The Yanks in Mumbles from 1943 by John Sutherland
On the 2nd October 2013, John Powell & Bert Harris welcomed John Sutherland (centre) to the Newton Village Hall, where he examined the new American Forces Memorial, which was unveiled on 2nd November 2012. He later enjoyed afternoon tea and met Glenn Booker, Chairman of Barry War Museum and discussed his memories of the Americans in the village.
In 2012, a friend in Newton sent me a copy of a piece in, what must have been, the St Peter’s Parish magazine and I found that there was a group in The Mumbles, sufficiently interested in the history attached to the US Army presence in the Mumbles/ Swansea/Newton area as to be raising funds for a memorial plaque to be unveiled in front of St Peter’s Church Hall in Newton, (then rebuilt as Newton Village Hall) because the troops had messed therein 1943/44.
Terrific idea I thought.
Then, like hoards of kids growing up during the war, I thought that I had a little story to tell that might contribute to the store of fact and myth that the Parish Magazine seemed to carry.
My name is John Sutherland (my brother is Peter) and we lived in Mumbles (went to Oystermouth School before going to Swansea Grammar in 1944) from the summer of 1942 when we returned from Llanwyrtdd Wells where we had been able to miss the horrors of the 1941 blitz although father stayed put as an ARP warden at the St Barnabas post in the Uplands.
He later became a “Capt. Mainwaring” serving in the Home Guard in a Briton Ferry ack/ack unit before being brought down to earth as Pvt Sutherland when conscripted at 41 and sent to the Brecon Lines. We lived first on Langland Corner and then at Brierwood, 82 Newton Rd.
The American Forces Memorial was unveiled on 2nd November 2012
An article in the local newspaper at the time,
The American Memorial was unveiled at Newton Village Hall, by The Lord Lieutenant of West Glamorgan, D Byron Lewis Esq., jointly with Cliff Guard, an American GI veteran, who was born in Swansea.
Saint Peter's Church and and the Hall, with the new Newton Village Hall, built on the site of the old Hall.
Historical adviser, Glenn Booker,at the 'new' American Forces Memorial and John Sutherland
My tale was:
“I’ve been in NZ since 1956 but the Americans in Mumbles were an important part of childhood.
The US Army began arriving in the UK in 1942. We much admired their smart and warm winter uniforms.
I know the Americans were in Mumbles in 1943 as I got caught with a packet of Camel in my pocket on the day my father got his calling up papers. He very kindly let me off with a sharp warning.
We lived at 82 Newton Rd on the direct route from Newton to the Mumbles and sat on the wall begging (negotiating) for sweets, gum and cigarettes. I collected chewing gum wrappers to swap. Same with cigarette packets, and noticed who bought which brands. Camel and Lucky Strike were predominant. It was always said that the latter were a ‘blacks’ cigarette. But those were racist days, as blacks fought whites on a regular basis on Mumbles Station square and more than once broke Forte’s plate glass windows.
The American Officers' Club was in Summerland House, overlooking Caswell Bay and I can recall going up the main GI camp by Twoomeys riding school where there was a gate and guards with guns. There were huts and some kind of a, probably fairly porous, perimeter fence.
The local American Camps included Summerland, Caswell Valley, St. Peter's Church Hall and Underhill Park
Caswell Valley in the 1930s, as the Yanks may have found it.
Postwar, holidaymakers camped in the valley.
There were some hutments down in the main DUKW park where the holiday huts are now in Caswell Valley. There was a flagpole down there too and we watched the lowering of the flag many times. There was a tented encampment next to the Church Hall.
There were other officers' clubs at Clifflands (Gilberts Cliff) above Underhill Park and at ‘Fansala', a modern (1930s) house on Higher Lane, which had a big traffic in jeeps and smart young things.
There was a company of GIs in the huts in Underhill Park and one of the huts are still there. They spent most evenings wearing baseball gloves and throwing balls at each other. There were formal marches (well, the US Army didn’t march so much as slouch, on its rubber soled boots) up/down Newton Rd on Bond raising parades and ‘Digging for Victory’ parades.
