Rod Collins Blog & Grimsby - Lincolnshire History (2024)

03/02/2023

George Nelson & The Lincolnshire Roadside Ghost
Originally published: March 29, 2012 at 6:13 am · Filed under Lincolnshire History, Lincolnshire Myths and Folklore

The George Nelson Roadside Memorial Stone
And the subsequent tales of a ghostly 1800s horse and rider that haunts the Barton Street in Lincolnshire !

George Nelson was tragically only 18 years of age when he died, he lived at Cadedby Hall in Lincolnshire and there’s a roadside monument on the A18 (near the Cadeby ‘bends’ on the left as you’re heading to Louth)

This story has come up on the site before but deserves proper coverage here. My father reminded me of the ‘gravestone’ marker by the side of the road and as I was on it yesterday with cameras in tow I stopped to record it properly.

I’ve read that the stone marks the spot that the body was found though I believe this to be erroneous, as I’ve heard it told the stone was originally in the field and subsequently moved 40 or 50 years ago by the farmer.

I’d like to get some real specifics together on this one if we can but for now here’s what I know by ‘word of mouth’
George Nelson lost his life January 16th 1885 in a horse riding accident.
Subsequently, there are tales of roadside haunting in the area causing car accidents and the like.

It is said that that people have seen the horse and rider and that the horse then appears to throw the rider but when motorists stop there’s nobody there.
There are also myths and legends suggesting car drivers have swerved to avoid mysterious a horse and rider and subsequently had an accident !
It’s worth noting that the stone is placed on a particularly tricky part of the road and a notorious accident black spot - ghostly apparitions notwithstanding !

I’d like to collate as many derivations of the tale as possible but also find out as much as possible about George himself - as always if you can help then please do leave a comment.
Many thanks,
Rod.

Comments:

veronica said,
March 29, 2012 @ 1:06 pm

According to the probate calendar for that year, his probate was on March 6th and he left the sum of £2.253.16s 11d to his only next of kin, his sister Isabel Mary Nelson , a minor . She was left under the guardianship of her uncle John Nelson of Kew, Surrey .
I assume they must have had relatives at Cadeby .
His parents appear to have been George and Harriet Nelson , George Sn, Isabel and George were all born and lived at Limba Magna(?) . But Harriet was born at Biscathorpe. George was a farmer who farmed 900 acres

Rod said,
March 29, 2012 @ 5:51 pm

Veronica,
that’s a great deal of money, if that’s correct then are we to assume that George was in fact owner of Cadeby Hall himself ?
Best
Rod

v said,
March 29, 2012 @ 7:45 pm

It’s a massive amount for a 16 year old to have. I would think he and Isabel would have had a legal guardian. The probate calendar states Jan 16th 1885 George Nelson gentleman and bachelor of Cadeby, so I assume it is the same one as you have stated.

I don’t know the geog of Lincolnshire ( sorry …..sorry …. i… isss is this blasphemy ? ) or if Lumba Magna is close to Cadeby. His parents must have pre-deceased him for his sister to become the ward of her uncle John Nelson.

fascinating stuff thanks. ( ‘fraid I don’t actually believe in ghosts. I always think there must be a rational explanation)

v said,
March 29, 2012 @ 8:27 pm

The probate calendar states that George was a widower with an estate valued £7,000 . The children were placed under the guardianship of their Grandfather Thomas KIRKHAM of Biscathorpe born Hagnaby 1815.

v said,
March 29, 2012 @ 8:36 pm

Isabel Nelson of Biscathorpe house inherited her father s estate in 1890 presumably when she came of age. Maybe she or her grandfather had the stone placed there.

