Life with the American GIs at Port Eynon
As well as Oxwich Bay, Horton and Scurlage GI Camp
Memory by David Tucker
With additional images from Cllr Richard Lewis, taken by his mother Betty Lewis.
Table of Contents
Port Eynon
The American Army arrived
in October 1943, 'The far west part of Gower, consisting of the villages of Oxwich, Horton, Porteynon and Rhossili, were to be evacuated and become part of a live training area for the GIs.
But reprieve came after many representations by our M.P., D. R. Grenfell, and we were allowed to stay, provided we more or less allowed the GIs to go anywhere they liked and do what they wanted. However ‘triangles’ were put up on houses, etc.. where the GIs were not allowed.
in early October 1943, The King Arthur Hotel in Reynoldston was requisitioned, to be used as the American HQ for Gower. Mr & Mrs Kneath, the occupiers, together with boarders, were given a week to evacuate the premises and they left on October 9th. Telephones were installed in each room, certain internal alterations were made and the hotel became a HQ for 5th Engineer Special Brigade.
As the appeals had proved successful, the tenants of the hotel were allowed to return after about three weeks absence.
The 5th Engineer Special Brigade had over 7,400 officers and other ranks attached to it in about 28 units. and had the task of delivering a complete Division of American troops from Shore to Shore during Operation OVERLORD. It was responsible for supplying all stores, ammunition and personnel for the division.
Gower was a training area for Landing Operations, but with no live firing and farmers heaved a sigh of relief that they were not to be evacuated. It may have been the loss of farming production which may have been a deciding factor in this decision. In addition Farmers were assured that compensation would be paid for any damage to crops or buildings
'The area had been sealed off at Scurlage and we were all issued with special passes to allow us to get past the camp. No-one else was allowed anywhere near this camp, as far as I can remember.
Our bus was checked every morning and evening on our way to school and each time we used it. (Our car journeys were very limited by petrol rationing.) My father had a motorbike to get to work on Fairwood Common RAF Station.
We were easily let through as the GIs had got used to all passengers.' David Tucker
A Camp was constructed
Scurlage Castle American Camp, 1943, by David Tucker
'I was 13 years old and can remember sitting on the sand dunes between Horton and Porteynon when an army truck pulled in to take sand to ‘build’ at Scurlage – not one but many trucks were used. Friends and I ran home to our parents to tell them we had seen black men (real ones) for the first time in our lives,' David Tucker
Mr Lewis comented: “No-one was allowed on the beach when the Americans were here as they were training for the D-Day landings.The ‘Yanks’, as they were known, certainly made their presence felt at the time.
Their smart uniforms endeared themselves to the locals, and children revelled in their gifts of ration-restricted items such as pineapples, chocolate and Hershey chocolate bars.'
The 5th Engineer Special Brigade
The American Camps in the south west of Gower
Two GIs, Jack Liddets and Jack Frank, on Horton Beach, alongside a 'Duck' (DUKW) during landing training for D Day. Photo:: Betty Lewis
'The soldiers were given hot drinks etc. by the villagers and in return, many ‘K’ rations were shared (or left behind).
I now recollect the cigarettes, ‘Lucky Strike’, ‘Camels’, Chesterfields’ and tinned hash, meat, cheese, chewing gum, sweets, etc., coffee and tea. Also they left large tins of other foods which at that time were in very short supply. We were very grateful to them.' David Tucker
Units of the American 5th Engineer Special Brigade, during an exercise with an LST and other ships at Port Eynon, Bay Gower, 28 Feb 1944
American Troops and LST Landing Craft training at Horton Beach. Two photos by Betty Lewis.
Practice Landings, on 5th & 6th April 1944
'As a boy this was all exciting and I watched all the practice landings from LSTs and LCTs and other craft. The DUKWs transported stores etc. and the fields between Horton and Porteynon were full of containers as such.
The offloading was proceeded by troops being landed to attack and troops on mainland to defend. [Our lawn was constantly being dug up for foxholes].' David Tucker
David Tucker remembered: ‘Dummy’ ammunition was used but it was very realistic. Large smoke screens were set off in the village by the ‘defenders’ and eventually the ‘attackers’ won! Bulldozers were landed and proceeded to make new roads through sand dunes at various places, the sand being covered with PSP (perforated steel planking) and all stores taken to the fields for storage.
During the mock landings, aircraft from Fairwood RAF base also took part. It was all very realistic.'
Oxwich Bay - Combined manoeuvres
The amphibious training exercises included Oxwich Bay, in addition to Port Eynon.
The Combat Engineers also trained in Bailey bridge construction, road maintenance, laying and lifting mines as well as the demolition of obstacles. One small boy managed to watch them training on the Penllergare Estate and could not understand why, as soon as they had built a Bailey Bridge across the lake, they took it down again.
