In 1944 20 000 American troops were based at the village of Braunton in North Devon in preparation of that June's invasion of Normandy. The nearby Burrows were used extensively for practice. The Landing craft were built to enable the troops to get used to unloading vehicles and weaponry. They were nearly obliterated by the MOD in the 1980s but have now been saved
Mock Landing Crafts
- Thread starter DevonMike
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Some history you found there quite a awesome war relic to see.
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Thats quite cool
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From mock landing craft to the real Mulberry Harbour, quite an obsession with concrete.
Yes I docked up with the one in Langstone Harbour and it was Huge, had to comprehend the towed them across the channel
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There were once concrete barges, to be towed on rivers and canals by powered barges or tugs. Being inert to most loads - unlike steel or iro - they would have had long working lives. Also concrete ships; see this:
"Besides the 24 concrete ships built by McCloskey and Company during the Second World War, the United States commisioned the construction of several fleets of concrete barges. The total number of barges may be as high as 78.
These barges were not the flat platforms we think of today, but actual full-sized ships used to store supplies and raw materials. Like modern barges, these ships had no engines of their own so they were towed around by other ships.
22 barges were built by Concrete Ship Constructors Incorporated in National City, California. They were not considered worthy of actual names. They were simply numbered instead. One of these barges, YOGN 82, is still afloat as part of a giant floating breakwater on the Powell River in Canada.
Another 20 barges were built by Barret and Hilp in San Fransisco. They were named after minerals, such as Agate, Granite, Mica and Limestone. One of these barges, the Quartz, was present at the famous nuclear tests at the Bikini Atoll. The Quartz is also still afloat at the Powell River Breakwater."
I cannot believe what sort ot braindead retard would have come up with the idea of the army demolishing these as a training exercise. They should be ashamed..
These people [the americans] came over here, many of them blacks too [who got treated terribly BY THEIR ARMY, not us] and gave their lives for us.. They gave their lives for a country that meant nothing to them, but they still did their duty..
As they trained here, i wonder if they realised the horror that was to come...
RIP brave americans...
john..
These people [the americans] came over here, many of them blacks too [who got treated terribly BY THEIR ARMY, not us] and gave their lives for us.. They gave their lives for a country that meant nothing to them, but they still did their duty..
As they trained here, i wonder if they realised the horror that was to come...
RIP brave americans...
john..
A VERY large percentage were killed within weeks of practising here.
Sarah Waldock
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... and the prangs of those who got too close marked on the concrete.... I can imagine the cursing.
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In the 1950s, living in Devon at the time, I would go on family drives along Slapton Sands in south Devon. It was there that Exercise Tiger - practiising for the D-Day landings - resulted in the loss of many lives.