You have uncovered a tale of sadness Rod.

minnie said,
March 29, 2012 @ 9:36 pm

I was told by my dad when I was a lot younger that this stone used to be some way into the field.

minnie said,
March 29, 2012 @ 10:02 pm

Here are two versions I have been told of the story behind this stone
1) During a hunt the gentlemans horse threw him and broke his neck
2) He was hurrying back to the hall to be with ?a relative who had been taken ill and in the dark the horse wrong footed and fell on him.
There were a few bits in the Grimsby Telegraph about people who have supposed to have seen him and the horse - I can remember one a good while ago where a French lorry driver encountered him.
Does anybody know where the third memorial is in that area? - I do remember being told about it by my dad and I know they are all pretty close together 1) is the memorial at North Ormsby to fallen lady rider who broke her neck hunting 2) is this memorial stone and 3) is another white stone or marble vase (I cant remember which) again either at the side of the road or in the side of a ditch - Stenigot area rings a bell but I just cant remember where - this also marks the spot of a hunting accident

veronica said,
March 30, 2012 @ 12:46 pm

Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser - Wednesday 21 January 1885

An inquest was held into the death of a student of Bedford College, George Nelson, who was spending the holidays with his uncle Mr Kirkham of Cadeby Hall, one of his guardians . He spent the day rabbitting with a cousin at Great Ormesby and left for home at 8 45pm, the night being dark and boisterous. When he did not return, a search was undertaken. The pony and car were found in a shallow ditch and George’s body was found on the road half way to the house. The medical evidence showed death from suffocation with no signs of violence and the inquest verdict was accidental death of suffocation. The deceased was heir to considerable property.

v said,
March 30, 2012 @ 2:21 pm

The Lincoln, Rutland and Stamford Mercury , however , reports the inquest as saying that the deceased would have had to open a gate to get the pony and trap along the road and in doing so, it is presumed he slipped on the road and into a d**e suffocating immediately. Dr George of Thorsby examined the body .

31/01/2023

Ration Book Lincolnshire & WW2 Identity Cards
Originally published: April 12, 2012 at 6:45 pm · Filed under Wartime Lincolnshire

Ration Book Lincolnshire & WW2 Identity Cards
A look at all aspects of Ration Books, Rationing in Lincolnshire and Identity Cards during and after World War 2 . . .
There’s also a picture of me with mine !

We’ll treat this as a brief overview and introduction and get down to the real ‘Meat and Potatoes’ in comments below.
Rationing during the wartime periods was introduced in order to try to control and maintain food and other supplies. As an island nation all the food we imported came in by sea and an obvious German Military Tactic was to stem this flow by destroying cargo ships and supply vessels.

Extreme circumstances call for extreme actions, hence Ration Books and Identity Cards, you’ll note your host to the left, in a suitable period spot with both his Ration Book and ID Card.

Rationing began in almost straight away, in 1939, it was not total though, more a work in progress. Initially it was just petrol that was limited, food rationing began in 1940 with some basic commodities like, sugar, bacon and butter, gradually it spread to cover nearly all aspects of life as times became more desperate and as more and more of the precious and limited resources were required for the War Effort.

The system was tweaked over time to suit both new issues and of course loopholes. One such ‘loophole’ was that Food Rationing wasn’t applicable to restaurants so of course the inevitable happened . . . the rich ate well and the poor ate . . .
As the above shows, nothing ever changes so it’s hardly a surprise to hear that the onset of shortages meant the rise of the Black Market !

The whole Rationing System eventually encompassed just about everything from clothing to paper for printing books and is dealt with in much greater detail elsewhere so we needn’t get bogged down with it here - more and greater detail is very much welcomed in comments below.

I’d be particularly interested to hear about the reality of rationing, here on the ground, in Lincolnshire.
I can find out from the history books when ci******es and chocolate became controlled and hard to get but what I don’t know is . . .

Were there more vegetables floating about behind the scenes in Lincolnshire due to agriculture ?
What about Rationing in Grimsby ? I can certainly see a few parcels of fish being traded for goods and services elsewhere ?
Incidentally, fish was not rationed I believe.

Here are two items special to me, they’re not family heirlooms but replicas bought for me by my brother as a memento of a fabulous day out - you’ll note of course due to my youthful good looks they’re marked ‘Junior’ ;)

Comment:
The Dinosaur said,
April 13, 2012 @ 3:42 pm

Rod, my father who worked on the fish quay from the age of 15 in the last months of the war, tells me the German fishing boats started calling at British ports as soon as a fortnight after the end of hostilities and their crews were desperate for food.

He says it surprised him how nobody said a word against the Germans and didn’t deny them food, even though it was still in short supply and rationed. Ci******es were not rationed but were very hard to get and used as unofficial international currency, the German fishermen were selling all sorts of items including watches, jewellery and ornaments to get the cash to buy ci******es which weren’t available to them at that time.