Local hospitality in a real home was appreciated
Soldiers were invited into homes
David Tucker: 'Now, the soldiers were invited into the homes of the villagers and many friendships were started. They observed our ways of life and we learnt more about USA. Most of them were young men who had never left USA before and were eager to strike up these new acquaintances.
They always had difficulty in using our knives and forks, using forks only (much to our amusement), but they were young men (boys), not much older than myself, and appreciated a ‘home’ visit, if only for a very short time.'
'During their stay they went to the local village halls including Horton, Porteynon, Rhossili and Reynoldston. My sister met many and often brought them home. Often we had officers in one room, NCOs in another and ‘the other ranks’ elsewhere. Food was short but they often brought tins of food with them, and we had a large garden which provided fresh vegetables.'
My sister got engaged to a Yank
David reveals: 'My sister eventually got engaged to a Sergeant Bob Johnson from Oklahoma. (He was a teacher in civvy Street). The evening he proposed was short time before ‘D Day’. He managed to leave (get out!) of the camp which was completely ‘shut down’ a few days before ‘D Day’ - no one was allowed to pass the camp – no school – no movement of local people.
Finaly, Bob proposed, was accepted by my sister and parents – he gave her a ring and left. Next time he saw her was in an American Hospital near Derby and was completely paralysed from the neck down, after his DUKW was blown up on the beach. (I think Omaha).
We never saw him again and the engagement was broken off as his wish.
He was a great guy and we all liked him very much.'
All roads were closed as they moved to Swansea for embarkation to France.
In April all the engineers left for Swansea, to travel by train for Dorchester, on the south Coast. In May, troops arrived from the US 2nd Infantry Division and the whole of Scurlage camp was made into a restricted area occupied by the 2nd & 3rd Battalions of The 23rd Infantry Regiment.
The Combat Engineers travelled to staging area camps near Dorchester : D 11, D 14, and D 16. There they were briefed and given maps and instructions for D-Day.
On June 1st, Sgt. John McGraw, who trained in Gower boarded a Royal Navy L.C.T. 256 Landing Craft Tank from Weymouth.
The main D Day Attack Convoys sailed from the South Coast Ports.
D Day Landings:
On 5th June, Sgt. John McGraw and his unit, headed across the English Channel for Normandy. On 6th June they landed on Omaha Beach at H-Hour Plus One Hour. . .
The only time he knew where he was landing was when he got there
His task on Omaha beach was to clear a minefield –'they were wooden mines (shoe mine) and detectors were no good –so you went in sideways –some were booby-trapped. Then to bring in the boats with equipment.
Our job was to get men & everything out of the boats and over the hill to be assigned a job. When the minefield was clear, we called the boats in
We were on the beach for three or four days, before we saw the book about these mines. By then we could have written the book.'
in 2007, John went back to Omaha Beach , as well as returning to Swansea.
The Beachheads were won:
This photo shows the unloading of men & supplies.
Many of the engineers & soldiers who supplied material to the men at the front, and enabled the invasion to take place, were trained in Gower.
Dedicated to the American Forces who lived and trained in Mumbles, Caswell and surrounding areas
A new road had been constructed
'The Army found difficulty in getting their vehicles, DUKWs (amphibious trucks, we called 'Ducks') and others onto the beach in Porteynon due to the narrow road and corners. So they constructed a new road from the junction to Overton at the top of the hill in Porteynon as shown on the map.' Now this road is part of the caravan site.' David Tucker
The Port Eynon roads were too narrow for two way traffic, so a new road was constructed.
Port Eynon Village: 'All the stone to build the new American road was quarried on Porteynon Point and brought to the new road.'
'All GI vehicles used this road and as far as I am aware it is still on site. All had been set up for the ‘D Day’ practice.'
The Horton Minefield
'#1 the minefield in Horton was divided into two and the overflow stream from the village well divided the area laid and all was fenced in with barbed wire.'
David Tucker and the Horton minefield
'At the beginning of the war in 1939 an area on the sand dunes in Horton and Porteynon was mined. Part was in front of and alongside the villagers access to the beach. When the mines were blown up #1 by the army in Horton, one (yes two) # 2 were left behind. The one in Horton exploded when stepped on by a cow just after the Americans had set up camp.
The area on the east side blew up in the early hours of one morning after a raid in Swansea. All together and causing damage to our house and all others facing seawards.
The (British) Army blew up the mines on the west side.
#2 two mines were left. One mentioned, and the later one was detonated in 1997 or 98 when it was discovered in the area of the stream. I was Engineer & Surveyor to the Gower RDC at the time.' David Tucker
Richard Lewis and the minefield
Richard was fortunate not to have ended up as one of the first victims of the D-Day landings operation, even though he was just a child at the time and was nowhere near Normandy.
