FALMOUTH and the surrounding areas played a key part in D Day.

Throughout 1943 and the first half of 1944 thousands of Americans – some 27,000, in fact – arrived in the Fal Estuary in preparation for the Normandy Landings.

Embarkation points for the landings were sited in and around Falmouth.

Accommodation was needed, of course, ahead of the invasion itself as the troops prepared to travel with armour, equipment and supplies from Falmouth to the battlefields of northern France.

The programme of providing the thousands of troops with accommodation was known as ‘Bolero’ and it created numerous temporary camps made up of bell tents.

Wheal Busy and Chacewater were two examples.

A makeshift American army camp was erected on the Beacon in 1944 and Falmouth became full of American soldiers ultimately headed for the bloody chaos of Omaha Beach in what was known as ‘the friendly invasion’.

They were based in the area to practise for the D-Day landings.

Many of their manoeuvres took place in the river Fal and local beaches, during their stay they built a slipway at Grove Place for landing craft to be loaded with troops and heavy transport.

This is now the Grove Place Boat Park and some of the “Chocolate block” flag-stones that were laid can still be seen behind the Watersports clubhouse.

It is said that on the June 4 and 5, 1944, there were a lot of troop movements in the area and when the locals woke up on June 6 they had all gone.

Troops would depart from embarkation points across southern Britain on June 6, 1944, in part to give no clue to the enemy as to where the landings would be.

Many of the troops, along with tanks, equipment and supplies, shipped from embarkation points in Cornwall that had been specially constructed for the job.

They were sited in and around Falmouth, including Tolverne, Turnaware Point and the beach at Trebah Gardens on the Helford estuary.

The embarkation points were generally low-key, again to avoid alerting the enemy to what was going on.

They would usually be a concrete apron that would slope into the water.

There are commemoration plaques at Turnaware Point, Falmouth Watersports marina, Tolverne and Trebah gardens.

Of particular interest is Tolverne.

Sitting on the opposite side of the River Fal to National Trust property Trelissick, Tolverne Cottage, also known as Smugglers Cottage, was run as a tea room for many years, selling tea grown on the Tregothnan estate.

As the 27,000 American troops gathered in the Fal Estuary, General Eisenhower stayed at Smugglers Cottage. A memorial stone is sited outside it commemorating the D Day landings.

The building was home to a collection of memorabilia related to the invasion, including Eisenhower’s chair, which was preserved in one of the rooms.

The collection was auctioned off in 2012, with the chair raising £480. A telegraph from the Torpoint ferry fetched £1,700 and the total came to £10,000.

Falmouth during WW2

The newly extended docks worked at full capacity throughout the duration of World War Two, dealing with convoy casualties and the Carrick Roads and Falmouth Bay rarely had fewer than 100 vessels anchored.

The town was bombed by the Germans in 12 raids and 31 people were killed.

It was also the launching point for “Operation Chariot”, the famous Commando raid by H.M.S. Campbeltown on the heavily defended docks of St Nazaire in France.

An anti-submarine net was laid from Pendennis to St Mawes, to prevent enemies entering the harbour.