Turnstone: Hunstanton Writer John Maiden discusses heroes that saved many lives in the 1953 floods

In his weekly column, Hunstanton writer John Maiden discusses the heroes who saved lives in the 1953 floods…

During the evening of Sunday, June 22, I was browsing through the channels on my TV, some of which had been providing very poor reception, due no doubt to weather conditions.

I found myself watching a repeat of "The Great Flood of '53" on Channel 5. This programme was first screened last year, and I had been consulted by one of the researchers during its production.

When I was informed that the programme would include the tragic sinking of the ferry attempting to cross the storm-tossed Irish Sea from Scotland to the north of Ireland, I suggested the programme could include an interview with Bill Quincey, Neil's son, who lives in the north of Scotland.

Bill was only nine months old when he was brought safely to dry land during the night of January 31, 1953, along with the rest of his family, by Reis Leming, a member of the USAF 67th Air Rescue Squadron based at RAF Sculthorpe.

For some reason that interview did not take place, but interviews with Geoff Searle's eldest daughter, June, and Frank Fleming who witnessed the floods at close quarters with his father, Jack, the Chief Fire Officer, confirmed that this was an extremely tragic night, which will never be forgotten by those who were involved.

My father, George, was one of the crew in the fire engine with Frank and his dad.

I remember him telling me how being held up by the railway crossing gates, while a train left Hunstanton, almost certainly saved their lives.

Otherwise, they would have been further down Southbeach Road and completely swamped by the tidal surge when it struck.

Instead, the vehicle came to a halt as soon as water entered the engine, and the occupants were able to climb onto the roof.

According to George, their uniforms had almost dried on them in the bitterly cold gale-force wind by the time USAF servicemen, led by the 67th Air Rescue Squadron, arrived from RAF Sculthorpe and were able to winch them to safety.

The Channel 5 programme reported most of the key events affecting Hunstanton fairly well, thanks mainly to the input from June, Frank and Ian Brown, the founder and curator of the RAF Sculthorpe Heritage Centre.

However, unless I missed it, there was no mention of USAF Sgt Freeman A Kilpatrick, who was the third person to be awarded a George Medal for heroic rescues in Norfolk on that dreadful night.

One went to a Great Yarmouth fireman called Sadd, the other went to Reis Leming.

Freeman was smart enough to notice the abnormal height of the incoming waves long before high tide was due on the evening of January 31, '53.

After making sure his wife, baby and baby sitter had access to the roof of their bungalow in Southbeach Road, Freeman was brave enough to save the lives of eighteen of his neighbours, by knocking on their doors and advising them to take refuge at the most substantial property on the road.

He only got back home just before the tidal surge hit Hunstanton.

The reason for pointing this out is mainly for anyone who saw the programme, but 13 years on from the 60th anniversary of the Great Flood, there are still a few stories relating to the tragic events that are not based on fact.

Without going into great detail, I will just point out that the reason the USAF 67th Special Operations Squadron was twinned with our town in 2016 and was granted its freedom at a civic ceremony in 2014 is that it led the rescue operations in 1953.

The fact that 16 of the 31 lives that were lost in Hunstanton to the great flood were US citizens, shows the extent of the shared loss which still unites our town with the 67th, now a Special Operations Squadron.

However, it is not true that any of its members lost their lives in '53.

They certainly risked their lives, but they are best remembered for saving the lives of others.