MEMORIES
AND INFORMATION - LEICESTERSHIRE
NEWBOLD
(COLEORTON)
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We are indebted to Mr. David Buckley
for the following information about Home Guard defences
in Leicestershire.
As a boy I had the good fortune to start
my life in the small mining village of Newbold, Coleorton
in Leicestershire. As youngsters we roamed the woods and
parklands for many miles surrounding the village, with its
Coal Mine and Pipe works connected with railway tracks and
all the assorted structures that were so interesting to
young boys.
As
a boy I never realised the importance of two of these structures
that stand on either side of the B587 on the Newbold side
of the hump backed railway bridge on the way to Lount. It
wasn't until later in my working life that they came up
in discussion at lunch one day with another
ex Newbold lad named Frank Birkin and I discovered the true
purpose of these structures. They were constructed early
in the WW2 circa 1940/41 by the local Home
Guard, probably at the local New Lount Colliery and were
in fact:- GERMAN TANK TRAPS!
The intention of the structures was to ensnare
the invading German Tanks as they advanced from the A453
towards Newbold. The tanks would be temporarily unsighted
as they rolled over the railway bridge and then become entangled
in the strong steel cables that had been stretched across
the road by the Home Guard. This would enable
the Home Guard to then attack and destroy the enemy tank.
What a brilliant idea and so like those instances so cleverly
portrayed in "Dad's Army".
These structures are still there, as shown
in these photos taken recently. They are however
beginning to rust badly and deteriorate and will soon be
gone forever if nothing is done to preserve them. Also I
do not suppose many people know that they exist and if they
do, they do not know what they were originally designed
for.
Text and images ©
David Buckley 2007
