Local resident Vice Admiral Sir Anthony Dymock spoke of the honour he felt at being asked to open Emsworth’s 80th Anniversary D-Day exhibition in the Museum’s David Rudkin Room. He toured the exhibits with exhibition curator Jane Kidd on Saturday, 6th July and recalled that the largest amphibious invasion in history was assembled along the south coast of England including right here in Emsworth.
The invasion of Europe on D-Day, 6th June 1944, had required meticulous planning. The support of the local population had been vital in securing the success of D-Day and the subsequent Battle for Normandy. If the actual invasion could be thought of as the spear head then Emsworth and the surrounding areas provided the shaft on which that spear head could thrust forward.
Jane Kidd is the daughter of Bob Duncan who masterminded the 2014 70th Anniversary exhibition in the Museum. Several of the personal stories recounted in today’s exhibition were collected by her father. Like Bob Duncan, most of the people he interviewed in 2014 are no longer with us, however, we are lucky to have written accounts and some video footage that can be viewed in the Research Room. Following a local appeal we have several more remarkable stories.
Jane tells the story of D-Day from the overall picture with its colossal logistical problems to local comments and stories. She evokes memories of tales our parents and grandparents told us of life in a wartime south coast that ended up on the front line. Displays of photographs, newspapers, medals and models are among the memorabilia on show.
As early as 1941, as the initial concept of invasion was promulgated, Emsworth and the neighbouring towns and villages became dotted with military establishments. Properties were requisitioned and movements restricted. Civil defences were built up and a large home guard unit was formed.
The first Canadian troops arrived in Hampshire and Sussex in Autumn 1941 and by 1943 and 1944 more and more troops were flooding into the area.
Most of the manufacturing locally was geared to the war effort, including building sections of the Mulberry harbours, Horsa gliders and the repair of landing craft.
Prior to D-Day members of the Combined Operations Pilotage Parties (COPP) based in Hayling Island were sent on covert missions to reconnoitre the proposed landing beaches and bring back samples and measurements. Dress rehearsals in May 1944 included beach landings at Hayling Island, Littlehampton and Bracklesham Bay.
Emsworth became part of Embarkation Zone A- Portsmouth and Gosport. Embarkation Camp A2 in Emsworth was a tented transit camp holding over 2000 men and over 200 tanks, trucks and other vehicles. Troops moved into and out of it regularly. From this area the British 50th Division sailed from Southampton and Portsmouth to Gold Beach and the Canadian 3rd Division from Portsmouth to Juno beach in Normandy.
The support of the local population was vital to ensuring the success of D-Day. As Vice Admiral Dymock emphasised, now that so few veterans who took part are alive, it is exhibitions such as that on display in the Museum that provide a special insight into great historical events. It is important for children to discover what happened locally so that later they can appreciate how Emsworth was involved in the wider planning.
