIS IS FINDON VILLAGE — these Findon Chronicles are created by Valerie Martin and contain scenes from her home village of Findon,
West Sussex, U.K.    Everyday stories about real people.

THE GUNS OF BROADWATER

Copyright Valerie Martin 2011

Did you know that Broadwater to the south-east of Findon was once a small fishing hamlet?   It had its own inlet (hence its very name).    It is highly likely that a port may even have existed there back in medieval times.

Next, a bit about Broadwater Green.   Not many people know this as they drive past on the busy road in the 21st century but it is common land, located between Broadwater Village and Offington park and it was initially recorded in a map of c 1720.   

In the latter half of the 18th century there was a Village Pond at the northern end...... and this would not be have been complete without a ducking stool otherwise known as a "trebucket".   Perhaps used for those damsels of the population in olden days thought to be practicing witchcraft?    Here is a lithograph image of the formidable object
c. 1776.  Artist unknown.

click to enlarge
 

At the western end of Broadwater Green there was once a gravel pit and this supplied the commodity to repair our local highways in earlier days. 

 

 

Just before Christmas 2010, I heard from Barry Pulford in Findon Valley saying .....

"I have memories of cycling to school across Broadwater green past the anti-aircraft guns during the build up to D-day".     

 

 

I asked Barry to let me have his thoughts on crossing the Green on the way to school and true to his word, a couple of days later, I received them.

 

 

click to enlarge

Barry with friends in Offington Drive in 1943

The Guns on Broadwater Green 1943-1944

I was seven years old in 1943 and lived with my brother and our parents in Offington Drive in Worthing. I attended Broadwater C of E School and travelled there and back on my little Elswick Hopper fairy cycle, often with some of my friends. We went down Offington Avenue and across Broadwater green into Broadwater Street West and then through a passage by the side of a garage into Rectory Gardens.

During the latter part of 1943 and up to June 1944 the green had a strong military presence. As D-day approached more and more soldiers, tanks and army equipment moved into southern England ready to leave for France for the Channel ports. Broadwater green, as I remember it, seems to have been a sort of transit area for convoys making their way west to Portsmouth and Southampton. There were field kitchens and other facilities to cater for the large numbers of troops passing through.

All of this was protected from air attack by a row of Bofors anti-aircraft guns on the north side of the green; I do not remember how many but probably four or five each jacked up on its four wheeled carriage. By the standards of today this would have been a definite no-go area for seven year old children, but then it was just accepted that we had to go to school, mums did not have four wheel drive people movers to take us, and there was a war on!

Cycling past these guns one morning the chain came off my bike, and seeing me struggling to push it with the chain all mangled up, one of the soldiers manning the guns said to leave it with them and pick it up on the way home. When I picked it up after school the chain was in place, freshly oiled, the brakes had been adjusted and even the rear mudguard painted white for the blackout. Not that I recall going out at night. Most of the air raids we had came at night but we had to be aware that there was always the risk of a daylight raid. So imagine my fright when on another morning as I rode past, I noticed the soldiers were not smiling and waving but looking skywards, and suddenly – BANG! –BANG! –BANG! .... All the guns were firing. Head down, pedals flying round, I was across the green, heart pounding, in record time.

 

 

Barry's brother, James... on the same bicycle three years later in 1946.

 

 

 

I later learned, as little boys somehow did, that the target was one of our aeroplanes, probably from nearby Shoreham, that had strayed a little too close to a restricted area and was being frightened away. I don’t know how the aircrew felt but it certainly frightened me!

Sometimes after it had been raining and the ground was churned up by wheeled and tracked vehicles it was possible to pick up small arms ammunition, mostly live 303 rounds spilled and lying around. This resulted in a soldier being posted at the way off the green, near the underground air-raid shelter, who would swap an aircraft recognition card from a pack of Sweet Caporal cigarettes, much favoured by the French Canadians, for the odd cartridge or two, or even a shiny metal cap badge for a significant horde. Much later in life I tried smoking these cigarettes, but they were much too strong for me.

