Loddon Local History
More Aspects of War
More Aspects of War
The tales in this booklet relate mainly to the Civil Defence and impact of the American Servicemen from Seething.
All
vehicles using the roads after dark had to have the headlamps screened.
"No light of any colour whatsoever must be allowed to show from the
head-lamp above eye level at a distance of twenty five feet in front of
the car". Hoods had to be fitted which emitted light through a slit
of on 3/8 of an inch wide and the reflectors were blackened. Most people
removed the bulbs altogether as the amount of light that showed was hardly
worth the bother of screening! Cycles, of course, had to have any lamps
screened too and several of the stories told by the airmen from Seething
mentioned that it was more dangerous to ride an un-lit bicycle back from
the pub in Loddon that it was to fly to Germany and back!
All signposts had been removed from the countryside to confuse any potential
invader, which didn't help lost service men either! Val Clemence wrote
that as a Boy Scout who had earned his pathfinder badge he was a messanger
boy for the Civil Defence, although he was not actually the recommended
age of 16 years. His job was "to go around with the bomb disposal
squad showing them where the places were within a 10 mile radius of Loddon,
as with the signposts removed they didn't know where they were".
About three miles west of Loddon the village of Seething was transformed
by the U.S.A.A.F 2nd Division which had a dramatic effect on the countryside
all around. 2,900 airmen crew and other personnel lived in the camp of
temporary huts close to the airfield.
The local population was not usually aware of the numbers of Seething
airmen killed or wounded on active service but many remember watching
the aeroplanes take off in the mornings. One very foggy morning the planes
were not able to leave until nearly mid-day, which meant that they returned
rather late. As the 448th was a daylight bomb group they were not experienced
in night-time flying. That evening as it was getting dark, gunfire was
heard and many people went out to see what was happening. Several German
fighters had followed the Liberators home and as they got near their base
opened fire. The Americans had no defence against the German fighter planes
as they had pulled their guns in once they were over the coast and 'safe'.
It was later reported that 14 were shot down that night. Of course the
runway lights on the air base had been put out when it was realised what
was happening. The American pilots didn't really know where they were
and several crashed whilst attempting to land. Many airmen baled out,
one parachute caught fire and the airman fell like a stone. A German fighter
crashed too, in a field beyond Langley Hall. It is rumoured the German
pilots remains were buried in a tea chest in the corner of Loddon Churchyard.
More stories about the social effects of the servicemen in the area, including
dances, fights and weddings are in this booklet. Email us at loddon.history@hotmail.co.uk
for a copy.