Our gang (all three or four of us) watched training with DUKWs, an amphibious truck we called a 'Duck,' on Caswell Bay and spied on their vehicle parks up the valley, and the lowering of the flag in the early evening.
Us lads prowled the cliffs looking for illicit goings on and used ‘french letters’, condoms came later.
John Sutherland: I think the pictures below confirm that they were built of precast concrete panels with windows in. They would have been jointed behind the projecting verticals which may have been concrete trusses (less sure of that). Precast concrete was a very economical way of building standard sheds at the time and post-war. The sheds must have been there ready for when the troops arrived. They would not have had the means of pre-casting. Americans were more used to building in timber (as we do in NZ). The present hut has a metal profile roof (modern stuff) the original would more likely have been a membrane of tar paper or bitumen. Nissen huts were UK military issue and there were a couple just opposite where the park path steps emerge onto Langland Road. They were used by a British bomb disposal unit at some time.
I asked John Powell if he had any local historical records available which covered this period and these were later added to the website, A History of Mumbles, which has grown into a large collection.
I referred to an excellent book I had in my library called “Rich Relations” ‘The American Occupation of Britain 1942-1945’ by David Reynolds (Harper Collins which was too general to mention Swansea, let alone Mumbles/Newton.
As a result John responded by email and I was in the loop of many other stories and much history. My inbox next contained pictures of the remaining Underhill Park huts from him which were shown here .
Three Huts were built by the Americans in late 1943, for a kitchen, dining room (mess) and shower facilities and were later used postwar as changing rooms by the football, rugby and cricket clubs. The hut on left was basically unaltered, at least on the outside and later demolished.
The right hand hut was replaced on the original base.
The central hut was still in use by Mumbles Rugby Club, after being substantially refurbished in 2007, thanks to a grant from Mumbles Community Council.
They also used the pavilion from late 1943.
An aerial view of Underhill Park, taken before the begining of the redevelopment project, which began in January 2023, after many years of fundraising and planning effort.
UPDATE- The Changing Rooms at Underhill Park, Mumbles, have been replaced with a new building , shown below along with the updated Pavilion. and were opened to the public on 19th July 2023. See notice!.
Full details of this development can be found at 'GO Underhill'. Website - https://go-underhill.com
Go Underhill is a major plan by the community in the Mumbles area to transform Underhill Park, developing facilities which are fit for the modern day.
More: Travels of the American 348th Engineer Combat Battalion: >
In November 1943, the 428th ECB arrived at Swansea and transfered to from the train to a fleet of double-deck buses. The buses carried the unit six miles to a small resort village with a quaint name Mumbles. The Companies were scattered at different locations around this village; Headquarters and a portion of "B" Company at Summerland, "A" Company at Newton, other elements of "B" at Singleton Park, and "C" Company at Caswell Bay Hotel.
During the first week of December, the entire Battalion moved to a new camp on the outskirts of Swansea Camp Manselton.
'the Baptist Church on the Langland Rd./ Newton Rd, (earlier named Broadway).
Mumbles Baptist Church on Langland Rd.
The ‘blacks’ used to provide some wonderful solo artists for the Baptist Church on the Newton Rd corner with Langland Rd. Real Gospel singing of an high order.
As D-Day approached the phone box opposite the Baptist Church on the Langland Rd./ Newton Rd. corner, near the large water tank which was used by the AFS water sports for public morale purposes, was manned 24/7 for some obviously important call . This required an adjacent pup tent and a ready supply of young ladies from Oystermouth for company.
At my age I only suspected what they were there for.
I can remember Newton Rd filling up, from Limekiln Rd to Brooklyn Terrace, with big trucks and many troops gathering in the park one Sunday afternoon. I think some slept in pup tents in the Park that night but all, except the park group, had disappeared by the next day –
At the beginning of the Second World War, Summmerland House and two fields, overlooking Caswell, were requisitioned by the War Department and the 9th battalion of the Royal Sussex regiment arrived on 25 September 1940. They used Summerland House as an Officers' mess, with the other ranks living (under canvas) in the two fields nearby. Four months later, on 11 February 1941, The Battalion left Newton, marching down through Mumbles with their band playing 'Sussex by the Sea,' on their way to serve in North Africa.
