The Mystery of Gosfield: The Soldier Who Disappeared

Found and transcribed - forgive any typos:

The Mystery of Gosfield: The Soldier Who Disappeared [1966]
by Leslie Jerman

Gosfield is an attractive village near Halstead and not very far from Braintree. It was an old newspaper clipping which fell from a book on my shelves that set me off. The clipping told of a strange story in Gosfield’s recent history—a story passed on partly by word of mouth and partly after wartime censorship had freed restriction on its publication. It told how someone—it is not known who—had recently set up four white posts in an old bomb crater just outside the village. The crater was believed to be where a soldier had vanished one night in 1940. The posts were a way of marking his presumed grave. The report said that the crater still existed.

I remember that the story had aroused my curiosity, which was why, years before, I had put the clipping in a book. So one bright morning recently I set out in the car from Gosfield, intent on learning something more.

The facts as I had them were that the soldier, James Meecham, was a military policeman serving with the Royal Army Service Corps who "was buried alive while inspecting a bomb crater in a field near Sparrows Pond, Gosfield, in 1940."

The story went on that for many years Mr. And Mrs. J. Meecham, the soldier’s parents, made an annual visit to the spot where an enclosure marked by four white posts and a cross had been erected by the regiment. During this time the "grave" was tended by a nearby villager.

When, because of old age, the parents could not make their annual visit to Gosfield the "grave" became overgrown, cattle crazing in the field knocked down the posts and the cross was lost.

In the report it was said that new posts had suddenly appeared but no one knew who had erected them.

When I reached Gosfield I asked where the crater was. It was easy to find and is still readily discernible as the place where a bomb has fallen. Corn grows tall and plump each year in the field where the bomb fell. It is splashed with the scarlet of poppies.

One large square near Sparrows Pond is surrounded with rust barbed wire on posts. In summer there is on the wind the scent of thistles in bloom. The thistles grow in the crater.

Within the wire is the lip of the crater. It is just here that the mystery of Gosfield began and, as far as the village is concerned still exists.

Did James Meecham die there? If so how was he killed? Why was no trace found even though the crater was excavated afterwards? The clipping said that Meecham was killed "while inspecting a bomb crater." Why then was the crater not larger? Had two bombs fallen on the same spot—one of them as he stood there?

I had looked back in the newspapers of the time before going to Gosfield, but they were of no help at all, because in 1940 there was a strict press censorship, so I asked the villagers. One man whose house is close to the enclosure—it is not recognisably a grave—said that Meecham vanished into an existing crater "and was sucked down into it." Another said that the troops who dug in the crater to find Meecham were "gassed" by something there. One woman said she had lived close by at the time and had never heard an explosion at that particular period.

I went into the Green Man for a sandwich and a glass of beer and asked about the incident there. Yes, everyone knew of it, but no one knew the true facts.

Both the posts and the cross have long since gone, and the barbed wire around the broad crater is rusting away, the posts supporting it forming a large fence all the way round.

What is the truth? Is it buried in the files of the old War Office? Does the Imperial War Graves Commission know the answer? Certainly James Meecham vanished that night of 1940 never to be heard of alive again.

As I prepared to get back into my car for the drive home, my questions still unanswered, a woman outside the village hardware shop said: "It is a strange story. We’ve never know then truth of it. The soldiers were billeted nearby at the time, but they never found any trace of the soldier after that night."

Does anyone know what really happened?

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I can find nothing at the The Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Can any of you offer any further detective work? I'd be curious to know which RASC unit was billeted near Gosfield in 1940. Or anything about Meecham's death.

 

If it was a bomb crater, then the actual date may be in the incident report for the area. Link below gives incidents in the Halstead area from June 1940 to Nov 1940. May be a starting point.



Seax - Browse Catalogue C/W 1/2/53-55

 

there is a Meechan ( not Meecham) on Brookwood Memorial (also a James Meechan on Dunkirk Memorial)

MEECHAN, JAMES
Rank:
Driver
Service No:
T/84381
Date of Death:
16/08/1940
Age:
20
Regiment/Service:
Royal Army Service Corps
Panel Reference:
Panel 17. Column 1.
Memorial:
BROOKWOOD 1939-1945 MEMORIAL
Additional Information:
Son of James and Sarah Meechan, of Glasgow.

