NHER 49434 (Monument record) - Probable World War Two bomb craters on Burgh Common

May 2007. Norfolk NMP.
Two probable World War Two bomb craters are visible as earthworks on aerial photographs (S1)-(S2), at TG 4390 1279 and TG 4393 1279. Although the identification of the southwestern crater is slightly uncertain, their matching size, circular shape and overall character suggest that this interpretation is correct, and that both bombs were dropped in a single ‘raid’. The intended target might have been random or opportunistic, chosen by a plane seeking to make use of its remaining bombs, or to jettison them, before making a return journey across the North Sea. Whether there is any connection with two further craters of similar size visible 115m to their southeast (NHER 49439) is not known. Aerial photographs taken in 1993 (S3) suggest that the craters described here have since been levelled.
S. Tremlett (NMP), 24 May 2007.