In 1946 the house was put up for sale and the sales brochure noted that Enclosures no. 63 and 67 (within Lot 4) ‘are in occupation of the War Department under the terms of a Requisition Order, for which a compensation rental of £12.10.00 per annum is paid.’ These were different times and the war had only just ended.
Valerie McKay remembers her father telling her that when Summerland House was used by the American solders, they threw rations over the wall to her family (which were very welcome) and of a visit by G.I. Rocky Marciano to Summerland House for a boxing display.
Barbara Brimfield remembers when the Yanks arrived, they used Saint Peter's Church Hall as a dining hall and were housed in tents in Caswell Valley below. Betty Sivertsen recalled the years when the American flag flew from the top of the cliff overlooking Caswell Bay when 'the GIs lived and trained in the area. Caswell Valley was full of Yanks training for D Day, with amphibious trucks called ‘Ducks’ (DUKW), vital for the Normandy Landings
Other manoeuvres took place at Caswell. One very naive 16 year old girl, worked at the accounts department of Weavers Flour Mill, on Swansea’s North Dock. The Department was evacuated to a large house at Caswell. She remembers looking out of the window and observing an American soldier walking up the road, with a girl on one arm and a blanket on the other. She thought at the time that it was bit cold for a picnic.
Caswell Bay at war- In the War, a lovely old house, Redcliffe House at Caswell was used to train radio operators for the Merchant Navy.
Also I remember DUCKS parked in Caswell Valley and one day when I was at the top of Caswell Point, a plane came in off the sea, which was flying below me. Derek Drew
I will be interested in what you find in the article you mention. The accommodation provided for the US , Army in UK was usually very different to its own accommodation ‘stateside’! Usually old British Army Victorian barracks esp in Northern Island. Very cold and bleak!” asked by return
When did they arrive? Many American troops arrived in the Barry and Cardiff areas in 1942. But October 1943, was the begining of the D Day build up in this area.
Who were they? The 5th Engineer Special Brigade was the main unit training in Mumbles, Swansea and Gower, which included around 28 seperate companies, Engineers, Transport, 'Duck Drivers', Port Units, Ammunition, Medical, etc. totaling 7,500 men.
There were also the 28th Inf Div.about 25,000 strong spread through West Wales. [NOT the 2nd Inf Div Here for a only few weeks from May 1944 although the 29th Inf Div was here for a short time in November 1944].
The 28th came straight from the USA as above and stayed in West Wales centred on Tenby until April 1944. The 28th had been in Britain since 1942 and ended up training up near Tavistock, Devon before going to the Omaha beachhead.
The latest research suggests that it was units of The 5th Engineer Special Brigade which occupyied the telephone box (and pup tents) until first week of June and were the guys who played baseball in the park? A transportation unit? And were the guys training how to drive and maintain the DUKWs at Caswell.
Unlikely that the DD Shermans were at Caswell, [Reports say they trained at Port Talbot] although more training might have prevented the disaster when they were dropped off into rough sea and too far off the Overlord beaches. They tipped and sank.The US Army didn’t like them it was reported and that were not used again by them after D Day. The Shermans were US built, the modifications designed by Gen. Percy Hobart of the British Army and installed in British workshops.
What I saw down there were more DUKWs- large and small.
Our gang (all three or four of us) watched training with DUKWs, an amphibious truck we called a 'Duck,' on Caswell Bay and spied on their vehicle parks up the valley, and the lowering of the flag in the early evening.
Us lads prowled the cliffs looking for illicit goings on and used ‘french letters’, condoms came later.
