In July ten members of our group, led by Don MacDonald, visited Southwick House, (formerly HMS Dryad) in deepest Hampshire. This historic building is where the D- Day landing was planned. The highlight of the visit was the vast D-Day wall map. It was commissioned from the toy company Chad Valley and arrived in sections. The pieces covered the European Coastline from Norway to the Spanish border in order not to give away any secrets. The two carpenters who erected the essential section of the Normandy coastline were then required to remain in Southwick House to maintain secrecy until the invasion was underway. The map, when completed, showed where troops, vehicles and ships would be gathered, also sea routes, mine fields and landing beaches, the names of which are very familiar to us now. We had a very knowledgeable guide. We also toured the Military Police museum, again with a very knowledgeable and amusing guide.
After a pub lunch at the Red Lion in Southwick, we drove to Fort Nelson on Portsdown Hill, above Portsmouth. Fort Nelson is one of the five forts built in the Solent and known as Palmerston’s follies. They were built in 1860 when parliament became very concerned about a possible French invasion, but they have never been used in defence. The fort, now part of the Royal Armouries, houses over 350 big guns and historic cannons. They show re-enactments of historic military events and one of the large guns is fired daily for visitors. The conducted tour was very comprehensive with, once again, a very knowledgeable guide, who also appreciated the input to his knowledge from some of our group. This was altogether an interesting and worthwhile day.
Jean Pettitt
Group Member