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Author Topic: 31 January 1953  (Read 5319 times)

CLKD

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31 January 1953
« on: January 31, 2023, 09:21:51 AM »

My Dad was the last person alive to leave Heacham Beach on that night.  He 'felt' a change in the air and ran.  Soon after extreme weather arrived, causing fatalities along the East Coast.

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CLKD

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Re: 31 January 1953
« Reply #1 on: January 31, 2023, 09:25:15 AM »

It was 70 years ago that the waters which divide Scotland and Northern Ireland witnessed one of Britain's worst maritime disasters.

The Stranraer-Larne ferry MV Princess Victoria sank on 31 January 1953, with the loss of more than 130 lives.
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Songbird

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Re: 31 January 1953
« Reply #2 on: January 31, 2023, 10:21:34 AM »

I’m ashamed to say I never knew that CLKD 😟. I read your posts out to hubby and he knew all about it.
It must have been terrifying.. :'(
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CLKD

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Re: 31 January 1953
« Reply #3 on: January 31, 2023, 10:26:28 AM »

My family were raised in Norfolk.  There were no warnings in those days.  The weather was unexpected.

Plus wooden beach houses with no foundations had been built along the beach to provide properties between the Wars.  What's not to like: open the door straight onto the sand and into the sea.  Until  :-\ :'(

If you look at the Eastern Daily Press web-site there may B articles today, from that time as a reminder.  The stories that came out in the following years have been terrifying.  There's a photo on the BBC web site this morning of an elderly couple, he's got the dog, she's clutching the cat wrapped in a towel.  What wasn't known until later years was how involved one particular US Service man was, he saved lots of lives.  He has in recent times been commemorated.
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CLKD

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Re: 31 January 1953
« Reply #4 on: January 31, 2023, 10:45:10 AM »

1953: Britain honours American hero

Reis Leming, a 22-year-old US airman stationed in Britain, has been presented with the George Medal.
He rescued 27 people in East Anglia during the winter floods.

The award, the first given to a foreigner during peacetime, was presented by Home Secretary Sir David Maxwell Fyfe.

The night of 31 January 1953 will never be forgotten by those who survived it.

The combined effects of hurricane force winds and a high tide took sea levels to eight feet above their predicted levels.
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