The Amphibious truck companies were sent for training at Caswell Bay valley, where the 'Transportation Marine Operations Division, Caswell Bay,' instructed the GIs in all aspects of loading, unloading, daily maintenance and driving the six wheel amphibious trucks DUKW, over land and water.
A Duck (DUKW) on the road
Ducks being loaded from ships offshore
Taking in Washing
One evening, as I stood round the camp gates, a black soldier came up and asked me in a deep mellow voice, ‘Say Kid, does your mother take in washing?’
Whether out of surprise or because I felt it would be impolite to refuse, I found myself taking home a bundle of his army shirts and underclothes. My mother laundered them without question and I returned them to him. I cannot remember how many times this was repeated before I happened to mention that my client was a black man. She was taken aback at first but soon regained her generosity of spirit. Some time later, she received a letter, which she noted was ‘in an educated handwriting’ from private (First Class) Williams, thanking her for doing his laundry.
Peter Howell
DOCUMENT
Original email from John Sutherland
A week ago, I found that there was a group in The Mumbles sufficiently interested in the history attached to the US Army presence in the Mumbles/ Swansea/Newton area as to be raising funds for a memorial plaque to be unveiled in front of St Peter’s Church Hall in Newton, because the troops had messed therein 1943/44. Terrific idea I thought.
Then, like hoards of kids growing up during the war, I thought that I had a little story to tell that might contribute to the store of fact and myth that the Parish Magazine seemed to carry.
I made contact with John Powell by email and much traffic has gone backwards and forward over the last couple of weeks. Much internet information has been sent to me and I’ve read the lot.
As background my name is John Sutherland (my brother is Peter) and we lived in Mumbles (went to Oystermouth School before going to Swansea Grammar in 1944) from the summer of 1942 when we returned from Llanwyrtdd Wells where we had been able to miss the horrors of the 1941 blitz although father stayed put as an ARP warden at the St Barnabas post in the Uplands. He later became a “Capt. Mainwaring” serving in the Home Guard in a Briton Ferry ack/ack unit before being brought down to earth as Pvt Sutherland when conscripted at 41 and sent to the Brecon Lines. We lived first on Langland Corner and then at Brierwood, 82 Newton Rd.
My tale was:
“I’ve been in NZ since 1956 but the Americans in Mumbles were an important part of childhood. We lived at 82 Newton Rd on the direct route from Newton to the Mumbles and sat on the wall begging (negotiating) for sweets, gum and cigarettes. I collected chewing gum wrappers to swap. Same with cigarette packets, and noticed who bought which brands. Camel and Lucky Strike were predominant. It was always said that the latter were a ‘blacks’ cigarette. But those were racist days, as blacks fought whites on a regular basis on Mumbles Station square and more than once broke Forte’s plate glass windows. The ‘blacks’ used to provide some wonderful solo artists for the Baptist Church on the Newton Rd corner with Langland Rd. Real Gospel singing of an high order. Our gang (all three or four of us) watched training with DUKWs on Caswell Bay and spied on their vehicle parks up the valley, and the lowering of the flag in the early evening. There was an officer’s club on Higher Lane with a big traffic in jeeps and smart young things.
The main camp was up by Twoomeys riding school. Us lads prowled the cliffs looking for illicit goings on and used ‘french letters’, condoms came later.
There was company in the huts in Underhill Park. Some of the huts are still there I think. They spent most evenings wearing baseball gloves and throwing balls at each other. There were formal marches (well, the US Army didn’t march so much as slouch, on its rubber soled boots) up/down Newton Rd on Bond raising parades and ‘Digging for Victory’ parades.
As D-Day approached the phone box opposite the Baptist Church on the Langland Rd./ Newton Rd. corner, near the large water tank which was used by the AFS water sports for public morale purposes, was manned 24/7 for some obviously important call . This required an adjacent pup tent and a ready supply of young ladies from Oystermouth for company.
At my age I only suspected what they were there for.
