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Description: | Towards the closing stages of WW2 in 1944 with the invasion of Normandy imminent, it was necessary for the commanders to be brought together in an advance command post where the final, important decisions could be made. Southwick House was chosen for the task. The house was set in extensive wooded grounds in Southwick Park, five miles north of Portsmouth. It had been requisitioned by the Royal Navy in September 1941 to re-house the Navigation School from its bombed out site in Portsmouth. The abundance of tree cover provided excellent camouflage for the top secret site. The Navigation School moved to Greenwich and on 26 April 1944, the Allied Naval Task Force Commander and his staff moved in. At the front of the house was the Operations Room where Admiral Ramsay would control NEPTUNE, the amphibious side of the operation. From this room, on a plotting table in the centre and on a large map on the wall, the progress of the invasion fleet would be charted as it moved out across the channel. The administrative headquarters of the 21st Army under General Sir Bernard Montgomery moved to Broomfield House, just outside Southwick.
A coastal ban affecting a belt ten miles deep from the Wash to Lands End came into effect from 1 April in which all persons who were not resident could not enter the area and unauthorised movement outside the area was also forbidden. Troops and equipment started moving and amassing in the area for the target invasion day of 5 June, later changed to the 6 June because of bad weather.
The Allied Commanders at Southwick House were Lieut General Omar Bradley, Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay, Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Tedder, General Dwight D Eisenhower, General Sir Bernard Montgomery, Air Marshal Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory and Lieut General W Bedell-Smith.
References:
1. Doughty, Martin. 1994. Hampshire and D-Day, p. 60-62. | Format: | image/jpeg | License: | http://www.sopse.org.uk/ixbin/hixclient.exe?a=query&p=gateway&f=generic_sitetext%2ehtm&_IXFIRST_=1&_IXMAXHITS_=1&cms_con_core_subtype%3acms_con_text_what=copyright&%3acms_sys_group=%22sopse%22 | Rights holder: | Crown Copyright/MOD. Reproduced with the permission of the Controller of Her Majesty's Stationery Office | Subjects: | Trafford Leigh-Mallory building Southwick House Sir Bernard Montgomery Omar Bradley Broomfield House house W Bedell-Smith Dwight D Eisenhower war NEPTUNE: Royal Navy WW2 School of Navigation Sir Arthur Tedder Sir Bertram Ramsay operations Southwick Park | Temporal: | start=1986-01-01; end=1986-12-31; | Source: | Sense of place SE | Creator: | Ministry of Defence, HMS Dryad | Identifier: | http://www.sopse.org.uk/ixbin/hixclient.... | Language: | en-GB | Format: | image/jpeg | Go to resource |
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