NHER 42366 (Monument record) - Site of probable World War Two bomb craters

January 2006. Norfolk NMP.
Two probable World War Two bomb craters are visible on aerial photographs (S1)-(S2), at TG 4818 2201 and TG 4824 2197. They lie close to a minefield (part of NHER 42183, as little as 20m to the east) but can be differentiated from the craters left by the mines by their larger size. The bombs were perhaps intended for the bombing decoy site (NHER 29752) 180m to the west; a bibliographic source (S3) states that this was bombed on the night of 28th/29th March 1943. Alternatively, they might have been aimed at some of the nearby coastal defences, such as the tents, pillbox and other structures 195m to the east (also part of NHER 42183). They may instead have been dropped more or less at random prior to an enemy bomber making its return flight across the North Sea. On more recent aerial photographs (S4) the northwestern crater appears to have been levelled while the southeastern crater could survive under woodland cover.
S. Tremlett (NMP), 3 January 2006.