Wartime Finchampsted Ridges And Fishers Copse... The Potties!

A Memory of Finchampstead.

As a child in the late 1960s and early 70s I frequented the Ridges regularly.
I was taken there for a walk one day by my parents and with my elderly neighbour Alex who was interested in wartime history.
In Fishers Copse he took us to the top of the hill with the big beech trees where people used to graffiti their names and told us about "The Potties". He told us that during the war, American soldiers were camping in the woods there and dug in. He showed us where tanks and trucks were dug in. When they left for Europe they threw all their unwanted things down the hill.
We then went down the hill to the bottom which was a bit boggy and there, scattered around, was loads of what he said was wartime memorabilia. What I saw was lots of old white metal potties and motorcycle frames and what could easily be described as wartime memorabilia. It may have been just a spot where people dumped their rubbish but it certainly captured my imagination and still does when I walk up there.
I would be interested to know if there is anything to corroborate what he told us.

---

---