The Friendly Invasion
THE DAILY LIFE OF 1940s CORNWALL WAS DRAMATICALLY INTERRUPTED IN THE
DAYS PRECEDING D-DAY IN 1944, AS A NEW EXHIBITION AT THE NATIONAL
MARITIME MUSEUM CORNWALL REVEALS
Words by Viki Wilson, photographs © Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society
C
aptain George Hogg was a schoolboy, living in
Newquay in the early days of June 1944. “I was a
small boy in short trousers, just nine years old,”
recalls George, who has more reason to remember than
most. George was curator of the original 50th anniversary
exhibition relating to Cornish memories of D-Day, and
is currently a trustee of the National Maritime Museum
Cornwall, which is about to stage an exhibition marking the
70th anniversary of the event.
Of course, along with the rest of the country, daily life
in Cornwall had been in general wartime upheaval in
the preceding years. The previous May, in 1943, several
regiments of US troops had been stationed all around the
county, and according to George, the American soldiers had
been well received by their Cornish hosts.
“There were regiments stationed all around the county,
from Bodmin, Liskeard and Launceston to Penzance and
Hayle,” says George. “Some of the men were stationed in
little villages - for example, there were soldiers based in Prideaux
Place in Padstow, and you can see their graffiti in the attic
to this day.”
Over the following year, according to George, friendships
and apparently many romances blossomed between the
soldiers and local residents. “What you have to remember
is that many of these men were a long way from home;
they were also well paid, and happy to befriend their hosts,
and share out sweets and gum to the children. All in all, the
American soldiers were very well received.”
During his research for an earlier exhibition for the 50th
anniversary of D-Day, George spoke to many people both
American and Cornish to uncover memories and stories of
those days leading up to what has been termed the ‘friendly
invasion’, when 7,500 US troops were shipped into Cornwall
to prepare for the D-Day landings on the French coast.
“Lots of people had saved mementos – such as the person
who saved a whole collection of chewing gum wrappers
from his American ‘chums’ which we made into an exhibit,”
says George. “I also spoke to US veterans who had returned
to Cornwall to visit people and places they had come to be
very fond of during their time here.”
Of course, their residency here was geared to one major
event: D-Day, and preparations were well under way.
Photographs remain of the US troops practising manoeuvres
in the lead-up to D-Day, embarking on boats in the Helford
River, along beaches which were laid with concrete slabs and
aprons in preparation for the day of the operation.
In December 1943 a full-scale loading and landing exercise
took place known as Operation Duck, with vessels sailing
from Falmouth to the Slapton Sands exercise area. “Of course,
people began to work out that something big was about to
happen,” says George.
What the local population was not prepared for, however,
were the dramatic events which began to unfold in the early
days of June 1944. “Practically overnight, all those US troops
who had been stationed here were shipped out, and thousands
of new US troops arrived in a convoy of trucks,” explains George.
“In the two to three days leading up to June 6, all the major
Cornish roads were simply closed. If you had wanted to travel
from Helston to Redruth, for example, that would not have
been possible.”
Unbeknown to the general population, D-Day had been
scheduled for the early days of June, with commanding officers
in London finally deciding that the moon, tides and weather
favoured June 6, just days before the operation commenced.
“Troops were moved suddenly and quickly in an attempt to
maintain secrecy,” explains George. “The old troops said their
goodbyes in early June as they were shipped out to locations
such as Torpoint and Weymouth, where they would set off
for Normandy. Then the new troops who had arrived were
bivouacked in camps set out along roads off the A30. They were
given strict curfews and kept separate from the local population,
as preparations were made for the D Day landings.”
Many of those who had befriended their Cornish hosts
would be in the first wave of troops who arrived on the
beaches on June 6.
“The men from the 121st Combat Engineers, who had been
stationed in Wadebridge and Prideaux Place, for example,
embarked at Weymouth and were among the first to land at
Omaha beach, destroying obstacles for those who followed,”
says George. “They encountered devastating losses.”
Those US troops who left from the Fal, however, were
among the second wave of troops to arrive on Omaha beach,
and most set off on June 7. In total, 33 boats left from the
Falmouth area, carrying 7,500 troops from the US Army’s 29th
Infantry Division.
“Ten boats left from Trebah and others from elsewhere
around the Fal including Turnaware point on the Roseland
side of the Fal,” says George. These beaches had actually
been prepared for the operation from as early as 1943, with
ammunition stores being hidden among trees to prevent
enemy spies from spotting them.
“It was a time of enormous trepidation and excitement,”
recalls George. “Of course there were naturally fears for those
troops who were leaving, because despite the secrecy, most
local people had worked out what was about to happen – that
our troops were about to attempt to land on the Continent.”
Within hours of the final departures however, the news
came through that despite heavy losses, the D-Day landings
had been a success. Allied troops had taken the Normandy
beaches and maintained a fighting presence in France.
“Most of us heard it in BBC radio announcements,” recalls
George. “Of course in Cornwall, there was much hope that the
US troops that many had come to know and care for had fared
well, along with prayers for the safe return of loved ones.”
And so it was, as suddenly as they had arrived, the US
troops departed, leaving many memories, as well as treasured
chewing gum wrappers with their Cornish friends. The Friendly
Invasion, was at an end.
The Friendly Invasion exhibition is on display from May 24 at the
National Maritime Museum in Falmouth.
Visit www.nmmc.co.uk
BELOW: OPERATION DUCK MAWNAN SMITH - TROOPS AND EQUIPMENT
PASS THE RED LION AT MAWNAN SMITH EN ROUTE TO TREBAH
RIGHT: 1DUKW LOADED ONTO LCT209
- AMPHIBIOUS VEHICLES (DUKWS),
KNOWN AS ‘DUCKS’ LOADING ONTO
LCT (LANDING CRAFT, TANK) 209 IN
FALMOUTH HARBOUR. THIS SPECIALLYBUILT ‘HARD’ WAS NEAR TO WHERE
TRAGO MILLS NOW STANDS.
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