On the west side of the path.

A small rounded square stone monument, placed on an American star set in to a stone base. The monument inscription is written in English and black lettering. It was unveiled on August 4, 2004. The lost men of PT Squadron 34 are remembered at a ceremony here on August 9 every year.

As the Cotentin Peninsula fell into Allied hands by August 1944, the German High Command in the Channel Islands fully expected an attack on Jersey. In order to counter this, they prepared to transfer two batteries of field guns from Guernsey to Jersey. On 9 August 1944, a German convoy including five heavily armed trawlers carrying field guns and 170 troops left St. Peter Port Harbour.

Six US Motor Torpedo boats were dispatched to intercept and sink the convoy. Through thick fog and mined waters, they prepared to attack. The first group sighted the German convoy off the beach at St. Ouen’s Bay. Choosing to remain undetected, the second group including PT509 remained off Noirmont Point and launched torpedoes into the German formation. With no torpedo hits heard, the decision was made to attack the convoy at speed and fire upon as many German vessels as possible before escaping into open waters. A fierce fire fight, one of the bloodiest in PT boat history, then ensued resulting in the death of 16 American servicemen. The bodies of Horsfield, Bricker and Schaffroth floated ashore and were given decent burials in the Howard Davis Park cemetery. Of the sixteen US personnel killed in the battle, nine bodies were never recovered.

Source of information: https://europeremembers.com

Source of images: Imperial War Museum War Memorials Register

This Memorial was unveiled

on the 9th August 2004 and is dedicated to the men of

PT SQUADRON 34

United States Navy

Who died in action off Noirmont Point headland

on the morning of 9th August 1944