Writer: Christine Clark
Photos: All crochets by Chandler’s Ford u3a.
On 6 June 1944, the long-awaited Allied landing in northern France began. Facing Hitler’s Atlantic Wall coastal fortifications, soldiers of the United Kingdom, United States, Canada and other Allied nations landed on beaches in Normandy, beginning a campaign which lasted until 24 July 1944.
Hitler and his generals had been expecting an invasion that year. However, the successful Operation Bodyguard, a military deception strategy, misled the Axis powers into believing that the invasion would be later in the year and further north-east, nearer to Calais. Instead, the Allied war planners had selected a 50-mile stretch of coastline in Normandy on five beaches codenamed Utah, Omega, Gold, Juno and Sword.
A key part of the strategy of Operation Bodyguard was to hide the amount of troop buildup in southern England. Approximately 160,000 Allied soldiers had to be mustered, fed, watered and moved to their embarkation points without it being obvious to the Axis powers’ intelligence.
These muster points, or marshalling areas, spread right across the south coast of England. In our area, Marshalling Area C was central south Hampshire and included Southampton, Botley, Winchester, Chandler’s Ford, Hursley, Ampfield and Romsey. The closest embarkation point was Southampton docks, although there were others in the New Forest and Gosport.
Following a trial in July 1943 as to how many troops could be boarded per day at Southampton, Area C was uprated to embark 44,000 per day, which by D-Day had risen to over 50,000 per day, and over 7,000 vehicles, reflecting the impressive capacity of Southampton and confirming its choice as the principal port.
The camps in Chandler’s Ford were near Castle Copse, near Hocombe and Coultas Roads, north of Hocombe Road, near Sycamore Avenue and in Cranbury Park. The 85th Chemical Warfare Company, Royal Engineers, was also in Hiltingbury.
The camps at Hiltingbury had a total capacity of 11,000 men and 2,000 vehicles, and were the largest group of camps in any of the marshalling areas before D-Day. This required unprecedented creation of facilities for thousands of troops and a vast tonnage of material, comprising camps, depots, hards, slipways, fuel dumps, all backed up by security provisions. On Hiltingbury Common two of the large military camps, made up of a multitude of Nissen huts, was used by the Americans and Canadians in preparation for the D-Day landings and later housed German and Italian prisoners of war.
In February 1944 land near the junction of Bournemouth Road and Chestnut Avenue was compulsorily purchased by the War Department as the site for the American 46th Field, to be used by the US military in the lead up to D-Day. After D-Day it was used to house homeless English families and in 1949 these were moved, to be replaced by Polish refugees.
During the muster, every road in Chandler’s Ford, except Hursley, Winchester and Bournemouth Roads, was blocked with army transport vehicles. Many people in the Hiltingbury area had to show passes to go in and out of their homes. In the run up to D-Day, to ensure complete secrecy, those living in the northern part of Lakewood Road were subject to special restrictions. Women and children were confined to their homes, with the army providing meals. The men of the households were accommodated in hotels, enabling them to go to work.
At the end of May 1944, the camps were sealed, meaning that the troops inside were not allowed to leave. This was to minimise the risk that enemy spies – or the British public – might realise that D-Day was drawing very near. From 31 May onwards, and according to a highly detailed timetable, troops began to make their way down to the coast and embark onto the ships and landing craft that would take them to Normandy. As the troops went off to France, they waved to the onlooking children, and threw them chewing gum and dried fruit bars. The Kings Road School logbook notes the tramp of feet as the troops made their way.
Vehicles were often loaded earlier with troops on foot embarking only just before D-Day. Once the troops landing on D-Day itself had left the camps, forces who would be landing on subsequent days took their place, forming a steady stream moving down towards the south coast that in many places continued for months.
The launch date for the Overlord operation changed several times. Originally planned to begin on the 1 June 1944, General Eisenhower made the decision on 8 May to postpone its start until 5 June. Then, because of a storm in the English Channel, it delayed the operation for another twenty-four hours. There were no consequences of these modifications for the equipment: ammunition, vehicles, fuels and spare parts had already been loaded on board transport ships in British ports.
Doug Clews remembers:
American soldiers were appearing, more and more frequently and two tents were erected at the corner of Leigh Road and Bournemouth Road (the main London – Southampton – Bournemouth Road).
These tents were to become the living quarters for some time to come of MPs (Military Policemen), one British and one American. I remember we invited, as did others, the MPs to use our home to have a bath, and in return, they offered us canned provisions, such as bacon, butter, pineapple, the like of which we had not seen for years.
It was, of course, all part of the build up to D-Day.
The footpaths were covered with ‘clinker’ and built out onto the road throughout most of the village. Quite soon afterwards, they became the assembly area for hundreds of tanks, trucks, jeeps and ducks (amphibious vehicles) used in the D-Day assault on the Germans and an estimated 10,000 British and American troops (according to records) were in the village.
I remember, at the age of 10, helping to fill American jerricans with petrol at Chandler’s, the local garage (service station) in Bournemouth Road near Leigh Road (later to become Rowle’s) and load on to American left-hand drive trucks for transporting to an American supply depot which had been set up about half a mile away on Hut Hill opposite the then Limmer and Trinidad Lake Ashphalt Company, approximately where Asda now is.
The site of this supply depot has also been an American field hospital in 1944, an Italian prisoner of war camp and finally a German POW camp.
The Italians became known, and respected, for their hard work in the community.
After Italy had capitulated, they were allowed out to carry out gardening and other jobs in various homes throughout the village … some of them remained after the war and became part of the community.
Another contribution our area made to the success of D-Day was Pirelli’s PLUTO (Pipe Line Under The Ocean). This was one of two lead-sheathed, wire-armoured, hollow pipelines, which were laid under the English Channel to provide fuel for the vehicles and troops in Europe after the D-Day invasion.
The pipelines ultimately supplied one million gallons of fuel per day at peak performance.
Sources:
Doug Clews: My Memories of the War Years in Chandler’s Ford (1939-1945)
Eastleigh Local History Society
Maritime Archaeological Trust: D-Day: Stories from the Walls
National WW2 Museum
The D-Day Story, Portsmouth: D-Day Marshalling Area Camps C6, C7, C8 and C9, Hiltingbury
Wonderful post. Thank you.