Earlham Patrol

In the 1950s Earlham golf course was built over by the Sainsbury Centre of Visual Arts and the University of East Anglia, with the land to the south, bordering onto the River Yare, now forming part of the University campus. 

The positional reference given by Patrol member John Fielding (lodged at Defence of Britain) puts the Patrol’s OB on the north-eastern edge of the golf course, in an area situated near the south-eastern edge of the present-day University campus, to the north of the University of East Anglia Broad – a lake created by gravel quarrying – and to the west of Bluebell Road.

After several decades of construction work and landscaping it would be unrealistic to expect finding a stone unturned or the OB intact and hidden away in some unexplored corner.  According to John Fielding’s account the OB has long since been filled in and in all probability it was either destroyed or lies buried beneath layers of soil or concrete.  All that remained for us to do was to take a photograph of the approximate location.

John Fielding’s oral account, lodged at Defence of Britain, describes a chamber of 3.70 x 2.50m in size with an entrance passage, a central area for bunks, and an explosives store. The structure was buried 3.70m deep. According to Patrol member Sergeant C Haines the Patrol members built the OB themselves.