Fritton (near Great Yarmouth)
Coordinates: 52°32′31″N 1°38′12″E / 52.54192°N 1.63675°E
Fritton is a village in the English county of Norfolk, situated some 9 km (5.6 mi) south-west of the town of Great Yarmouth and 11 km (6.8 mi) north-west of the Suffolk town of Lowestoft. It should not be confused with the village of the same name near Morning Thorpe in Norfolk.
Today the village forms part of the civil parish of Fritton and St. Olaves (where the population is included), which in turn is within the district of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk. However prior to the Local Government Act 1972, the village was within Lothingland Rural District in Suffolk.
References
- ^ Ordnance Survey (2005). OS Explorer Map OL40 - The Broads. ISBN 0-319-23769-9.
- ^ Local Government Act 1972, Schedule 1 Part II Non-metropolitan counties.
History
Caldecott Hall, now a hotel rebuilt in the Victorian era, was a substantial manor house as early as the fifteenth century. It belonged to Sir John Fastolf, the original of Shakespeare's Falstaff. The Paston Letters record the bitter struggle between the Paston and Debenham families over its inheritance.
During the Second World War, Fritton Lake in Norfolk was requisitioned by the 79th Armoured Division for the secret training of specially modified tanks, which would play a significant role in the D Day Landings of 6 June 1944. Sherman Tanks were adapted to make them amphibious, so that they could “swim” to shore and provide close fire support to the first wave of troops landing on the enemy beaches. These tanks were part of a series of tanks that had been adapted to do something more than just fight in the regular way, and were collectively known as “funnies”. The Hungarian-born designer, Nicholas Straussler, invented a collapsible screen that was secured on special plates welded to the tank just above the running gear. When inflated these provided additional buoyancy, and enabled the 30 tonne tanks to displace enough water to permit them to float.
Between the spring of 1943 and the summer of 1945, over 2000 men from a number of British, Canadian and American regiments / battalions came to Fritton Lake to be trained in the operation of these tanks.
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