Americans on the Common

It’s common knowledge that there was a camp of American soldiers on Whitchurch Common for quite a time during WW2.

It was quite a shock to discover that instead of years, the Americans were only here in Whitchurch for a few months!

The Second Evacuation Hospital Unit (a bit like MASH on the TV) was only formed in 1940 and were stationed in the UK from September 1942 until D-Day in 1944. According to their unit history, they were posted to Whitchurch between February and June 1944 (yes, only 4-5 months!), departing for the Allied Forces concentration area at Henley-on-Thames, and then to France just after the D-Day beachhead.

They appear to have been billeted with private citizens while their semi-permanent barracks were under construction that February.

There are numerous stories of local girls finding all sorts of reasons to walk in the general vicinity of the Common, just to see.

A canteen was set up in St Mary’s Church Hall to feed the servicemen, where local girls would prepare sandwiches.

The American Padre was known to preach at Ararat Chapel opposite the camp, but nothing is known of the sermons.

After June 1944, the camp was dismantled (and probably shipped over to France), so nothing remained. However, the Americans must have been impressed with the hospitality offered to the soldiers by the local Whitchurch folk as they donated money for the avenues of trees which line the main road. They also organised for two plaques to be set, either side of the road in appreciation
The photograph below is the only evidence of the Americans in Whitchurch. I suspect that the taking of photographs of a military establishment during wartime was expressly forbidden! The surviving photo shows the American Consul unveiling one of the plaques with an American flag, with lots of local ‘worthies’ looking on.

The avenue of trees, a mixture of poplars and cherries was not considered really appropriate, but they have proved to be a lasting memorial to an important moment in our village history. Over time, as the trees matured, one by one they either blew down or became dangerous, so were replaced with newer trees. I think there are only one or two of the original trees left.

The plaques themselves, suffered more than the trees and deteriorated. In 2011, the local WI and Cardiff Parks set about to refurbish them, and the stones now have handsome, but replica plaques continuing the story.

Do you have any tales of this period? We’d love to hear!

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