As D-day came closer, convoys of tanks, half tracks, armoured cars, Bren gun carriers and lorries stopped off for waterproofing. All their exposed moving parts, axle ends and universal couplings were packed with a sort of green coloured grease which came in dustbin size steel drums.

I still do not know exactly what this stuff was but it was like the glitter wax, a shiny type of plasticine, which we played with and in fact you could put a lump of it in your pocket and use it in the same way; I do not recall that it attracted fluff from your pocket or caused any damage to it. But then would I?

Then as the invasion of France begun and the summer progressed, Broadwater green was quiet again with, just the occasional military band and Home Guard parades – even cricket. I particularly remember one of the last convoys of tanks to pass through; I was on my bike on the grass by the roadside when the leading tank growled to a halt beside me. A head popped out of an open hatch and asked, ‘’Hey Sonny, is this the road to Arundel?’’ Shaking with excitement I said ‘’YES’’, and the whole convoy rumbled past. That was my personal contribution to winning the war!!

                                                                                                                                           Barry Pulford December 2010    

 

 

Barry's wartime escapades on the nearby Green were so vivid  that they got me thinking.   I subsequently dug out some archive portrayal of those days..... sorry, I have not found much in the way of photographic evidence of Barry's guns, tanks or soldiers so we will have to make do with the following in the meantime..... and those of you knowing the area will recognise the scenes immediately as the locations have not change beyond recognition.....

   click on all of the wartime images to enlarge

c.1944 Air Raid shelter (rugby posts in the background)

c. 1944 The Parish Rooms facing the Green

c.1944 The emergency water supply (with Broadwater Church in the background)

 The Home Guard on Broadwater Green (including a band with instruments) at the ceremony of the Volunteer Defence Unit being "stood down" in September 1944.

September 1944  Members of the Home Guard on Broadwater Green at the above ceremony.

September 1944  Members of the Home Guard on Broadwater Green at the same ceremony.  Colonel Stern is seen shaking hands with the men.

September 1944  Home Guard on parade at Broadwater Green at the ceremony.  

September 1944  The Home Guard listening to a speech as the Volunteer Defence Unit members are "stood down".

September 1944  The Home Guard on parade.

c. 1944   No sign of any soldiers in this one.   Just the pump on the south east corner of Broadwater Green during wartime.

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.   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 Mr. M. E. 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.

 

Here is Field Marshal Montgomery 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, Mr. M. E. Clifton James who was used by MI5 to confuse the Germans over the date of D-Day.  

I do not know what he said on this occasion but really that is of little interest now.  

 

SPOT THE DIFFERENCE....

 

 

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

 

 

This is how it all began.    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 the actor, 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.

Click on this footage to see the man in action in Worthing in 1947....

http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=46508

I subsequently heard from ex-Findonian, John Greves....."Monty's Double....Think he might have lived in Worthing.   His son was a classmate at Steyning GS and mentioned something.     But of course we lads thought it a bit of a tall story .... until the book came out.   Many apologies Keith if you are still about".

I must add a local note here.  There is also an unconfirmed report that "Monty" was present at the Findon Manor Hotel before D-Day and it was most likely on the same date as his visit to Broadwater Green........... and, therefore, that it was again also his "double".

Gerald White ex-Shoreham emailed to say...."Hello Valerie, I enjoyed reading about Monty, and his double, and then John Greves was able to confirm the event at Broadwater green, when Clifton James Monty's double addressed the troops.....Also some great photos of the local Home Guard, who were taking part in their standing down parade. Truly a historic event. .........Gerald in the frozen North at Lincoln"

 

Continue if you would like to read about  Findon's Longest Day — 5th/6th June 1944

 Back to Second World War Index

 Back to Main Index

This is Findon Village — www.findonvillage.com is a continually growing record created by Valerie Martin exclusively for documenting life in Findon and beyond.

 

MAIL VALERIE

Do let me know of anything you hear about Findon - not too controversial.   Please note that opinions expressed in the Findon Chronicles are not necessarily reflective of my own thoughts.... but sometimes they are!