 

UK, Army Roll of Honour, 1939-1945
Name: James Meechan
Given Initials: J
Rank: Driver
Death Date: 16 Aug 1940
Number: 84381
Birth Place: Glasgow
Residence: Glasgow
Regiment at Enlistment: Royal Army Service Corps
Branch at Enlistment: Other Corps
Theatre of War: United Kingdom
Regiment at Death: Royal Army Service Corps
Branch at Death: Other Corps

But there is also:
Name: James Meechan
Given Initials: J
Rank: Driver
Death Date: Jun 1940
Number: 44256
Birth Place: Fife
Residence: Perth
Regiment at Enlistment: Royal Army Service Corps
Branch at Enlistment: Other Corps
Theatre of War: France and Belgium Campaign, 1939/40
Regiment at Death: Royal Army Service Corps
Branch at Death: Other Corps

TD

 

UK, Commonwealth War Graves, 1914-1921 and 1939-1947
Name: James Meechan
Death Date: 2 Jun 1940
Cemetery: The Dunkirk Memorial
Burial Country: France
Regimental Number: 44256
Region or Memorial: Memorial Register

So its not him
TD

 

Charley

If everyone knows the incident etc etc how come no one seems to know the date, there is no mention that I can read in your post that even says it was Spring, Summer, Autumn or Winter. Its not something they would forget.

TD

edited to add:
Also today we know about sink holes - did they in 1940??

 

Sparrows Pond, Gosfield. Could that be the remains of the bomb crater in the field below the pond?

One large square near Sparrows Pond is surrounded with rust barbed wire on posts. In summer there is on the wind the scent of thistles in bloom. The thistles grow in the crater.

 

Searching for Meecham

Name: William Frederick Meecham
Event: Death
Birth Date: 5 Jun 1909
Birth Place: Walthamstow, Essex
Death Date: 19 Nov 1940
Death Age: 31
He died at sea

Mary A Meecham abt 1860 Jun 1940 Bristol Gloucestershire
Funnily enough she female so its not her/him


Family trees:

Reginald Alfred William Meecham
Birth: April 1912 (Apr 1912) - Glamorgan
Death: 13 May 1940 - Llandaff
Marriage: Jun 1937 - Cardiff, Glamorgan
Died in the wrong place - not very nice of him

William Frederick Meecham
Death: 19 November 1940 (19 Nov 1940) - Lowestoft, Suffolk, England
Marriage: Fifth Feb 1938 (5 Feb 1938) - Finsbury, Middlesex, England
Spouse: Elsie Lang
Died in the wrong county

Alice Marion Meacham, Meecham
Birth: 25 Nov 1859 - Hampshire, USA
Death: 31 Jan 1940 - Shutesbury, Franklin, Massachusetts
Female and wrong country

Thats all the ones that come up

TD

 

One option is that the casualty fell into the pond
Appears to be lake size.
the below is a from the web site Woodlife
perhaps the pond had vegetation floating then ( a long time ago i know) and he could have fallen in.


At the bottom of the valley, I came across a bit of a surprise. It was a beautiful lake complete with swans. Because of the green vegetation floating on the top (and because the photo was taken in summer) the satellite picture showed it as a paler green field. The name “Sparrows Pond” was also deceiving as it was quite a large lake (by UK standards that is.)
More surprises followed as at one end of the lake there was a small dam which gushed water into a fast flowing stream and, after walking along the lake’s south side, I discovered an old bridge across the lake. This appeared to be constructed as an ornamental bridge in better days and the whole lake complex must have formed part of the estate of the nearby medieval hall.
Hidden Gems - Woodlife Trails

Accommodation bridge. Circa 1865. Wrought and cast iron, timber
deck, rendered brick abutments. Single span, bar-stayed
cantilever design. Four cast iron towers with spike finials.
Decorative cast iron balustrades. At time of survey most
balustrade panels missing, deck concreted. This type of bridge
is rare and few of this date survive. The bridge carried the
driveway through the park to Gosfield Place, built circa 1865 on
the site of an earlier mansion for B Sparrow Esq. The house was
demolished circa 1925.Sparrows Bridge - Gosfield - Essex - England | British Listed Buildings

 

Surely we do have dates, its in Orwell1984s link.
24/25 June 1940 Steeple Bumpstead.
27/28 June 1940 Ashen.
15 August 1940 Ridgewell.
16 August 1940 Colne Engaine, Halstead.
20 August 1940 Stambourne, Cornish Hall End. (Report of parachutist later denied).
25/26 August 1940 Gosfield, Halstead.