My father found a way of profiting from this, Norwegian fishing boats were often moored alongside the Germans but the Norwegians wouldn’t speak to them, not surprising really, however they did have a plentiful supply of American ci******es, so my father used to buy the ci******es from the Norwegians and then sell them to the Germans at a good profit.

My father can confirm that fish was not rationed and he often says that if it hadn’t been for the plentiful herring, he might easily have starved to death himself during the war.

28/01/2023

Great Coates Manor ~ Site & Moat History
Originally published: April 4, 2012

Great Coates Manor ~ The Grange
A look at the moated site that was the centre of Great Coates, near Grimsby in Lincolnshire and a nice ‘aerial’ photograph !

The village of Great Coates, or Magna Cotes, has been around a long time, some interesting information in a previous article Can Be Found Here, now regarded as being part of Grimsby, at least for the last 100 years or so, it was once an independent manor with, of course, a Manor House and a moated one at that !

The photograph below was taken from the roof of St Nicolas’ Church Tower, it shows the grounds to the foreground of the current house

Great Coates Church sits right next door to the manorial site and there’s still clear evidence of the moat - indeed it forms part of the churchyard boundary.
A large and impressive house still sits on the site, I’m not sure of its age but I’m presuming relatively modern.

Most of the moat has now been filled in though the part the remains is impressive and still carries water at times, it provides a boundary for a parcel of land which is triangulated between the churchyard, the Vicarage and the current ‘Manor House’, it’s completely overgrown but it’s clear it was once ‘parkland’ as it were because there’s an old iron ‘fence’ around one of the trees - the land is owned, I believe, by the current owners of the house.

What I’d like to do is produce as timeline for the site and all those who owned it and lived there - I think we’ll need to be careful as to residents because I suspect there will be people who may have held the ‘manor’ whilst not actually inhabiting the house, as it were.

I should also like to piece together as many mentions possible of the house and its occupants over the years so if you can help in any way then please do leave a comment - many thanks
Rod

[Edit]
To clear up any confusion the site we are looking at is next to the church, on Aylesby Road and now known as The Grange I believe.
There is a house in Cooks Lane called ‘Manor House’ but what I’d like to do here is get to the bottom of this moated site . . .

Selection of the 65 comments:

v said,
April 4, 2012 @ 7:34 pm

I have found nothing in the newspapers about the house or its owners .
I have found indication as to who may have lived there between censuses .

Mark John Paget is listed as being in residence in 1911 and 1901 with his wife Frances Carr Stuart Glyn. Mark was a banker from Dorset.

1891 , William Kennington , a retired wine merchant from Gt Grimsby (but he was only 39 ;must have sold a lot of wine)

1881 John Cordeaux farmer ( born Leicestershire) and Mary Cordeaux Born CHESHIRE

1871 John Cordeaux

1861 John Cordeaux

1851 George Coates Born Durham

Amiguru said,
April 4, 2012 @ 10:03 pm

Rod & Veronica,

John Cordeaux was a fine Victorian ornithologist , general naturalist, antiquarian and writer. A right Lincolnshire polymath perhaps one would say! His most important publication I would suggest was ‘Birds of the Humber District’, 1872; a hardcopy of which I have the good fortune to own.

It has mixed blessings though, as you may well guess. The frontispiece is entitled ‘A Flamborough Trophy Fulmar Petrel, Pomathorine Skua and Hareld’ On the positive side, he reports seeing the Little Crake, the Dotterel, Pallas’ Sand Grouse, (at Little Cotes!), and the Nightjar; all within the district!

Thank goodness for the modern camera as, if evidence is needed, that will suffice. In Cordeaux’s day, slaughter was the rule as, if you couldn’t provide a co**se, the most convincing account of a sighting was dismissed out of hand. The most common word in the said book, I would guess, is ’shot’ :shock:

Regards,
Neville

Peter Mullins said,
April 6, 2012 @ 12:37 pm

As I understand it - but this is all vague memories of what has been said to me rather than evidenced remarks - the moated site is the ancient manorial site. The Barnardistan family (we have two family brasses in the church from c 1470 and c 1500) held this for a very long time. They were on the wrong side in the Civil War and were dispossesed by the Sutton family at that time - and, obviously, Sutton Estates continues to be a major stake holder in the village even today. It is remarkable that only two families have held the village estate manor for hundreds of years until today.

