D Day
Isington Mill in the Parish of Binsted
Isington Mill and Oast House on the River Wey. Isington Water Mill is one of 16 mills that sit on the north branch of the River Wey, which begins at a spring in nearby Alton. The chalk stream flows through the parish of Froyle and Binsted until it connects with its southern branch at Tilford. …
Read MoreCOPP Memorial
The COPP Memorial at Hayling. The Combined Operations Pilotage Parties (COPP) memorial on Hayling Island is a reminder of how the bravery of a few people had such a huge impact on WWII. The Combined Operations Pilotage Parties were made up of members of all three services, the Royal Navy, the Royal Airforce and the…
Read MoreD-Day from Liphook to Southwick and Southampton WW2
Hampshire was full of troops equipment and there was a sense of a huge buildup, the population had been drilled on security but speculation was growing something ‘BIG’ was going to happen. What was it like for the residents of Hampshire as finally these massive resources and numbers of troops mobilised for the big push? Something “BIG” was going to happen but when? One of a series of posts marking Hampshire and its role and experience of the run-up to D-Day.
Read MoreD-Day Window Portsmouth Cathedral
The D-Day window in Portsmouth Cathedral was installed in 1956 as a memorial to Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsey who commanded the seaborne forces at Normandy in 1944.
Read MorePortsmouth Remembers D-Day
Thousands of people came to Portsmouth to remember the 156,000 Allied troops who left the shores of southern England, launching themselves into the choppy sea of the Solent before landing on the beaches of Normandy in northern France at the start of a major offensive against the Germans.
Read MorePreparing Southampton for D-Day
The city of Southampton and its docks were critical to the success or failure of Operation Overlord and D- Day. The city that had been devastated by air raids, somehow managed to become the greatest naval and military port the world had ever seen.
Read MoreD-Day Gathering
Making ready for Overlord in Hampshire, with troops massing on the South Coast, Eisenhower moving into Southwick House and Admiral Ramsay running Neptune from Southwick Fort. Who was in your area around the time of Mid-May to 6th June there was lots of hearsay but has your village or town got a story to tell?
Read MoreDroxford WW2 and the Royal Ulster Rifles
In the run up to D-Day Droxford was home to troops near and far including the 2nd Battalion Royal Ulster Rifles. By kind permission of the official history site for the 2nd Battalion Royal Ulster Rifles, we are able to share some images from May 1944.
Read MoreSouthwick House Small Place Big History
Southwick House and the village of Southwick played an important role in the build up to the mainland invasion of France in 1944. This sleepy little village once had in its midst some of the most important commanders of WWII.
Read MoreDroxford and D-Day
The unassuming village of Droxford in the Meon Valley played host to one of WW2’s most important meetings between the worlds leaders including Churchill and Eisenhower, just prior to the D-Day landings
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