The Shingle Street Community were pleased to unveil a new plaque alongside our community notice and information boards remembering two women whose fight to return to the hamlet after their eviction during the Second World War ultimately re-established habitation at Shingle Street. Today’s timing is poignant being the 75th anniversary of their return.
The board, pictured below, reads:
IN RECOGNITION and memory of Daisy Jane Norton and Kate Burwood (nee Lucock) who, with forty-eight hours’ notice, were evacuated from their homes in Shingle Street by the Ministry of Defence in 1939 following the outbreak of World War II. The hamlet and surrounding area were militarised for defence and war exercises between 1939 -1945 which included the clearance of their homes. After the war, the two had to relentlessly petition government Ministries and MPs for the right to return and for the necessary compensation to rebuild. They were ultimately successful and allowed to return in December 1949, more than 10 years since they had been evacuated. They reinstated habitation at Shingle Street when it could have been lost. Two determined women who fought, along with others, for Shingle Street as a place to live. We thank and appreciate them still today.
We are very grateful for the support from Councillor James Mallinder and East Suffolk Council whose grant of £100 enabled us to install the plaque.
