East Anglia is an area in the East of England. It comprises the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk, with Cambridgeshire and Essex also included in some definitions. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, a people whose name originated in Anglia, in what is now Northern Germany.
Great Yarmouth, often called Yarmouth, is a seaside town which gives its name to the wider Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located 20 miles (32 km) east of Norwich. Its fishing industry, mainly for herring, shrank after the mid-20th century and has all but ended. North Sea oil from the 1960s supplied an oil-rig industry that services offshore natural gas rigs; more recently, offshore wind power and other renewable energy industries have ensued.
Lowestoft is a coastal town and civil parish in the East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England. As the most easterly UK settlement, it is 110 miles (177 km) north-east of London, 38 miles (61 km) north-east of Ipswich and 22 miles (35 km) south-east of Norwich, and the main town in its district. The estimated population in the built-up area exceeds 70,000. Its development grew with the fishing industry and as a seaside resort with wide sandy beaches. As fishing declined, oil and gas exploitation in the North Sea in the 1960s took over. While these too have declined, Lowestoft is becoming a regional centre of the renewable energy industry.
Six ships and a shore establishment of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Europa, after the Greek mythological character Europa.
HMS Brave was a Type 22 frigate of the Royal Navy. She was built by Yarrow Shipbuilders Ltd, Glasgow, Scotland and launched on 19 November 1983. Brave was decommissioned on 23 March 1999 and was expended as a target in August 2004 by the submarine Sceptre and frigate Argyll.
Thomas Crisp VC, DSC, RNR was an English sailor and posthumous recipient of the Victoria Cross. Crisp, in civilian life a commercial fisherman operating from Lowestoft in Suffolk, earned his award after being killed during the defence of his vessel, the armed naval smack Nelson, in the North Sea against an attack from a German submarine in 1917.
Admiral of the Fleet Terence Thornton Lewin, Baron Lewin, was a Royal Navy officer. He served in the Second World War and then commanded a destroyer, the Royal yacht, two frigates and an aircraft carrier before achieving higher command. He was First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff in the late 1970s and in that role he worked hard to secure a decent wage for servicemen and helped win them a 32% pay rise. He went on to be Chief of the Defence Staff during the Falklands War, serving as chief war planner and as Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's chief advisor during the war. He was also the first Chief of Defence Staff to act as head of the Armed Forces rather than just Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee.
Royal Air Force Halesworth or more simply RAF Halesworth is a former Royal Air Force station located 2 miles (3 km) north east of the town of Halesworth, Suffolk, England and 7 miles (11 km) west of Southwold.
HMS D5 was one of eight D-class submarines built for the Royal Navy during the first decade of the 20th century.
The Bombardment of Yarmouth and Lowestoft, often referred to as the Lowestoft Raid, was a naval battle fought during the First World War between the German Empire and the British Empire in the North Sea.
The Royal Naval Patrol Service (RNPS) was a branch of the Royal Navy active during both the First and Second World Wars. The RNPS operated many small auxiliary vessels such as naval trawlers for anti-submarine and minesweeping operations to protect coastal Britain and convoys.
Shotley Gate is a settlement in the civil parish of Shotley, in the Babergh district, in the county of Suffolk, England. It is located at the tip of Shotley Peninsula and is the largest settlement in the parish of Shotley, in 2020 it had an estimated population of 1461. Shotley Gate has a pub called the Bristol Arms the settlement of Shotley Gate developed either side of Bristol Hill.
HMT Bedfordshire (FY141) was an armed naval trawler in the service of the Royal Naval Patrol Service during World War II. Transferred to the East Coast of the United States to assist the United States Navy with anti-submarine patrols, she was staffed by a British and Canadian crew. Bedfordshire was sunk by the German submarine U-558 on 11 May 1942 off the coast of Ocracoke Island in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, with the loss of all hands.
The Port of Lowestoft is a harbour and commercial port in Lowestoft in the English county of Suffolk owned by Associated British Ports. It is the most easterly harbour in the United Kingdom and has direct sea access to the North Sea. The harbour is made up of two sections divided by a bascule bridge. The inner harbour is formed by Lake Lothing whilst the outer harbour is constructed from breakwaters. Lowestoft handles around 30,000 tonnes of cargo per year.
Frederick James Gardner was a British jazz and dance band saxophonist during the 1930s and 1940s.
HMT Almond was a Tree-class naval trawler of the British Royal Navy. Almond was launched in 1940 and served in World War II, being sunk by a mine on 2 February 1941.
Lowestoft Cemetery is a burial ground in the town of Lowestoft in Suffolk. It is best known for its large number of Royal Navy burials from World War I and World War II; these are maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Thomas Crisp, who was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross in 1917 is commemorated here on his wife's headstone. Buried here is Robert William Hook, coxswain at RNLI Lowestoft from 1853 to 1883 and who has been credited with saving more than 600 lives. The cemetery is managed by Waveney District Council.
Lowestoft Maritime Museum is a private museum in the town of Lowestoft in Suffolk, England that is dedicated to local and national maritime history. Its exhibits include maritime artefacts including medals awarded to Royal Navy and RNLI personnel, marine art, the fishing industry in Lowestoft and the town's involvement with the Royal Navy in World War II, shipwrights and coopers tools, an extensive collection of ship models in various scales, the workshop of Christopher Cockerell, the inventor of the hovercraft, and a small display dedicated to Thomas Crisp, a local man who posthumously won the Victoria Cross during World War I. Britain's most easterly museum, it is run by enthusiasts and volunteers and is open to the public from late April to late October each year. The museum was the Suffolk Museum of the Year in 2012 and a finalist in 2014. There is an admission charge.
HMS Europa was a Royal Navy Shore establishment active between 1939 and 1946 during World War II as the central depot for the Royal Naval Patrol Service (RNPS). It was established after the commandeering of Sparrows Nest Gardens, a private residence in Lowestoft in Suffolk. Originally named Pembroke X, the base was the headquarters of the RNPS, responsible for protecting coastal Britain and its convoys, in particular undertaking minesweeping duties. Over 70,000 men and 6,000 vessels, many of them small civilian vessels such as armed trawlers, served in the RNPS during the war.
A World War II air raid siren, now housed in the museum.
Original example of a barrow used by boys in Lowestoft to transport servicemen's belongings.
Memorial board kept in the museum's chapel.
A photograph of HMS Europa. The sailors are waiting to be given their draft or ship by an officer.
