Question 1. – East Suffolk

1) The survey of the flooded areas:

On 2 February, a team of district advisory and drainage officers were allotted sections of the coast and river estuaries and asked to make an immediate rough assessment of the area of flood. This information was to hand by 4 p.m. Owing to difficulty impossibility of approach to the river walls, no account of any value could be made on the extent of wall damage. On 3 February, the County agricultural office chartered a private aircraft and flew up and down each estuary and the coastline from Brantham on the River Stour to Walberswick and plotted the position of wall damage which was submitted to the County flood organisation H.Q.

Following this survey, district advisors were instructed to collect full details of the area flooded, crops and livestock lost etc. for each farm concerned in their district. The flood line was plotted on district 6” maps and subsequently plotted on scale maps together with plottings of all wall breaches, scouring and over topping of sand and shingle defences.1

Following completion of the land survey, advisory officers proceeded to take pilot soil samples and gradually intensified sampling down to single marshes in the case of flooded arable and approximately 50 acre groups for grass marshes.

2) Assistance by A.E.C. to River Board:

a. Loan of staff:

Two drainage officers were attached to local River Board offices and four were assisting in the field in charge of pumps. Two advisory officers were attached to the southern H.Q. office at Ipswich together with two clerks and one clerk was loaned to a stores depot.

b. Loan of equipment:

8 lorries were put at the Board's disposal for the transport of troops and other labour organised by A.E.C. A large quantity of small hand tools were supplied, together with 8 excavators, a low loader and complete personnel for operation.

c. Organisation of labour:

35 excavator drivers and other drainage field workers were immediately loaned. Accomodation and catering facilities were made available at the Debach E.V.W. camp which was reopened to receive 750 troops.2 About 100 men were mustered from local labour exchanges. Arising out of a press appeal, 80 town volunteers from Ipswich were organised for wall work one Sunday.