Fire Over Shingle Street—Fact, Fiction, or Propaganda?
A new documentary by Suffolk-based filmmaker Tim Curtis (Life on the Deben, Stanley's War) delves into one of Britain’s most persistent Second World War mysteries, asking: Has this enduring enigma been fully accounted for, or are there still unanswered questions?
For decades the Shingle Street ‘Mystery’ has divided the views of locals, journalists and historians alike with incredible and unexplained stories of the sea being set on fire, dead soldiers’ bodies on the beach and strange happenings in the night.
Was this remote stretch of Suffolk’s coast the site of a German invasion attempt? Did British forces set fire to the sea with petroleum weapons to repel the enemy? Or could it have been part of an elaborate wartime deception, designed to maintain national morale?
The film examines how the Suffolk coast was a hub of military secrecy—home to radar development and experimental weapons testing. Did these classified operations (with some still under wraps) combined with wartime propaganda help create the perfect conditions for rumours to fuel a wartime mystery?
The Shingle Street ‘Mystery’ gained renewed attention in the 1990s when the East Anglian Daily Times was contacted by an ‘MOD Whistleblower’ claiming to have a file—soon to be destroyed—detailing a horrific accident in which British soldiers had been killed in a training exercise.
The ensuing media frenzy led to the early release of classified documents from the National Archives at Kew. However, the files revealed little, sparking claims of a cover-up.
This gripping documentary takes viewers deep into Suffolk’s wartime history and attempts to unravel a mystery that refuses to fade.
The film is followed by a live discussion and Q&A hosted by Nick Cottam with ‘Bodies on the Beach’ and ‘Burn the Sea’ author James Hayward, former East Anglian Daily Times Reporter Henry Creagh, Ron Clayton and the film's director, Tim Curtis.
Please note: the film will be preceded another short film, We Fought Them in Gunboats, about WW2 Felixstowe - HMS Beehive opps in the North Sea.