大象传媒

In September 1917, residents in Beachley were forced to evacuate their homes to make way for a shipyard that, ultimately, never produced a single ship.

Under the Defence of the Realm Act, villagers on the peninsular were given eleven days to vacate their properties, sort their belongings, animals and find a new home. Although compensation had been promised, many did not receive a penny until well after the war.

Earlier that year the Germans declared unrestricted warfare on merchant vessels meaning they might torpedo ships without a warning. Between January and July 1917 alone, 794 British merchant vessels were sunk and lost at sea. These vessels supplies to keep the nation going, so the government decided it was in the country鈥檚 best interests to take over Beachley, open a shipyard and build more ships. To do this, many homes had to be requisitioned.

Over 100 residents had their lives disrupted. Fishermen, hoteliers, landlords and villagers were forced to leave their homes, many with nowhere to go. Colonel Marling, a local land owner, campaigned to get compensation for the residents and took in some of them.

In December 1917, building work started, a railways system was driven into Beachley through Sedbury and a Prisoner of War (PoW) camp opened. PoWs were brought in to Beachley to make concrete blocks to construct houses for the shipyard workers. By March 1918; over 2,000 PoWs living in 54 wooden huts were working on the peninsula.

Unfortunately plans and orders were disorganised owing to miscommunications between government departments. With Armistice in November 1918 and the signing of the Treaty of Versailles the following June, war had ended and not one ship had been built.

Location: Beachley, Gloucestershire NP16 7HH
Image: View from the Beachley Pier c1925, courtesy of Neil Parkhouse, and the view today, courtest of Richard Clammer.
Presented by: Dr Colin Chapman, Historian and Richard & Carol Clammer, Members of Tidenham Historical Group.

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