How many Barnardistans lived on the site, and what became of the house they occupied, isn’t something anyone has ever mentioned to me. I doubt Suttons ever lived there (compare the mid-18th century purchase of Bradley by the Nelthorpe family who then and now live in Scawby Hall) but I can’t even be certain of that. Equally, I have no idea whether the present 20th century Grange replaced an earlier house.

I also don’t know how the name of the Manor came to be attached to a house elsewhere in the village. Possibilities range from the self-aggrandisement of a single occupier to links with the Sutton’s authority (John Cordeaux, for example, was their Estate Manager).

I read Rod Collins’ website to find out this sort of thing, and I am frankly disappointed with his usual sleuths at this stage of the Comment column!

Peter Mullins said,
April 7, 2012 @ 9:07 pm

Nice find. My respect for the Collins’ sleuths is triumpantly restored. And that looks like a walnut tree right in the middle of the picture, along with a distant view of three more near the church along the line of the moat, to make everyone’s joy complete. There isn’t a hint of date available is there?

A quick look at modern satallite pictures on the internet confirms the configuration of house (this is certainly the south front of the present Grange) and church - the postcard picture was taken standing on a spot which is now in the extensive school field south of the church. There is today a major fence running right across the middle of this picture (which may well follow the same line as the small gate and fence as far as I can judge it).

By the way, the photo at the top of your article doesn’t show the Grange. It is taken from the church tower looking almost west, and the house in it is Church View Old People’s Home. The drive running across the middle of the photo is the Grange’s drive which approaches the Grange from the north, while the view in the postcard looks squarely at the Grange from the south.

I feel a Bank Holiday walk coming on to try to line up the trees on the postcard with what can be seen on the ground today. Isn’t it interesting how much less wooded the scene in this postcard is compared with today - something I observed strongly in a postcard probably of a similar vintage which had a view from Little Coates churchyard looking south.

(Oh, I’ve just looked at the Little Coates postcard and at this Great Coates postcard elsewhere on the net - they appear to be numbers 5 and 3 of the same set. It appears I’m a Collins’ sleuth myself - no wonder my respect for them has been restored!)

Vicky Hubbard said,
April 8, 2012 @ 8:14 am

My family were the lords of the manor going back a while. We have a window in the church ‘fowlers.’ My grandad would have been able to tell you about both sites but is no longer with us my auntie may be able to help though if you email me I’ll semd you a number

minnie said,
April 8, 2012 @ 10:56 am

:-) pleased the walnut trees got a mention

Barry de Graff said,
April 8, 2012 @ 1:11 pm

Really good to meet you in the churchyard this morning Rod. You gave me a whole new perspective on things that I have seen so (too?) often! The ironwork around the trees in the adjoining land I have never “seen” before but for all the world look exactly like that which would be seen on a grand estate.

Thank you again and I look forward to more of your discoveries.

[See tree photograph]
minnie said,
April 8, 2012 @ 8:20 pm

Rod , Many thanks for that picture - and sorry to keep harping on about walnut trees but thought I would drop this bit in as well. The walnut trees alongside the Aylesby road are (or were - because not sure if they are still there) equally spaced and in a straight line following the line of the road on the left hand side going towards Aylesby with just one tree on the opposite side of the road which would suggest to me that they were purposely planted and not self seeding.So my question is did the manor site extend to the last tree along the road? Please disregard if not relevant.

Rod said,
April 8, 2012 @ 8:42 pm

From Old Grimsby 1897 by Rev. George Shaw and re the Barnardiston family . . .

“The chief seat of this family was at Great Coates. It was an ancient moated hall, which, Oliver states, was thought by some persons to be referred to in the Domesday Survey ; where it is recorded ” that Bernard had these two villanes and as many bordars, and eight soke men, with one oxgan of land, two ploughs, and a hundred acres of meadow.”

Peter Mullins said,
April 9, 2012 @ 10:25 am

Random Bank Holiday thoughts.

