Shingle Street Invasion?

Negative Creep · 05-07-2008, 03:02 PM

Just seen a programme on Sky about the supposed German invasion of Shingle Street, Norfolk. Only saw about half of it due to reception problems (ooooh, it's a conspiracy, 'they' don't want you to know) but the gist was in 1940 the Germans tried to invade but were beaten off after an undersea pipeline was set on fire. They interviewed a few veterans who claimed they saw and heard heavy fighting on that night. Official records of the incident have, for some reason, been locked away.

The whole thing sets my bs alarm to be honest, as it seems rather unlikely such a large scale event could have taken place, not to mention there are no records of anyone who actually fought during the invasion. There doesn't seem to be much info online, but the whole thing does seem a bit odd. So any grain of truth to these events or just one for the conspiracy nuts?

Bluesdad · 10-02-2008, 03:06 PM

If you search for "Shingle Street" you will find several sites dedicated to it. I've been interested in Shingle Street for many years which started with a piece in a daily national paper asking why the top secret government files which had a 50 ban on their release increased by another 30 years!

Take a look at this link Shingle Street Investigation

Seems likely things did happen after all.

There is also the German raid on the radar station at Ventnor which was secret but more widely talked about.

Another one I found out about was a German raid on Pevensey (part of the German invasion area) where a Home Guardsman was taken prisoner.

Officially nothing happened of course!

Airframes · 10-02-2008, 03:14 PM

Was one of these incidents where 'a number of charred corpses of German troops' were recovered after the event? Can't quite remember the incident, but the bit about the burning oil rang bells.
P.S. Just read the link, should have done so first!
I remember talking to someone years ago about this, and the person mentioned that, apart from this incident, therre was at least one other 'infringement' of the Norfolk coast, that probably led to Higgins' book, 'The Eagle has Landed'.
Thanks for the tip-off, I'll have a closer look when I've got more time.

RabidAlien · 10-02-2008, 05:07 PM

Wouldn't surprise me that the Gov't kept stuff like this under wraps at the time, to avoid a panic and even the slightest amount of propaganda value the Nazi's could wring out of it. If not even one German set foot upon English soil, then Churchill would be able to claim total victory in the Battle of Britian, making the German superman look like an imbecile. Totally and completely understandable. Why they're *still* kept classified, I dunno. Doesn't make much sense any more, unless events would somehow implicate the Royal Family or some Parliment member of something nasty.....the conspiracy nuts are probably having an orgasm with this one!

Airframes · 10-02-2008, 06:12 PM

Yup, very strange, the ways of the British Government. In the days of 'CB' radio in Britain, which, at the time, was way behind the 'States, a possible frequency was refused to CB users, and this was in the early '80's, because it was still classified as 'secret'. The frequency range concerned had last been used on the wartime 'wireless' sets of Lancaster bombers...........!

pbfoot · 10-02-2008, 06:54 PM

BBC - Suffolk Don't Miss - Codename Suffolk - The Bodies on the Beach
maybe this will help

DerAdlerIstGelandet · 10-03-2008, 02:45 AM

If this happened at all, I am sure it was not an invasion, but rather a small raid.

RabidAlien · 10-03-2008, 07:27 AM

Yep. Scouting mission, or someone got turned around in the fog and found the wrong beach, perhaps. Tell me, would the critters in the Channel have left anything identifiable of an HE-111 aircrew shot down a month previously? I would've thought not...?

Airframes · 10-03-2008, 10:42 AM

Not so sure, Rabid. The area is a bit further north and east of the Channel itself, and bodies have been washed ashore (relatively) intact before, and in modern times. Got the usual wriggly things under the surface of course, but the tides would, I think, keep the bodies moving, rather than push them to the sea bed for the crabs and other nasty biting things. The east coast has quite a strong southerly current down that region, which does seem to 'wash' landwards.
Without wanting to appear 'sensationalist', although it all now seems 'ordinary', there still seems to be a bit of a gap in the 'official' explanations, especially as the file held such a relatively long 'hold closed' period. As you probably know, Porton Down was the British Chemical Weapons Experimental Establishment, so anything could have been happening at the site. [There's an island off the Scottish coast that's closed (for 100 years I think) due to 'experiments' with anthrax (B?).] It's probably one of those cases where people will speculate, and rumours will abound, for many years to come!

RabidAlien · 10-03-2008, 05:32 PM

Thanks for the info, Airframes. I knew the Channel had some strange currents, but would've thought that a month would be more than enough time for them to appear on, say, the New York shoreline. Or for something scaley and loaded with teeth to set into em. Yeah, as in most cases, there's probably a really simple, prosaic explanation, but the speculation is always more interesting. Which is why it won't die.