Wednesday 2 July 2014

Autographs of American soldiers stationed in Saltash Passage in 1944



Bryan Watts kindly wrote to me recently telling me that he had several autographs from the American soldiers that were stationed in Saltash Passage in 1944.
Tristan Nichols hopes to write a piece up for the Herald very shortly. Meanwhile, here's Bryan's letter:
Dear Derek,
In 1944 I was aged nine and lived half way up Normandy Hill, as it is now, at that time it was called Vicarage Road. I sat in my front window and watched as the American troops marched down the hill to board the boats and landing craft moored there. Myself and other children in the area had been down to Saltash Passage many times to look at the craft vehicles there.


I remember being chased off by the guards and the threats of painful consequences if caught.
But I also met four of these soldiers at St Budeaux Baptist Church and on 26th March 1944, these four men wrote in my autograph book which I still have.
I have recently been trying to find out if there is any way of discovering what happened to them. Although I have their names and rank, the stumbling block in any enquiry seems to be


that I haven’t got their serial numbers. I wondered if you would interested in seeing a copy of the pages from my book. I also wondered if there was anyone else who was in that area then remembers going to the Christmas Party in the camp in December 1943. My ultimate aim is to try to send these messages to their descendants as a piece of family history.
Hoping you may find this of interest,
Yours sincerely,
Bryan Watts.

Bryan's email address is bryan.watts935@btinternet.com if anyone has any information that might help.

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