D-Day training exercise hosted near Torpoint ahead of 80th anniversary
Royal Marines in 47 Commando will gather Tregantle Beach to conduct beach surfing drills training reminiscent of the events on D-Day
Last updated 20th May 2024
A D-Day commemoration will be held in southeast Cornwall ahead of the 80th anniversary.
Royal Marines from 47 Commando will gather at Tregantle Beach, near Torpoint, to conduct beach surfing drills training using modern-day inflatable raiding craft in scenes reminiscent of the events on D-Day.
The training exercise is based on a contemporary battlefield scenario and comes just a few weeks before 47 Commando land on Gold Beach on 6 June 2024 to commemorate the 80th anniversary.
Major Andrew Atkinson, Royal Marines, Squadron Commander, said: "Surf drills are one of the most dangerous things we can do. It's very easy to tip over a landing craft in darkness which is when they'd be doing a live demonstration.
"In a few weeks they will embark on their craft, they will sail to Portsmouth and then retrace the steps of the original 47 Commando.
"I don't think they'll have the grasp of how large D-Day actually was. The scale of landing craft and ships has never been seen before and will never be seen again."
The area of south east Cornwall and Plymouth was very prominent at the time - with around 8,900 US personnel and their equipment accommodated on the spur of land between Whitsand Bay and Plymouth Sound prior to the D-Day landings.
In May 1944, the 29th Divisional Command Post moved to Tregantle Fort to set up camp, near Millbrook with elements scattered around the vicinity including Antony House, near Torpoint.
The US 115th RCT HQ joined their headquarters at Tregantle Fort, which was used as the Army Gas School from 1942.
By the end of May 1944, the senior officers knew that the Normandy invasions were planned for 5 June.
In 1943, 47 Commando RM was formed and saw its first action on the beaches in Normandy during Operation Neptune, better known as D Day. They landed at Gold Beach at 0950 on 06 June near the town of Asnelles. Leaving the beaches after noon they advanced towards their primary objective, the port of Port-en Bessin. Fighting as they advanced through the village of La Rosiere they dug in around Escures for the night prior to their planned assault of Port-en-Bessin on 07 June.
Today modern day Commandos from 47 Commando will be retracing the footsteps of their WW2 predecessors this year as part of the D Day 80 commemorations.