16th Aug 40 Colne Engaine the other side of Halstead coincides with the date James Meechan died.

Dates.
25/26 August 1940 Gosfield, Halstead
7/8 September 1940 Gosfield
18 September 1940 Gosfield, Greenstead Green, Sible Hedingham.
19/20 November 1940 Halstead, Gosfield.
4 November 1940 Gosfield.

 

If he had simply dispappeared, wouldn't they have assumed desertion ? Even if death had been pronounced some time afterwards, would this have lead to inclusion by CWGC ? There is a mention in one of the original stories that he was buried alive. Another says that he 'vanished'. If the ground was soft close to the pond and the bomb went to some depth before exploding, there could have been quite a deep narrow crater which subsided further. How much effort would have been put into digging out once all hope had been lost ? Invasion was probably imminent and aircraft were crashing all over the south of England. Not all those bodies were recovered, despite the RAF being much more committed to that sort of thing than the army traditionally was.

His service records ought to say what happened.

 

It's certainly a vague and waffly article, but I confess that it sparked my curiosity. I, too, thought of sinkholes at once.

 

There's a 30 year James Meechan in the Scottish service returns. Don't have time at the moment to look at. Will get back to you.

 

My honest opinion of this story is that it is just a story, written, for a magazine.
based on James Meechan's unfortunate demise.
Too many things which do not add up.
The story went on that for many years Mr. And Mrs. J. Meecham, the soldier’s parents, made an annual visit to the spot where an enclosure marked by four white posts and a cross had been erected by the regiment. During this time the "grave" was tended by a nearby villager.
The Regiment knew. so must have been records.
nobody knew the name of the nearby villager.

And the original newspaper cutting was not printed with the story

(5295) Gosfield Halstead Essex James Meecham Royal Army Service Corps - 1966

 

Would there not be records of the 'troops' (and all the support staff that entails) who went to dig the crater
One woman ? - surely others live nearby and many would 'heard' an explosion
Why no input or records from the local Police or civilian authorities

Maybe its just really really bad reporting?

TD

 

We see a number of casualties on here commemorated on Brookwood (and other memorials)whereby their grave has been found.


Historical Information
The BROOKWOOD 1939-1945 MEMORIAL commemorates nearly 3,500 men and women of the land forces of the Commonwealth who died during the Second World War and have no known grave, the circumstances of their death being such that they could not appropriately be commemorated on any of the campaign memorials in the various theatres of war. They died in the campaign in Norway in 1940, or in the various raids on enemy occupied territory in Europe such as Dieppe and St Nazaire. Others were special agents who died as prisoners or while working with Allied underground movements. Some died at sea, in hospital ships and troop transports, in waters not associated with the major campaigns, and a few were killed in flying accidents or in aerial combat.Cemetery Details

 

I can't disagree with any of your points, but my one cavil is that if it is 'just a story' it is an incredibly poor one -- scarcely worthy of publication. Most of the narrative elements you would want are missing; the only reason to omit them would be that it has a basis in fact and they are unknown.

RCG, I didn't post the image as I don't own it -- I doubt it would matter, but it only took five minutes to transcribe and I doubt the publisher is still in business.

 

Well I think it has given us something to think about indeed.

We can assume it is either an urban myth based on the fact the name is out by one letter.
We can assume it is true and Meechan (Typo Meecham)did disappear and the authorities have linked his death with the war effort and a story built up around it.




Nonetheless it would be interesting to see why James Meechan is listed on Brookwood and TD points out theatre of war is the United Kingdom .

 

Do Brookwood hold files as to why a certain person was placed on the memorial, I suppose they would need that info to make sure the person 'fits their criteria'

If they do hold files how can they be accessed??

Unless they have disappeared into some quicksand -

TD

 

Interesting obituary for the author of the article.

Leslie Jerman