Thursday 6 June 2019 is the 75th anniversary of D Day. This important landmark of World War Two will be commemorated across the country, and much of Europe.
D Day holds particular significance for Dorset as the county was in the front line of the build up to the invasion of Europe. Soldiers from America, Canada, and France, as well as British troops were stationed across Dorset, with many areas becoming militarised zones. The coastline became a rehearsal stage for the planning of the event and, in the seas off the coast, the fleet was assembled.
Dorset History Centre holds a unique record of the war years viewed from the ‘Home Front’. In the years after the war the Dorset Federation of Women’s Institutes provided sheets of special paper for each Institute to record the WI contribution to the war effort and events that had taken place in their town or village. Not all Dorset Institutes sent in an account but those that did are often beautifully illustrated with cartoons, drawings, watercolours and photographs. The individual sheets of paper were then skilfully bound to create the WI War Record Book. In June 2007 this book was a winner in the British Library Hidden Treasures competition when it was fully digitised.
The preparations for D Day feature in a number of entries with descriptions of the thousands of troops massing for the ‘push’, many of whom became friends but were then deployed abroad leaving ‘for an unknown destination’. There are vivid accounts of the invasion force particularly of the hundreds of aircraft flying south to France over many Dorset villages.
In Cranborne for example:
During the week preceding D Day, preparations for the great adventure reached a climax, huge quantities of transport passing continually day and night on their way to the Coast. On the night immediately before, the air was filled with the noise of great planes starting up, preparatory to the take off at dawn, when the gliders passed over us in tow with their large white stars. The ill-fated gliders going to Arnhem were also seen passing over in great numbers one Sunday a.m.
Coastal towns and villages played a direct part in the preparations. Parts of the Mulberry Harbour were built on the local beach in the village of Osmington. Studland became a restricted area and rehearsals were staged along the shoreline for the landings on the Normandy beaches. An observation post was set up and ‘From this shelter many “Very Important Persons” watched the landings’ including Winston Churchill and King George.
The entries for Durlston and Portland describe the fleet setting out to France. The Durlston entry includes a small watercolour of the event.
…from the cliffs we watched the marvellous sight of countless ships proceeding by a “swept channel” in a long line to the horizon towards the coast of France.
On Portland, one mother, upon seeing the invasion force gathering reflected the relief, anticipation and anxiety of many watching that it should be successful in bringing about the end of the long years of war.
During the early hours of June 5th, they all slipped away, and we wondered what lay ahead in the way of retaliation by the Germans.
As a snapshot of life on the Home Front during World War Two, this volume is a unique record and truly a ‘Hidden Treasure’!
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Dorset History Centre are working with the Keep Military Museum to host a day of commemorative activities and events on Saturday 8 June 2019 (10am-4pm).
At DHC there will be two talks by Lt. Col. (Retd) James Porter about “Planning and Preparation” (11.45am-12.15pm) and “The Landings and Exploitation” (2.30pm-3.15pm). There will also be a range of primary material to consult, including war diaries, letters from D Day widows, newspapers, photographs, and there will also be the opportunity to listen to some of our Oral History recordings from the Dorset Sound Archive.
At the Keep Military Museum, there will be a range of military vehicles and weapon displays, free entry to the museum and an opportunity to view the newly refurbished World War Two gallery, as well as children’s activities, and a chance to purchase the newly published “D Day: Spearhead Brigade” book which tells the tales of 83 survivors of the D Day landings.
At 11am there will be a Drumhead Commemoration Service held at Dorchester Borough Gardens, with music provided by the Durnovaria Silver Band. At 12pm a convey of military vehicles and re-enactors will leave the Borough Gardens heading to Castletown D Day Centre.
Was there an explosion in 1942 on the Dorset coast where our troups were practising for the D Day invation ? Some of our troops were killed.
Hi Florence, thanks for your query, it has been passed onto a member of the team to look into, and we will reply to you in due course.