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A piece of local history for those in the Leicestershire area. The house shown below, Bell Lodge, shown on OS maps as Spinney House, was the home of the Tomlinson Family in WWII. Around 2 miles South/Southeast of the farm the 325th Glider Infantry Regiment of the 82nd Airborne /1
Division moved into a pasture along Beeby Road just on the outer edges of the small village of Scraptoft. Their campsite, mainly tented, was called Camp March-Hare and was where they lived from February to late May 1944, and again on return from Normandy between mid-July to /2
the day they left for their embarkation airfields for Operation Market Garden. Present with them was, of course, Medal of Honor winner Charles DeGlopper. The Regiment sought areas in which the men could actively train, and made requests for the use of local farm buildings /3
that could be used in attacking and defending a "strong-hold". The Tomlinson family offered the use of not only their outbuildings, but the house itself. With notice, the family would vacate the property for a day, and in would move a company of Glider Infantry to establish a /4
defensive position, which would then be attacked by another Company of Glider Infantry. As a thank you, the 325th provided the family with most of what they needed in terms of rations, and supplies, and gave their five children more chocolate than they could eat. Even on days /5
with no training the men would often head up to the farm to help out. Although the farm had electricity installed in 1946, it was demolished after it went through a long period without being occupied and fell into a state of disrepair. The area it once stood can be seen on /6
google earth as an area where three hedges converge but don't meet. The campsite can be seen in the lower right hand corner of the second image. To the south of the former Bell Lodge site, a farm complex can be seen called Hamilton Farm or Hamilton Grounds. This area was used /7
as a Drop Zone by the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment on more than one occasion, the last being around the end of May. On a particularly windy day, a number of "sticks" drifted over the Scraptoft Golf Course, directly astride the camp, causing a number to become suspended in /8
the trees that surrounded the course. This was less than 100 yards from the perimeter of the camp, and the "Glider-Riders" got a birds-eye view of the drop and of the unfortunate fates of those who had landed in the trees. Calls for help came down to the camp from the trees, /9
but given how some of the Glider Infantry had been treated by the Paratroopers, they received an unsympathetic response, with the Glider Infantry refusing to help until ordered to. Incidentally, the 504th camp itself was a few miles away, In Evington, and once the drop was /10
complete, Parachute riggers of the 504th PIR would collect all the Chutes and the remainder of the Regiment would march the few miles back to camp. A number of Officers from both the 325th and 504th were registered members of the Scraptoft Golf Course, and the Drop is even /11
mentioned in the Clubs diary.
