Dorset’s Role in the Normandy Landings on 6th June 1944 – 82nd Year Anniversary in 2026
Dorset played a crucial role in the D-Day landings with many soldiers from all over the world coming together to train in preparation. Below is a small selection of walks travelling through the landscape, littered with remains, all of which had an important purpose on that fateful day.
In 1943 the cliffs between Hive and West Bay were used by the American Cliff Assault Team, alongside Canadian and British troops, in preparation for the D-Day landings. On the 5th June 1944, the sea was filled with boats, so much so you couldn’t see the sea at all. On the cliff edge is a pill box, its little windows providing a perfect view across the coastline. The beaches during this period were also covered with barbed wire and cement dragons’ teeth, some of which still remain on Chesil Beach.
During the Second World War Company A of the 383rd Engineer Battalion (an African American section of the US Army) were encamped in Fryer Mayne Woods. The camp was nicknamed Sausage Camp, their purpose to help extend the American camp that already existed in Broadmayne, as well as prepare for Operation Overlord – part of the D-Day invasion. It neighbours the site of the Warmwell RAF airfield, now hidden under the new Silverlake development and West Knighton Heath Wood. Carved into one of the trunks of the trees is a range of initials, dates, hearts and marks. Those from Sausage Camp, alongside their comrades from the 2nd Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment, the 1st US Infantry Division, and many others, have left their own individual marks on the tree, the owners then travelling south to the beaches of Normandy, most never to return.
The bridleway, providing access to West Knighton Heath Wood from the east through the Silverlake development, has been removed from the latest OS maps. This is an error. The Right of Way still exists on the Dorset Rights of Way website and Silverlake development plans so, after confirmation from both the ramblers and council, it will soon be re-attributed to the OS map.
Tarrant Rushton airfield was a hub of activity from 1942, having been transformed, in a matter of months, into nothing less than a small city. It was the largest employer in the area at that time, housing airmen, mechanics, paramedics as well as the extra infrastructure to support these roles. The site outside the airfield is buried in the woodland, but the odd concrete bases and brick walls of the original layout are visible through the overtaking vegetation (easier during the winter months).
It was shut in 1980 having turned from military to civil use in the late 1940s and the area is heavily farmed but the runways are clearly visible, reminding you of its past. In the summer of 2019, the old Tarrant Rushton Air Traffic Control Tower was discovered in a reclamation yard. Miraculously it had survived the test of time, four decades after demolition. In its prime of life it received the order for D-day operations to commence, making it one of the main spring boards for the invasion of Normandy. However, this ‘history’ has been disputed, There’s no reliable evidence that the invasion order was transmitted from the tower; centrally Eisenhower and Allied planners issued it from Supreme Headquarters. Others claim that it was installed in the 1950’s. The tower was put on display at the Great Dorset Steam Fair the same year it was discovered.
The marshes were used heavily during both the World Wars for training and exercise. The Bailey Bridge was a successful prototype, built by the Military Experimental Establishment (MEXE) at nearby Bargates, to be used for movement of troops after D-Day. However, the original bridge was replaced with a copy in 1984.
Corfe Mullen housed African American troops coming to build the Tarrant Rushton airfield as well as prepare for D-day.
During the war the village became the location of an airstrip, used by the US Army V Corps. The troops were highly involved in the D-day landings but the exact location of the strip has since been forgotten.
On the cliffs above Studland Beach are the reamins of a shelter, known as Fort Henry, where Winston Churchill and George VI observed Operation Smash. It was the largest live real ammunition exercise, staged to test new technologies and tactics in preparation for the amphibious landings on the Normandy Beaches.
Country Manors
A large number of country houses were requisitioned including Parnham, Smedmore, Rempstone, Steepleton, Lychett Manor, Dewlish, Askerswell, Melbury Sampford and Moonfleet with meetings between Eisenhower and Churchill apparently taking place at The World’s End.
Tyneham is by far the largest relic of the war time exercisies. Up until 1943, the village was a bustle of activity. The 13th church of St Mary school, manor house, rectory, farms and fishermen’s cottages filled the fields around, successfully and happily working together as a community. On the 17th December of that year, all 225 residents from 102 properties were evicted, the enforcement generated by the need for military training. The village today is little more than ruins and still under the ownership of the MOD.
Poole, Weymouth and Portland were the main embarkation points.
Memorials
There must be a special recognition to Langton Herring, which is a Doubly Thankful Village meaning that all the men who left for both World Wars returned home (one of only 14 in England and Wales). There is, therefore, no war memorial in the village, but there is a horse chestnut tree planted in the centre of the churchyard in memory of Sir Winston Churchill, with a small plaque bearing the words, ‘We shall never surrender’.
St Leonards community hospital was built on the edge of Ferndown in 1942 as a wartime hospital for American and Canadian military forces who flew their injured servicemen into Hurn Airport. General Dwight D. Eisenhower planted an oak tree in the grounds to commemorate the end of the war. The hospital has since been replaced with a new development with the ‘Victory Oak’ at its heart, but, at present, with no acknowledgement.
