They must have been 3 mates out playing and tragedy struck. The minefield would have formed along with the dragons teeth, etc. part of the coastal defences. Its easy I suppose with the benefit of hindsight, did they really think an invasion from mainland Europe would have came this way? I suppose they had to prepare for every eventuality or was it a confidence booster for the people that unfortunately cost lives?
God help us, Come yourself, Don't send Jesus, This is no place for children.
The official line was that an invasion could have come via Ireland but it really defies belief that the Germans would have gone so far out of their way.
There was always a fear during WW2 that Ireland, although neutral, did have certain elements in the government that leant towards Germany. If this was the case it could of turned out that a German Invasion of Ireland would of met not that much resistance and given Germany a second front to attack mainland UK from.
Agree with the above and it would have made sense to use Ireland as a stepping stone and staging area for a potential invasion - don't think it was ever officially part of the plan though .
During the construction of the Bidston Moss interchange in the late 1960's,sand was taken from Leasowe foreshore/dunes area, and used in temporary works. A land mine was tipped from one of the trucks at the interchange site.An Army Bomb Disposal team was called out and made it safe. I dread to think of the mine being dropped into the lorry,bounced across Leasowe Road and up Cross Lane before being tipped. Could have been a disaster. Obviously a thorough clear up had not been successful after the war. Wonder if there may be the odd one still undiscovered?
It would be interesting to see what was recorded in the papers, if indeed anything was reported at all. I wonder how hurriedly these minefields were put in place and how detailed the records were of exactly where and how many there was. If one ended up on the back of a lorry years later they probably didn't know how many they were looking for during the clean up. Did the boys get on to the minefield via the sea? I would expect the minefield to be wired off and signposted landside to keep the public off and make them aware.
God help us, Come yourself, Don't send Jesus, This is no place for children.
Bert, I was looking at the earlier thread about the Blitz in Birkenhead on 12 / 13 March 1941 - the same date these three boys were killed in the minefield.
On the Liverpool Museums website about the Blitz at ...
... it mentions this: 'The RAF also lit decoy fires on the sands of the Dee estuary, close to the Wirral shore, to confuse the enemy bombers. These succeeded in attracting many bombs that would otherwise have landed on Merseyside.'
I wonder if these lads were killed not by mines, but by German bombs?
It would be interesting to hear the full story, but it was probably not reported in detail at the time.
The trouble I have with the killed by German bombing theory is,
Why would we blame it on ourselves, killed in our own minefield. I'm thinking it would have been easier to blame it on the bombing but perhaps they seen it as an opportunity to warn others especially children to the dangers of the minefields in the area.
God help us, Come yourself, Don't send Jesus, This is no place for children.
No bombs fell there - only along the East and West Coasts. They fell on unexpected places like Thingwall - but not Leasowe Shore
I'm not sure what your evidence for your statement is, but the official bombing map produced by Wallasey Corporation after the war clearly shows a large number of bomb impacts in the area where you claim none fell. There are groups of bombs marked as falling in the fields at the end of Pasture Road and those opposite Leasowe Open Air Hospital, in the fields either side of Reeds Lane, and on both Leasowe and Wallasey Golf Courses, as well as numerous single impacts all along the coast from Harrison Drive to Moreton Shore.
Sometime around the sixties/late fifties, two army lorries were swamped just by Derby pool they were on the sands they had been digging out 2 bombs that had been dropped in that area, as we were kids and had no nanny state and health and safety to look after us and keep us miles away, we watched the army recovering the lorries with the recovered bombs on board with the crowds who were also watching, I always thought that the picture of the plod standing by the defused landmine was at the back of the hospital at Moreton.
Speaking a while ago with one of the directors of John Beech Limited (Civil Engineers in Bromborough), I was told during construction of the M53 in the 70's, sand was taken from the sand-hills between derby pool and Leasowe for use in the construction and backfilled with spoil from the motorway excavations. One day during these activities, work was halted due to an unexploded bomb being dug up and dropped into the back of a wagon! Bomb disposal unit came to the scene and sorted.