Yes, there probably was an Anglo-Saxon church on the present church site (your Domesday reference supports this), but there is nothing of the present church building which dates earlier than 1200.

Yes, the moated site is likely to go back a long way as well, but my guess is this was much more to do with marking boundaries and draining land than it was to do with providing defence.

And, putting these two observations together, note how a significant proportion of Lincolnshire churches are next door to manor sites (Bradley is another example) which probably demonstrates that the origin of many parish churches would have been as manorial chapels a while before a parish system properly developed - and this connection and patronage continued so, in our case, look how magnificent and like a principal entrance the west doorway (i.e. the one facing the ancient manor site) is compared with the north and south doorways (i.e. those most accessible to villagers).

None of which assuages my thirst to see numbers 1, 2 and 4 (and possibly numbers 6 onwards) in the postcard series.

Barry de Graff said,
April 9, 2012 @ 11:12 am

Thanks for the randomness Peter! I met Rod in the churchyard yesterday prior to Easter morning worship and we had a good chat. I remembered you pointing out the grandeur of the west door once before and I mentioned this to Rod.

I was also fascinated to see what appeared to be earthworks pointed out by Rod in the land adjoining the churchyard, across the moat. And I really had never noticed before the ironwork around the trees on that piece of land, to keep deer away from the bark, Rod tells me.

Helen Ward said,
April 12, 2012 @ 7:40 pm

Rod,
I just wanted to comment on the lovely photograph of the Grange next to Great Coates church . I have never seen that picture before . I was lucky enough to grow up at the Grange . My parents, ( Ken and Leither Taylor) bought it from sutton estates in 1974. it had been stood empty for a few years. The tenants prior to 1970 had been the Riggall family who had lived in the house for about 150years. Gordon and Maisie Riggall.

They were tenant farmers . We believe the house dates back to 1770 . My father was responsible for the wonderful landscaping that there is today . The long brick wall was built with the bricks from old farm buildings .
The Grange has a wonderful history , with the moated site and covenant on the land .I believe there had once been a monastery built on the field between the house and aylesby park. My parents have more information about this as they had an interest when they lived there. My parents sold the house in 1998 .

[See map image]
Peter Mullins said,
April 15, 2012 @ 9:51 am

We are not done yet then!

(1) I’ll just e-mail Rod a picture of a large scale map dated 1900 for him to insert here. The postcard view would have been taken from the bottom of the picture.

The probable lost site of the ancient manor is over to the left where then and now the most substantial remains of moat exist on private land (and on the roadside of which the plaque I noticed is situated). There are substantial farm buildings behind the Grange (looking from the postcard position - they are actually just visible in the postacard). A hatching sign shows normally dry moat not only round part of the churchyard but all along the southern boundary of the Grange land and some along the northern side of the Avenue - these are all as clear on the ground today.

(2) Helen’s message in the week while I’ve been away opens things up a lot - I gave a copy of the postcard image to her mother at St Michael’s on Easter Day. Sutton Estates still owning the land right through to the 1970s makes sense, as does a farm house having been built long after the loss of the ancient manor house, and as does its then being let to tenant farmers.

The Riggalls (one of the surnames known to have a name of Lincolnshire origin as it happens, possibly in the Louth area) having been the tenants for that long is fascinating - there is a group of their family graves in the south-western corner of the churchyard (i.e. as close to the farmhouse as they could be); Ernest Riggall was the last burial there in 1967 aged 83, and I believe he was the father of the Gordon and Maisie who Helen remembers.

Peter Mullins said,
April 15, 2012 @ 5:11 pm

I think Helen is wrong to assume the Riggall tenancy of the Grange lasted as long as 150 years, but it did appear to last 90 or so. And the name by which the house was known at the earlier stages of the tenancy appears to be Sunnyside.

There are no Riggalls recorded in Great Coates in the 1871 and 1881 censuses.

In 1891 Jabez Riggall (aged 64, born Gayton-le-Wold) is Head of Household at Sunnyside, Grimsby Road, with wife Martha A Riggall (aged 40, born South Reston - we’ll come back to the fact that she is 24 years younger than her husband), and children Edward S Riggall (aged 23, born Gayton-le-Wold), Ernest P Riggall (aged 7, born Great Coates - so the family had moved to Great Coates by about 1884), and Emily M Riggall (aged 5, born Great Coates). I might be wrong to guess that Sunnyside is the Grange - but the next house listed is the Rectory.

