Normandy Hill

Commemorative sign at the top of Normandy Hill

If you are looking for a my usual blog about beer then I'm afraid my subject here contains no such content. Instead, I wanted to write something about the 75th Anniversary of D Day. Local military history is something I've always found fascinating so this sign I pass regularly whilst out running prompted me to find out a bit more.

The sign for Normandy Hill commemorates Route 23, the final journey in the UK for many US servicemen before embarking on ships from Saltash Passage, which is the Plymouth side of the River Tamar facing Saltash, ready to begin Operation Neptune - the navel component of Operation Overlord, (the Normandy Landings).

US Army Route 23 was a route for infantry men who marched from various camps in South Devon to the bottom of the hill at Saltash Passage, departing from a purpose built embarkation hards slipway onto landing craft before transferring to much larger ships off shore. Many would have come via the Vicarage Road Army Training Camp that overlooked the River Tamar adjacent to Route 23. The camp was built to house 2,000 US servicemen and would see over 60,000 servicemen pass through it before closing in mid 1945. One of the camps main roles was to assist the loading of personal and vehicles whilst training for D Day and for the actual event itself.


The embarkation hards slipway at Saltash Passage

Embarkation hards as they were called were concrete slipways and were installed at embarkation points along the South Coast. They were concrete blocks that resembled blocks of chocolate and for this reason the troops nicknamed them chocolate box hards - some, like the ones at Saltash Passage can still been seen today which once stretched over 200ft into the river and was 5,000 square yards in size.

For the invasion over 36,000 troops embarked from Plymouth and were primarily part of Force U which was loaded from Plymouth East and Force B which was loaded from Plymouth West. The former was charged with the initial attack on Utah Beach and the latter was the follow up force for D Day plus one on Utah.



US Troops embarking from Saltash Passage, Plymouth

Plymouth was the main embarkation point for troops assembled in Marshalling Area A in the South West of Devon. These were part of the US 4th Infantry Division (VII Corps). Troops were loaded from 1st June for the planned invasion on the 5th June. Bad weather would intervene and the invasion was delayed for 24 hours to 6th June. Force U was split into twelve convoys with around 800 vessels and loading ports along the South West coast from Falmouth to Poole. Force B, the follow up force consisted of 500 vessels. From what I can gleam I believe troops that were part of Force B certainly embarked from Saltash Passage.

Some photos from Saltash Passage of the embarkment (or perhaps training) show landing craft with the insignia PA33 which indicates they belonged to the USS Bayfield. The Bayfield was an assault transport able to carry 1500 troops and records show she was based at Plymouth from late April 1944 and was used as a flagship command vessel for Utah Beach.

Troops embark in landing craft from Saltash Passage with insignia indicating USS Bayfield

Landing craft motors towards Brunel's Royal Albert Bridge

Whilst the landings at Omaha Beach were to prove both bloody and tragic, the landings at Utah went a lot better. Troops from the 4th Division touched down at 6.30am, quickly overcame weak enemy opposition and pushed inland as much as 10,000 yards with only 197 casualties from 21,000 troops landed. Much of the initial success can be attributed to the power of the covering naval fire and airstrikes. The latter was done by Martin B26 Marauders whose pilots decided to drop their bombs from low altitudes to overcome cloud cover. The result was highly effective with the loss of only two aircraft.

The 4th Division went on to fight through France, Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany. Battles included the Battle of Hurtgen Forest and the Battle of the Bulge. They crossed the Rhine on 29th March 1945 headed South East across Bavaria reaching Miesbach on 2nd May before finally being relieved and placed on occupation duty.  All told they lost 4,097 men killed in action plus another 461 missing in action.

Memorial at Saltash Passage



To commemorate the men who left Saltash Passage for D Day, a memorial and garden was built overlooking the River Tamar with Saltash on the opposite river bank in the distance. It is a peaceful well kept garden where one can sit, relax and perhaps imagine the hustle and bustle of the D Day embarkation and the thoughts of the young American servicemen, noisy with nervous anticipation of what may lie ahead for them.

I often run down and less off often run up Normandy Hill, like most hills on the river banks in Plymouth and Saltash opposite, its long and steep. I sometimes wonder about the men who left here and what became of them. If you are ever travelling the A38, do stop off before crossing the bridge and visit the memorial, its small piece of history on your doorstep and a fitting tribute to the young men who fought and perhaps died that left friendly shores at this point.

Memorial Inscription

Troops march at the top of Normandy Hill

Troops loading from Saltash Passage at the bottom of Normandy Hill.