Campaign to preserve memories of Crowland's great floods of 1947

A group has been set up in Crowland to create a new memorial to the town’s 1947 flood.

Save the Buffalos of Crowland is led by Daniel Abbott and aims to provide a permanent commemoration of the post-war disaster when the town’s flood defences were breached.

First reports of the flood in March 1947 described a combination of heavy snow, a sudden thaw, high tides, rain and wind, all of which caused the River Welland to break its banks.

Crowland was totally cut off and 16 Buffalo military tanks were brought to act as flood defences.

Daniel said: “A couple of people in Crowland asked me to look into the use of army personnel carriers during the 1947 floods.

“A total of 16 Buffalo tanks were brought in from Cambridge to Crowland by road to seal the breach.

“But by April, the flood water had got under three of the Buffalos and carried them away.

“So they brought another 12 Buffalos from York and the breach was sealed by August 1947.

According to reports in the Lincolnshire Free Press and our sister newspaper, the Spalding Guardian, from 1947, some Crowland residents were made homeless, others saw their homes flooded and farmers found thousands of acres of crops under water at a time when rationing was still in force.

Daniel said: “There was an operation to pile steel sheets into the ground and lay out a railway track to carry stone and clay for reinforcing the bank.

“But no one knows where the Buffalos are now, although there is talk that three of the tanks are still in Crowland’s fishing lake.

“So myself and an Army officer are looking into excavating the ground, if the Environment Agency allows us to do so, to locate the tanks.

“In the meantime, we want people with memorabilia of the 1947 flood to help us set up a memorial to all the people who helped out in the floods.”

For more details, call Daniel on 07794 341468.