This unusual family set up is explained by looking back for Jabez in the 1881 census. He is then at the Grange, Gayton-le-Wold (the name of the house is a coincidence, I assume) as a 54 year old widower in whose household also lives his housekeeper Martha A Jepson (aged 30, born South Reston). Jabez has a son Francis (17) with them, and appears to have had a town house in Upgate, Louth where no Head of Household is listed but a servant Sarah Jepson (a relative of Martha, I assume) is resident with children Edward S Riggall (13), Jabez H Riggall (11) and Margaret R Riggall (9).

Jabez and Martha are both listed in the index of the Caistor Registration District as being married in the first quarter of the following year (1882). Their son Ernest is born, as we’ve seen, in Great Coates in about 1884. Their eldest daughter Gertrude is born and dies in 1888 (this is what her gravestone says - the oldest Riggall gravestone in the churchyard). The family continues to be as expected at Sunnyside in the 1891 and 1901 censuses.

Jabez then dies in 1905 (according to a grant of Probate) and the 1911 census gives Ernest P Riggall (27) as the Head of a Great Coates Household with his widowed mother still living with him. This will be the Ernest Paul Riggall who dies in 1967 aged 83 and whose burial record give him as living at that time at the Grange (after a lifetime in the one house if Sunnyside is in fact the Grange).

The microfilm of the 1813-61 burial register in the Grimsby Library and Lincoln Archive might fill in some gaps. As might Ernest’s granddaughter who was living in Great Coates in 2009 when I had some contact with her.

27/01/2023

Tupholme Abbey Sculpture ~ The Lincolnshire Wicker Man
Originally published: April 17, 2012
[Images referred to no longer embedded in text, see above/below]

The ‘Statue’ at Tupholme Abbey Ruins~ The Lincolnshire Wicker Man !
A photographic trip with my brother to a spot which is an old favourite of our brought about a surprise, this post will also show you an insight of what I go through to bring you this content to the site’s cherished readers . . .

Tupholme Abbey is a wonderful place and one day I aim to be there when the sun is in the right place but yesterday we had a different agenda - take some photographs that were . . . a bit different.
It’s an ancient site, circa 1155, and I went for a wander following the ‘moat’ to the remains of the medieval fish ponds and to my amazement came across this . . .

It actually looks like the perfect spot to set the entire film The Wicker Man (the original of course not the ghastly remake) but it is in fact a wonderful sculpture created by a Lincolnshire artist Nicola McLean with the help from school children from Bardney.
It’s a beautiful piece of work , made of hazel and willow is symbolises a fisherman and it’s final placement was an inspired choice with Lincolnshire Heritage stating
‘we wanted to locate him somewhere where visitors would ‘happen across’ him as they explored the site, and to encourage even more people to come and enjoy this fascinating but peaceful corner of Lincolnshire’
They well and truly succeeded !

As an aside here’s a candid shot my brother took, it’s of me taking the photograph you can actually see above - see how much effort I go to dear reader :)
This shot has worked really well I think, worthwhile in its own right but doubly so here as it shows you ‘behind the scenes’

Anyway, there you go, Lincolnshire’s very own Wicker Man, a marvellous thing to behold and a credit to all involved - hope you’ve enjoyed the behind the camera look as well.
It was a great day, I got some really different pictures of my brother which I was quite pleased with, likewise he took some cracking vintage feel shots of me - another marvellous day
Comments and opinions on anything above very much welcomed.

Regards to all,
Rod.

25/01/2023

RAF Metheringham in Lincolnshire ~ The History & Images
Plus a tale of true heroism - do read on . . .

