In 1942, the British army gave 700 inhabitants of six Norfolk villages scattered across the sandy heathland north of Thetford just three weeks to leave. It then created a 50 square mile training ground where soldiers prepared for the invasion of Europe two years later.
The assumption was that the villagers would return after the second world war. They never did. To this day, maps show the Stanford Training Area, or Stanta, as a large blank space that the public may not enter except on occasional guided tours such as the one I recently joined. Organised by the Norfolk Churches Trust, it took us to the last remnants of those lost villages — four hardy stone churches.
We gathered at West Tofts Camp, the army’s main base at Stanta, one Friday afternoon. Our army escort warned we might hear gunfire but it would not be live ammunition because it was lambing season. Do not pick up suspicious-looking objects, he added. Do not wander away. Do not photograph soldiers or their kit.