American Servicemen - Ivybridge
Details:
On the north side of the parking lot. Marker
A short granite stone carved block inscribed in English text commemorating the lives of American servicemen stationed in and near the town in 1943–1944, many of whom died on Omaha Beach on D-Day. On top of the stone is a miniature of a serviceman's helmet.
In May, 1943, the GIs of the 116th Infantry Regiment came to Ivybridge as part of Operation Bolero, a long-range plan for transferring and then accommodating almost 2 million American servicemen in Britain in the run-up to an invasion of Europe, which commanders had now set for the summer of 1944.
The 116th was made up of men from many places in the US but each Company still retained a significant number of soldiers from the National Guard unit in Virginia. The four companies of the 29th Division of the 1st Battalion were originally from: Co A – Bedford (the Bedford Boys), Co B – Lynchburg, Co C – Harrisonburg and Co D – Roanoke.
The 29th Division was ordered to vacate Tidworth in Wiltshire and move to a new barracks in Ivybridge. The 29th Division, the second US Division to arrive in England, marched from Tidworth to Devon and Cornwall as part of Exercise Hanover.
The 1st Battalion of the 116th Regiment was the only infantry unit stationed at Ivybridge, under the command of Regiment Commander Colonel Charles Draper Canham. The 1st Battalion remained in Ivybridge for approximately a year while it trained and prepared for the assault on Hitler’s Fortress Europe.
Source of information: http://ivybridge-heritage.org
Source of photo: Imperial War Museum War Memorials Register, https://www.geograph.org.uk
Monument Text:
DEDICATED TO ALL THE
AMERICAN SERVICEMEN
BASED IN IVYBRIDGE
1943 - 1944 PARTICULARLY
THE 1st BATTALION
116th INFANTRY REGIMENT
WHO MADE MANY FRIENDS
WITH LOCAL RESIDENTS
SADLY MANY OF THESE MEN
WERE TO DIE ON, OR AFTER,
D-DAY THE 6th JUNE 1944