On the days leading up to D-Day 75 years ago, he wanted a closer look at all the ships that had suddenly turned up off the beaches of Gower , despite a minefield keeping onlookers at bay.
It could easily have cost him his life.
"I was a small child, and a family friend, Ivor Tucker, who was in his early twenties, would take me down to the beach through the minefield," said Mr Lewis.
"On one occasion three cows followed us down and were blown up. I think
More Detail from David Tucker:
I must add that at this time my brother was landing on the beaches with the British Army and survived right to the end of the war.
There is probably much more detail which I could think about and as I was born in 1930, I was the only village boy left. Some of the girls are, I believe, still alive but not many of us who lived through these eighteen months.
My wife’s father was pier master at Swansea Docks and she was taken aboard American ships and often visited the docks with her father.
After:
1. One land mine was left after all the exercises and traffic and it exploded later.
2. Very little communication was received from the GIs. My belief is that many were injured (like Bob) or were killed in action – or just went home and left the war behind (like my brother).
3. The sand dunes were reshaped by the bulldozers and eventually the wind and sea in Horton and Porteynon.
4. The RNLI inshore building stands on the site of the original minefield.
5. The large storage area between Horton and Porteynon is now caravan sites.
6. The deserted camp was used by (a) Italian POWS (b) German POWS (c) ‘Displaced’ Russians maybe Cossacks, who left and returned to their homeland.
7. The campsite was brought up by local businessmen and become South Gower Sports Club.
8. Horton and Porteynon has now changed in many ways from the 1930s when I grew up. There are probably many things I have left out but what I have written is true in my own mind and I hope can be used by historians n due course.
9. Our school bus journeys took us through the camp every day (to Blackpill and train to Gowerton Boys School).
American Army Video
An American Army video of a 'Duck' (DUKW) Exercise, bivouac and later at Penarth docks, South Wales
Link to the original wartime video - https://youtu.be/9Go-eCwHiMo
Entitled - 6th BEACH BN. CAMP ACTIVITIES; LST IS LOADED, PENARTH, WALES
Record of Manoeuvres in Gower
643RD MEDICAL CLEARING COMPANY
Annual Report of the 643rd Medical Clearing Company Activities for the calendar year ending 31 December 1944.Operations: “Normandy” 6 June 1944 to 24 June 1944 and “Northern France” 25 July 1944 to 14 September 1944.(1) Mission: To provide definitive surgical care to casualties and to provide holding facilities for casualties to be evacuated by sea and air to the UK.In preparation for “Operation Neptune” the “37th Beach Group” was attached to the “16th Combat Team” of the 1st Infantry Division. The “348th Beach Group” was attached to the “18th Combat Team” of the 1st Infantry Division, these combat teams were part of “Force O”. These companies were to treat and evacuate casualties on the beach controlled by the First Division; anticipated casualties for the first 48 hours was 4200 of which approximately one third would be killed.EXTRACT Training in UK
Manoeuvres
(a) 11 January 1944 to 7 February 1944: 1st Platoon combined amphibious manoeuvres, 5th ESB, Bristol Channel, Oxwich Bay and Port Eynon, Glamorgan, South Wales.
(b) 8 February 1944 to 2 March 1944: 2d Platoon, combined amphibious manoeuvres, 5th ESB, Bristol Channel, Oxwich Bay and Port Eynon, Glamorgan, South Wales.
(c) 11 March 1944 to 14 March 1944; 1st Platoon, combined amphibious manoeuvres, V Corps, English Channel, Slapton Sands Manoeuvre Area, England.
(d) 5 April 1944 to 6 April 1944: Combined amphibious manoeuvres, 5th ESB, Bristol Channel, Oxwich Bay and Port Eynon, Glamorgan, South Wales.
(e) 4 May 1944 to 8 May 1944; Combined amphibious manoeuvres First U S Army, “Fabius”, English Channel, Slapton Sands Manoeuvre Area, England.
(7) Foot Marches:
(a) 7 February 1944; 1st Platoon, 16 miles from Camp Scurlage Castle to Camp Mynydd Lliw, (Grovesend) Glamorgan, South Wales.
(b) 7 February 1944: 2d Platoon, 16 miles front Camp Mynydd Lliw (Grovesend) to Camp Scurlage Castle, Glamorgan, South Wales.
(c) 2 March 1944: 2d Platoon, 16 miles from Camp Scurlage Castle to Camp Mynydd Lliw,(Grovesend) Glamorgan, South Wales.
NEW BOOK
by Phil Howells
Published on Amazon to coincide with the 76th Anniversary of the Normandy Landings, the biggest amphibious operation in history.
A GI Bride Obituary
from Horton, Gower
Phyllis was born at Westside Farm
on Jan. 11, 1918 and died on Sept. 5, 2017