pallen883 Posted 16 April , 2013 Share Posted 16 April , 2013 Hi I live in Barnham Nr Elveden/Thetford and have long been interested in the tank training area. Ive recently found the old tank training trench area and lots of old pictures of the surrounding area. does anybody else have an interest in this topic and is there any research i can do in this area for you? once i master adding pics i will put some on here, having trouble resizing for the site.. Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pallen883 Posted 16 April , 2013 Author Share Posted 16 April , 2013 Quarry pit, "Showing tracks of tanks"Suffolk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pallen883 Posted 16 April , 2013 Author Share Posted 16 April , 2013 Barbed wire, "Crushed down by the tanks and also their tracks up to the hill" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
delta Posted 16 April , 2013 Share Posted 16 April , 2013 Interesting pictures - any idea when they were taken? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pallen883 Posted 16 April , 2013 Author Share Posted 16 April , 2013 Hi Delta, i have a map marking the trench positions also the outer and inner boundries (No Go Zone). will try and get it scanned to add on here. Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barkalotloudly Posted 17 April , 2013 Share Posted 17 April , 2013 i worked for a company that leased land at Canada Farm i believe you could still see the location of the railway sidings that were used when the first tanks went to france. The "cover story {whilst the testing etc was taking place} was i belive, that a tunnel was being dug to France!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pallen883 Posted 17 April , 2013 Author Share Posted 17 April , 2013 Yes i have heard of the railway sidings but only at Culford not near Canada Farm, if anyone else can shed some light on this please do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pallen883 Posted 19 April , 2013 Author Share Posted 19 April , 2013 "Some of the boys of the landships, Feagusson, Barker, Sudgen, Burrows, Brown, Sauffle, Lovinman, Whiting, Clark, Hull, Beaden, Davidson, Hartnell, Cliare" Any other info on these men! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pallen883 Posted 19 April , 2013 Author Share Posted 19 April , 2013 Tank, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk "In the park" View through one of the arches of the ruined abbey, of a tank with two soldiers standing between its tracks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tanks3 Posted 19 April , 2013 Share Posted 19 April , 2013 Gunner 3883 I like your iages. Do you know who is who in the "Landships" image? Seems to be one name missing as there are 15 chaps but 14 names? The Bury presentation tank image is good too. First time i have seen this Tanks3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barkalotloudly Posted 19 April , 2013 Share Posted 19 April , 2013 The excellent book "The tanks at Flers" has a detailed section regarding the time spent at Elveden Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pallen883 Posted 19 April , 2013 Author Share Posted 19 April , 2013 Hi Tank3. Sorry not sure who is who or as to why not all seem to be named . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pallen883 Posted 19 April , 2013 Author Share Posted 19 April , 2013 Photograph. 'On crushed quarry from tanks' Photograph. 'Crushed in some part by tanks' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pallen883 Posted 19 April , 2013 Author Share Posted 19 April , 2013 Photograph. 'The Kings stand to view tanks Note: The Kings stand is visible in the background in the first picture of this topic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
delta Posted 19 April , 2013 Share Posted 19 April , 2013 The "Landships men" are are all from the Motor Machine Gun Service - readily identified by their leather belts and gaiters. Sadly,, however, none seem to be early tankees who deployed to France in Aug / Sep 1916 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharlesPeter Posted 31 May , 2013 Share Posted 31 May , 2013 I work at English Heritage and I am starting to explore what archaeological remains may exist of training grounds created in England for new weapons such as the tank. If you have been able to identify where on the ground the testing ground and or any other aspects of the tank corps presence at Elveden would now be then I would be pleased to learn more. If there is any visible evidence or if buried remains are likely to exist then that would also be of interest. This string of posts contains a number of images of trenches created presumably to imitate conditions to be faced on the Western Front. Have you been able to pin point where these photos were taken from even if nothing is today visible? I am based in Kent so I do not know this area well and cannot get over to inspect it for myself. Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pallen883 Posted 12 July , 2013 Author Share Posted 12 July , 2013 Hi all, sorry not have got back to your messages sooner. With regards to the question of any remains of the trenches. the trenches are not really visible as the area has been under the Forestry commission for a number of years and is a man managed area of new tree growth which is then cut down and replanted. I've had a look at the area on Google Earth, if you wind the time bak to the 1940is i think its possible to make out some of the trench lines. Ive also discovered that some of the Burrell collection pictures are accessible online. follow this link then scroll down the page the pictures you can see are titled in blue, its a fascinating collection and i went through both albums which are available to see at Bury records Office. www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/a2a/records.aspx?cat=174-k997&cid=-1#-1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveGreen Posted 9 May , 2014 Share Posted 9 May , 2014 There are some more pictures of the Elveden tank training ground, and a tank in action, on this site (many of my family worked on the Iveagh estate which owned the Elveden estate) http://stedmundsburychronicle.com/galleryww1/galleryww1page_02.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest AJFMM Posted 24 September , 2014 Share Posted 24 September , 2014 I recently found 7 glass plate negatives in the storeroom at Seaford Museum. They measure 6.0cm by 4.5cm each. They were in a box of developer in our photographic items! I prised four of them apart being stuck on the emulsion sides....no damage done! They are likely to have been taken on a Goerz of Berlin, Vest Pocket Tenax camera. The images are WW1 military and one shows men in front of what appears to be an 'Olley Farm Estate' saleboard. I believe that Olley Farm was on the Elveden Estate or right next to it. My first impression was that they were of POW's working on Olley Farm i.e. one soldier with bayonet fixed rifle plus a sergeant. One of the pictures shows a trench like structure but much too neat to be western front. Others show men with different types of clothing, but not all uniforms and strange hats and caps, in rural settings i.e. haystacks a hand water pump during bathing etc. I have been following this up with various local groups but without any great success but have now got a contact at the Forestry Commission who luckily is in to WW1 history. As this is my first post I have not yet worked out how to load a photo...I might set up another forum about Prisoners of War at Warren Wood, Croxton which was a POW work camp but I have no further info other than it was very close to Olley Farm and Elveden Estate. I thought I would let 'sergeant' know about the find as he/she (or other members) may be able to help. I'll leave it there for now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted 14 December , 2015 Share Posted 14 December , 2015 Good afternoon gentlemen, I am in the process of researching the Elveden Explosives Area for my undergraduate dissertation and seeing some of the interesting finds that you have all posted already I wondered if you could give me an update of what you know. I will be going to do a site recce of the area within the next week or so to try and establish some relatively secure locations from photographs and mapping etc but I will essentially be going in blind. Any assistance would be most appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeyH Posted 14 December , 2015 Share Posted 14 December , 2015 Rich B Are you aware that there was a book published on Elveden fairly recently 'The Most Secret Place on Earth'? This available from 'Amazon'. Not sure of how much help this would be in your quest. Mike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted 15 December , 2015 Share Posted 15 December , 2015 Hi Mike, I have the book and it is very interesting thanks. As I'm not local I was looking for some points/areas of potential interest that people may have stumbled across in research or out walking that needed a physical investigation. Doing an aerial survey and map study has revealed quite a lot but nothing quite beats the Mk 1 eyeball and boot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest SMEW Posted 23 June , 2016 Share Posted 23 June , 2016 Paul please can can you record this for the Council for British Archaeology Home Front Legacy UK map of FWW sites. www.homefrontlegacy.org.uk thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest AlanC Posted 9 September , 2016 Share Posted 9 September , 2016 Paul and I have been researching the Elveden tank training area on the ground, for a project that forms part of the part of the Lottery-funded, "Breaking New Ground" initiative on the history and natural history of the Brecks (the area centred on Thetford, and which includes Elveden). I've also been overlaying Pauls' map on Google earth and combining this with some private LIDAR data that we have access to see if we can locate any remaining traces of the huge trench system built south of Elveden in 1916 (see Paul's photos above). We've found some tantalising traces! - and they're ones that the Mk 1 eyeball and boot would never have found by themselves! The BBC will shortly be filming a piece about the area, scheduled to be broadcast on Look East on 16th September, the 100th anniversary of the first use of tanks in France. I understand that Roger Pugh, the author of (the excellent!) "The Most Secret Place On Earth" will be interviewed. I also understand that the Tank Museum in Bovington will be placing an original 1916 tank on display in Trafalgar Square on that same date, alongside a modern one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gareth Davies Posted 9 September , 2016 Share Posted 9 September , 2016 I look forward to seeing the fruits of your labours. The tank in Trafalgar Square will be the Tank Museum's replica Mk IV (of War Horse film fame). The CR2 on Horseguards will be the real thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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