What I am uncertain about is the date they all arrived and who they were. I can remember Newton Rd filling up, from Limekiln Rd to Brooklyn Tce, with big trucks and many troops gathering in the park one Sunday afternoon. I think some slept in pup tents in the Park that night but all, except the park group, had disappeared by the next day – I think. The arrival date was either 1942 or 1943. I think 1942. I know they were there in 1943 as I got caught with a packet of Camel in my pocket on the day my father got his calling up papers. He very kindly let me off with a sharp warning.
I know they had at least one winter in the Newton Camp, but it might have been two because the US Army began arriving in UK in 1942. We much admired their smart and warm winter uniforms.”
I asked John Powell if there were any local historical records available which covered this period? Would John Pickard have anything on this? How could I contact the Oystermouth Historical Association? Google? I referred to an excellent book I had in my library called “Rich Relations” ‘The American Occupation of Britain 1942-1945’ by David Reynolds (Harper Collins which was too general to mention Swansea, let alone Mumbles/Newton.
As a result John responded by email and I was in the loop of many other stories and much history. My inbox next contained four pix of the three Underhill Park huts from him. My next comment was:
“Thanks for the four pix. (I had also looked at the other pix of when there were three of them). I think they confirm that they were built of precast concrete panels with windows in. They would have been jointed behind the projecting verticals which may have been concrete trusses (less sure of that). Precast concrete was a very economical way of building standard sheds at the time and post-war. The sheds must have been there ready for when the troops arrived. They would not have had the means of pre-casting. Americans were more used to building in timber (as we do in NZ). The present hut has a metal profile roof (modern stuff) the original would more likely have been a membrane of tar paper or bitumen. Nissen huts were UK military issue and there were a couple just opposite where the park path steps emerge onto Langland Rd. They were used by a British bomb disposal unit at some time.
I can’t remember what was up at the main camp near the riding school.
I will be interested in what you find in the article you mention. The accommodation provided for the US Army in UK was usually very different to its own accommodation ‘stateside’! Usually old British Army Victorian barracks esp in Northern Island. Very cold and bleak!”
I asked by return
“Any more clarity on arrival dates?”
As a result of our emails and a bit of focussed reading some things have clarified:
When did they arrive? Probably October 1943.
Who were they? The 28th Inf Div NOT the 2nd Inf Div or the 29th Inf Div. The 28th came straight from the USA as above and stayed in West Wales centred on Tenby until April 1944. The 29th had been in Britain since 1942 and ended up training up near Tavistock, Devon before going to the Omaha beachhead. I still don’t know who (and of what unit) was occupying the telephone box (and pup tents) until first week of June. Who were the guys who played baseball in the park? A transportation unit? Who were the guys driving and maintaining the DUKWs at Caswell?
Main camp? I reckon that there was the ‘main camp’ up by Twoomey’s riding school on the cliff. I can recall going up there and there was a gate and guards with guns. There were huts and some kind of a, probably fairly porous, perimeter fence. There were some hutments down in the main DUKW park where the holiday huts are now. There was a flagpole down there too. We watched the lowering of the flag many times. It is believed there was a tented encampment next to the Church Hall. There were the Underhill park huts.
Top Secret ‘swimming’ tanks in Caswell Valley? Unlikely that the DD Shermans were there, although more training might have prevented the disaster when they were dropped off into rough sea and too far off the Overlord beaches. They tipped and sank.The US Army didn’t like them it was reported and that were not used again by them after D Day. The Shermans were US built, the modifications designed by Gen. Percy Hobart of the British Army and installed in British workshops.
What I saw down there were more DUKWs- large and small.
The officers club in Higher Lane? A big and modern (1930s) house called ‘Fansala”. There was also of course officers clubs or billets at Summerlands and I believe Clifflands (Gilberts Cliff) above Underhill Park.
The Underhill Park huts? Almost certainly ‘Made in Britain’ by British labour (not the US Army Corps of Engineers) of pre-cast concrete panels with integral windows set into the edges of a concrete slab. Pre-cast concrete was a popular construction method in Britain at the time and after the war. It appeared in a new Oystermouth School dining hall - before the end of the war, I think.