Tyneham, the Village Frozen in 1943
A whole English village was emptied for the war in 1943, its people told they could return. They never did.
What was reported
In December 1943, the people of Tyneham, in Dorset, were told to leave their homes so the army could use the valley to train troops for D-Day. On the church door, villagers pinned a note asking the soldiers to treat the church and houses with care, saying they would return one day.
After the war the army kept the land, and the village was never given back. It stands empty within a firing range, its cottages roofless, its school and church preserved.
Explanations offered
There's no mystery to Tyneham, but its silence makes visitors call it eerie. It's open to the public on most weekends and holidays when the range isn't in use, and has become a symbol of what wartime asked of ordinary people.
- When
- Emptied in December 1943
- Where
- Tyneham, Dorset, England
- Witnesses
- Villagers, and visitors on open days
- Status
- Explained
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.