I hope you don't mind me asking a question about Ipswich the place rather than the Football Club. I've never been afraid to show my ignorance, so I apologise if this is all something I should know. I'm happy to be educated. I have tried google but couldn't find much of use. I was looking through some old articles, and one map showed the areas targeted by the luftwaffe in the blitz, and one area that seemed to have a a reasonably high concentration was around Ipswich. I know Hull got bombed because the Germans used the Humber Estuary for navigation so dumped any surplus on us on the way back, but why (if they did) was Ipswich seemingly such a target? My guess is you were on a path for airfields as well as London?
All I know from what my Dad told me is that during the war, leading up to the D-Day landings, Dummy Landing Vessels were built on the Orwell to make the Germans believe that the invasion was coming from the East of England. Felixstowe was also a key strategic port and was also targeted heavily by the Krauts. Hope this helps!
Aye that'd make sense. I didn't notice if the map showed when in the war the bombs were dropped or if it just counted everything that fell during the conflict.
Further to JWM's comments we also had bloody hundreds of airfields around the area which i assume would also be of interest and at the time we also have one of the most important research and development sites 20 miles up the coast from us. Although its true purpose was unknown it had quite a lot of air activity etc so could of helped in their decision making.
Their bombsights were out and they missed Norfolk, obviously... http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Norfolk
As a kid I used to love playing on the Beach at Bawdsey in all those bunkers! Does anyone else remember these?
A little known fact was that the germans were planning to bomb the whole of Norwich on Christmas day, but they didn't want to ruin a family christmas.
This page maybe of use; http://www.mhas.org.uk/history/index.html Martlesham Heath was a major airfield during WWII for mainly spitfires but also typhoons & hurricanes, it did suffer a couple of major bombings by the Luftwaffe. Douglas Barder was famously stationed at this Airfield. During 1943 the Yanks took over the airfield with the introduction of P47s and later P51s Martlesham Heath is only around 6 miles (as the crow flies) from Ipswich Town centre.!
Yes, agree, Martlesham was the key, plus the simple geographical fact that Suffolk hosted many airfields, due to its relative flatness. Bawdsey and other bunkers were good play grounds...albeit damp, dark and sinister! Did I tell you they took away & exploded a WW2 bomb washed up on Dunwich beach while we were up there after Xmas!
I should have read it better before posting. The map I was looking at is actually from world war 1, which probably makes more sense as it's air raids and naval bombardments. I said I was ignorant.
Not sure if they are still there but I used to play in the bunkers around Saxmundham all the time as a kid. If you go to the beach at Aldeburgh there are still massive concrete blocks that were put there to prevent the landing of boats/tanks. Plus the Martello tower is still there, which was also part of the local sea defence.
