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Myth and local legend

While most of the British press today is concentrating on the 60th anniversary of the Normandy landings, there are those who will tell you that the Second World War almost took a very different course four years earlier. And they'll talk in whispered tones about my local beach, Shingle Street.

I first heard the rumours just a few days after I moved here six years ago. Everyone locally adds their own embellishment. Fuelled by conflicting accounts, mysterious sights and secret reports, the rumours refuse to die.