Originally published: April 18, 2012

RAF Metheringham and 106 Squadron
The history behind this famous airfield, those that used it and a look at it today, the museum and visitor centre, the runway and old buildings - plenty of photographs . . .
There’s a tale of tremendous heroism here as well, I hope people will at least read that - thank you

My first impression of RAF Metheringham, during an exceptionally memorable visit with my brother, was one of sheer size, it seemed to cover a much larger area than any other site I’ve visited.
The feeling of actually driving down the runway was exceptionally eerie, I couldn’t help but think of all those brave young men of 106 Squadron who’d done the same only not in the comfort of a modern car but enshrouded in the living horror of a Lancaster Bomber on route to Germany, many of whom never returned, how did they feel going down that runway on a cold, dark night in a lonely and bleak spot in the Lincolnshire Fens !?

The sprawling site sits on 650 acres of land and was built in 1942-43 just to the south-east of Lincoln.
It became the home of 106 Squadron who moved in November 11 1943 and quite incredibly was actually operational after only one week, that’s logistically staggering.

We talk about the bravery of the pilots and aircrew, it’s unimaginable to most of us nowadays, those men were simply of another calibre, we’ll not see the likes of them again, despite this background of continual bravery though some stood out even here !

On the night of April 26th and young man, originally from London, called Norman Jackson (pictured) volunteered to go on a bombing raid into Schweinfurt in Germany he did this knowing the dangers and also having just received a telegram that day telling him his wife had given birth to their first son !

After the long haul to Germany they dropped their bombs on what they believed to be the German Centre for ball bearing manufacturing in Schweinfurt and turned to return home when out of nowhere they were attacked by a German night fighter which raked their Lancaster with cannon fire!

Looking out, Norman Jackson saw one of the engines on fire - so he activated the internal extinguishing system - it didn’t work - the fire was too bad.
What Happens Now Defies Belief

He put an extinguisher inside his jacket, released his parachute canopy and climbed out of the plane and tried to make his way toward the burning wing - the plane was at 22,000 feet and travelling at some 200mph !!!

Whilst outside the plane the night fighter attacked again and Norman Jackson was hit in the leg, the extinguisher was lost and he then suffered terrible burns as the engine blew. He lost his grip on the wing and was thrown backwards into the slipstream of the plane, held now only by his parachute lines which the crew of the Lancaster hung onto as he was dragged, shot and burned behind the plane !

There was nothing to do but slowly release the lines and let go in the hope that that parachute may open - amazingly, it did !
He was captured and spent 10 months in a German hospital before being sent to a Prisoner of War Camp from which he made 2 escape attempts ! Succeeding on the second time, penetrating the German line and finding US troops near Munich - what a man - incredible.

His bravery only came to light after the surviving members of the crew were released from their German POW camps and told the story of Norman’s heroism - even if Norman had extinguished the fire all agreed there was little or no chance of him actually getting back into the plane - a truly selfless act

On 13th November 1945 Norman Jackson went to Buckingham Palace and was awarded the Victoria Cross by King George VI
His wife and 18 month old son were there to see it !

The site was decommissioned in 1946 and most of the land reverted back to its former agricultural uses.
Much remains however, including a good stretch of original runway which you can legitimately drive on!

RAF Metheringham Visitor Centre
There is also a visitor centre / museum on the site and you simply must visit it. There’s all sorts of interest to see, it’s beautifully kept up and maintained by volunteers.
I absolutely loved every moment there, I intend to go again as well - if you’re anywhere near then do visit - I can’t believe you’d be disappointed.
It’s open, at the time of writing, on a Wednesday, Saturdays and Sunday plus Bank Holidays, 11am - 4pm - entrance is free but please do make a donation and/or buy something from the wonderful souvenir shop.

There’s plenty to see and explore so do utilise a site map

The is another association between RAF Metheringham and the Victoria Cross, that being the legendary Guy Gibson of The Dam Busters !
Wing Commander Guy Penrose Gibson VC, DSO & Bar, DFC & Bar can be seen in photographs at the visitor centre so do go and find out more about the association and also get to follow his very footsteps!

I should very much like to get into more detail below in comments and I welcome any and all input, information or comments on the above.
If you know anything at all about RAF Metheringham, have any association at all or perhaps you’re like me and have visited the site and been moved by it and all those who served there then please do feel free to leave a comment

Yours in admiration
Rod

Rod Collins Blog & Grimsby - Lincolnshire History

03/02/2023

31/01/2023

28/01/2023

27/01/2023

25/01/2023

Address

Website

Alerts

Shortcuts

Share