Shingle Street

infobox UK place
official_name=Shingle Street
latitude=52.032
longitude=1.45
country=England
region=East of England
shire_county=Suffolk

Shingle Street is a small coastal hamlet in Suffolk, England, at the mouth of Orford Ness, situated between Orford and Bawdsey. This part of the coast is also known as Hollesley Bay and there is the HM Young Offender Institution, Hollesley Bay Colony nearby.

Shingle Street was originally a home for fishermen and river pilots for the River Ore. Early in the nineteenth century a Martello tower was built, and was later home for coastguards. Many of the original buildings date from this period, also several buildings were destroyed during World War II, including the hamlet's pub. A report from October 2004 suggests that Shingle Street is at risk from the sea and could disappear within 20 years if sea defences are not erected. [cite web | url =http://homepage.ntlworld.com/john.boon/Shingle%20Street/Shinglestreethome.htm
title = Shingle Street ]

Shingle Street was the inspiration of the Thomas Dolby song "Cloudburst at Shingle Street", from the album The Golden Age of Wireless.

World War II

During WWII many strange happenings were reported to have taken place at Shingle Street, including a failed German Invasion.cite book
last = Hayward
first = James
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = The Bodies on the Beach: Sealion, Shingle Street and the Burning Sea Myth of 1940
publisher = CD41 Publishing
date = 2001-05-28
location =
pages = 18
url =
doi =
id =
isbn = 0954054903 ] cite web
last =
first =
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = 1940: The Secret War at Shingle Street
work =
publisher = Ronald Ashford
date = 2007-11-07
url = http://www.shford.fslife.co.uk/ShingleSt/
format =
doi =
accessdate = 2007-09-23 ] cite news
last = Hayward
first = James
coauthors =
title = The Bodies on the Beach
work =
pages =
language =
publisher = BBC News
date = 2002-10-02
url = http://www.bbc.co.uk/suffolk/dont_miss/codename/bodies_on_the_beach1.shtml
accessdate = 2007-09-23 ] The civilian population that might have witnessed anything had already been evacuated from the coast and all rumours were vigorously denied, although official documents were kept classified as secret until questions in the House of Commons led to their premature release in 1993. [cite book
title = Hansard Debates
publisher = House of Commons
date = 1993-02-19
isbn = ] A BBC report in 2002 suggested that the invasion was a fake manufactured by the British Head of Propaganda during the war, who may have spread rumours of a failed invasion to boost morale.cite news
last = Rigby
first = Nic
coauthors =
title = Was WWII mystery a fake?
work =
pages =
language =
publisher = BBC News
date = 2002-09-09
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2243082.stm
accessdate = 2007-09-23 ] If this is so then the British certainly went to good lengths as the Suffolk Home Guard received reports of an incident resembling this at the time.Author James Hayward has proposed that the rumours, which were widely reported in the American press, were a successfully-engineered example of black propaganda with an aim of ensuring American co-operation and securing lend lease resources by showing that the UK was capable of successfully resisting the German Army.cite book
last = Hayward
first = James
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Shingle Street
publisher = CD41 Publishing
date = 2002
isbn = 0954054911 ]

References