Eight men who gave their lives during the Second World War to protect the North Norfolk coast are being honoured.
A memorial plaque is being unveiled at the Wells War Memorial Institute Club on VE Day to remember eight Royal Engineers who gave their lives during mine-laying and bomb disposal operations around Holkham Gap and Wells-next-the-Sea in the Second World War.
Though they died here on home soil, during vital anti-invasion defences and mine clearance operations after D-Day, their names have until now been absent from local remembrance.
These brave servicemen will now be honoured alongside all those local men already remembered at the Wells war memorial, giving them the recognition and respect they have long deserved.
The men remembered are:
September 1940 – 241 Field Company RE
* Lance Corporal M.P. Christie (aged 19)
* Sapper J. McAtear (aged 21)
April 1941 – 240 Field Company RE
* Sapper R. Hilton (aged 25)
* Sapper S. Parker (aged 22)
* Sapper A. Phillips (aged 20) – buried in a War Grave in Wells-next-the-Sea
August & December 1944 – Bomb Disposal Operations
* Corporal A. Henshall (aged 28), 4 Bomb Disposal Company RE
* Sapper J.W. Pottar (aged 26), 4 Bomb Disposal Company RE
* Sapper F.M. McMeechan (aged 31), 22 Bomb Disposal Company RE
Steve Tuck, Chairman of the Wells War Memorial Club, said: “To unveil this memorial on VE Day is deeply meaningful. These young men worked in silence and danger, right here in Wells, and gave their lives without fanfare. Honouring them now, beside those already remembered, brings their stories into the heart of our town’s history — where they belong. We will not forget them.”
Adrian Dwyer, a former Royal Engineer Bomb Disposal Officer and Wells resident, researched the deaths. He noted that “When the fear of invasion by the Nazis was at its height, Royal Engineers – with very little training or familiarity with Beach Mines – worked under enormous pressure to lay more than 300,000 mines at Britain’s most vulnerable beaches. After D-Day, during the systematic clearance operation to return the land to public use, it was found that many of these weapons had moved in shifting sands and become exceptionally sensitive due to corrosion by salt water. Both tasks (and continuing clearance post-war) took a significant toll of the young men involved.”
Wells Town Council Chairman Mel Catton said: “On behalf of the Town Council and the Wells community, we are proud to honour these eight Royal Engineers whose courage and sacrifice helped defend this coast during our darkest hours. This plaque is more than a memorial — it is an act of remembrance, placing their names firmly within the story of our town and the freedom we celebrate on VE Day. We are deeply grateful to all those who have made this tribute possible. Wells will remember them, always.”
This new plaque has been made possible with the support of the Royal Engineers Association (Bomb Disposal Branch), the RE Bomb Disposal History Group, the Wells War Memorial Institute Club, and the Dwyer family.
