Broads Flotilla 'Jack's Navy'

Jack Powles was a renowned pleasure cruiser builder in the years leading up to WW2 based near the bridge in Wroxham. At the outbreak of war many pleasure cruisers were requisitioned and anchored across the Norfolk and Suffolk Broads to deter German invasion by seaplane. A large 60 foot cruiser called 'Elicia' was towed up from Great Yarmouth to Powles shipyard Wroxham and was renamed HMS Iolanthe and became the Headquarters of the Broads Flotilla. The purpose of the flotilla was to patrol the broads in fast launches equipped with soldiers with rifle and Lewis guns checking outlying buildings and investigating suspicious activities. Since most of the launches used had been built by Powles it became known locally as 'Jacks Navy@

Unfortunately the business closed down in the 1990s and some of the sites had luxury holiday apartments built on them.

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Source

• Text: Sharky Ward
• Photos: Anthony (Sharky) Ward (1), Puttnam (Lt), War Office official photographer, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (2), IWM Non Commercial Use (3)