This section looks at the Town of Newmarket during wartime.
Please select from the menu to the right, or the headings below:
Newmarket at War
‘Blue Peter’ – Newmarket’s Own Spitfire
Newmarket’s Own Spitfire – AD540- “Blue Peter” During World War Two great efforts were made to involve communities in donating funds for the war effort. One such was launched in 1941 here in Newmarket and the sum of £5,100 was raised for pay for a Supermarine Spitfire, which was to be named “Blue Peter” after …
Bombing of Newmarket, February 1941
The maps below show the location of sites in Newmarket which were bombed: Composite Images of the Bombing, part of a slide show from Michael Mingay’s website, as displayed at the Newmarket Journal office on 18th February 2021, the 80th anniversary. Luckily the Memorial Hall and Doric Cinema are set back from the road and …
HMS Newmarket
H.M.S. Newmarket- two of them The “Newmarket” (833 gross tons) was built in 1907, the final of four sister ships built by the Earle’s Company, Hull. The twin-screw ships were built for the Great Eastern Railway Company. Before the war they operated as mail packets travelling between Britain and the Continent. (The other ships were …
Home Guard
The Home Guard Copyright Extract from The History of Newmarket, Volume II, Chapter 41, (2000) Easom S. (editor), Newmarket Local History Society. On 14th May 1940, the Government broadcast a message asking for volunteers for the LDV (Local Defence Volunteers). On 23rd August 1940, Winston Churchill changed the name of the LDV to the Home …
Nissen Huts
Nissen Huts How Newmarket’s ex-military Nissen Huts were pressed into use after the war ended. Nissen Hut. (Historical Terms) a military shelter of semicircular cross section, made of corrugated steel sheet US and Canadian equivalent Quonset hut [named after Lt Col. Peter Nissen (1871-1930), British mining engineer, its inventor]. The Nissen hut tended to be …
RAF at Newmarket Heath
Royal Air Force at Newmarket Heath,1939-1947 During the second World War Newmarket fulfilled an important military role, supporting two active RAF airfields. The town also sat astride the main road link from the west into East Anglia, where many RAF and USAF operational airfields had to be constructed and supplied. Much has been written about …
Russian Revolution
Russian Revolution and Newmarket How Newmarket became embroiled in the Russian Revolution Background By the year 1917 Russia was in a state of ferment. The war with Germany had been dragging on since 1914 with hugh losses of conscripted soldiers. At home ordinary people were suffering severe shortages of food and coal leading to a …
Shutter Telegraph
The Murray Sutter Telegraph 1796 – 1816 The Shutter Telegraph was conceived at the time Napoleon was a threat to Britain and followed the successful implementation of the system employed by the Chappe Brothers in France. Britain, however, was looking for a less complicated system, cheaper and easier to operate, requiring little or no training …
The Great War
The Great War 1914 – 1918 Lest we forget November 11th, 2008, commemorated the 90th anniversary of the ending of World War I, the bloody conflict that lasted more than four years and claimed the lives of over a million British and Commonwealth servicemen. In 1914 the young men of Newmarket and district, joined the …
VE Day
VE DAY – Unfortunately not the end of the war, but the cessation of hostilities except in the Far East, hence VICTORY IN EUROPE DAY. Excuses first…the collection of photos and document we had put aside for the VE celebration is unfortunately, thanks to the lock down, beyond our reach, so we have to make …
War Memorial
Newmarket War Memorial History of the War Memorial As gleaned from reports in the Newmarket Journal of the time). The Newmarket War memorial was unveiled by Major-General Sir William Lambton. Dedicated by Dr. David Lord, the Bishop of St Edmundsbury & Ipswich on 16th October 1921. The site was donated by The Jockey Club and …
Zeppelin Raid
Zeppelin Raid, 23/24 April,1916 A little known or recorded incident took place on the night of Easter Monday, 1916. As was customary in those days of warfare, little was reported in the press at the time. One simple account related that a Zeppelin raid had taken place over Norfolk and Suffolk, causing injury to just …