European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 6, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse A amps Dav Didlo the Beach at Weymouth is Calm today 50 years after the intense activity of a Day. Kation Points were 12 flotillas of Royal Navy minesweepers that would Clear the Way to France for about 4,200 Landing ships and Craft about 1,300 merchant ships and ancillary vessels and More than 1,200 warships. A you could have walked right across Portland Harbor on the Landing Craft a said Dawn Gould a Weymouth native who was a teen Ager during the War. With so Many ships in port locals lived with constant anxiety that they would suffer an All out air raid by German aircraft and May 28,1944, some of their fears were realized when German aircraft scattered about 15 bombs Over Weymouth and Portland. Shipman a husband Bob then a private first class with the . 18th regt 1st inf div said he was among a mob of soldiers who dashed to the phones when the bombing ceased to Check whether friends and loved ones had survived. Soon afterwards All troops were sealed into their final marshalling Camps. From this Point on troops were forbidden to speak to the natives with whom they previously had been Able to mix at will. Gould managed to sneak a few words with some american friends by pretending to drop a piece of paper near their feet but she never caught sight of her fianc6, who died on Omaha Beach. Some service members resorted to writing farewells on the Walls of their tents before they embarked. A we knew what was being planned but we did no to know when or where a Bob Shipman said. A when we were on the Channel we were read a the message from Eisenhower bade the troops Good Luck in their Battle to eliminate nazi tyranny and bring Security to everyone in the free world. It Wasny to Long after Eisenhower issued the embarkation order before English nationals also knew that a Day was at hand. Throughout the Day june 5, ships that were carrying about paratroops wait at an Airfield in Southern England for the. Takeoff order a w Vav army Allied leaders discuss invasion plans. From left it. Gen. Omar n. Bradley adm. Bertram Ramsay air chief marshal Arthur Tedder Gen. Dwight d. Eisenhower Gen. Bernard l. Montgomery air chief marshal t. Leiofi Mallory and it. Gen w. Bedell Smith. A. Army Eisenhower talks with pfc. Marvin Thompson of Shelbyville tenn., before a Day. 156,000 men who would make the initial sea assault in Normandy sailed from East and West in an endless Stream to a convergence Point South of the Isle of Wight. Gould was at the Home of a Girlfriend that evening which proved to be a Long and noisy night As aircraft began passing endlessly overhead she said. About 19,000 airborne troops coot guard a coast guard manned Landing Craft transports an infantry unit on a Day. Were being carried across the Channel that night by about 1,090 transport aircraft and about 800 gliders they were followed by some 10,000 Allied aircraft that supported the a Day sea landings. A they aircraft never stopped a Gould said. A that was when we knew that that was the june 6, 1994 a stars and stripes commemorative edition 43
