1944: D-Day Rehearsals on the Waters of County Down | Season 5 – Episode 24
Floats, Wheels Mar 25, 2025
From late 1943 to June 1944, the waters of County Down served as a vital training and testing ground for American and British forces preparing for the D-Day landings. In the north of the county, the town of Bangor, situated on the Irish Sea, hosted practice beach landings using L.S.T. (Landing Ship, Tank) vessels. Inland, Neagh and Corbet Loughs were used to conduct vehicle transport trials and waterproofing tests with jeeps, trucks, and tracked vehicles. This culminated on 6th June 1944—D-Day—when Operation Overlord, a massive combined naval, air, and land assault, was launched, marking the beginning of a campaign that would ultimately lead to Allied victory nearly a year later.
CHURCHILL & ROOSEVELT
Following the Arcadia Conference, held in Washington beginning on December 22nd 1941, and attended by Winston Churchill and President Roosevelt, American and British military planners agreed that Northern Ireland would serve as the initial base of operations for U.S. forces entering the European theatre of war.
On January 15th 1942, ships of convoy AT-10 set sail from the Brooklyn Army Terminal, carrying 4,058 American soldiers—most of them from the 34th Infantry Division, known as the “Red Bull.” Traveling aboard the USS Chateau Thierry transport ship and HMTS Strathaird ocean liner, these troops were part of Operation Magnet, the first deployment of American combat forces overseas following the United States’ entry into World War II.
US TROOPS IN IRELAND
On January 26th, 1942, the convoy arrived at Belfast docks and American troops began disembarking. Though over 500 troops had already landed, Private Milburn H. Henke of Hutchinson, Minnesota, was chosen as the ‘face’ of American troops for a staged photo as the first officially recognised American solider to set foot in Europe.
On 19th February a second wave of 7,000 troops departed Brooklyn, arriving into Belfast docks on 2nd March. They were followed by 13,942 men in mid-May, and another 10,000 aboard the Queen Mary on 18th May—bringing total U.S. strength in Northern Ireland to over 32,000 troops.
US BASES ESTABLISHED
Between 1942 and 1944 the US Army established bases, supply depots and training grounds spread across the towns and villages of County Down in Ballykinler, Crossgar, Downpatrick, Killough, Killylea, Seaforde and the village of Shrigley. Firing ranges were also set up for small arms and artillery practice at Annalong, Ballykinler, Benbane Head, Hilltown and Mourne Park.
The people of County Down soon grew used to the new and steady presence of US military vehicles—Sherman tanks, Willys Jeeps, Diamond T 4-ton trucks, GMC 2½-ton trucks, and half-tracks—moving along the roads.
BRITISH ARMY TESTING
County Down also served as a testing ground for the British Army. In 1943, soldiers of the 72nd Independent Infantry Brigade used Corbet Lough near Banbridge to experiment with new methods of transporting British and American military equipment in preparation for operations in Europe.
At the lough, they constructed a raft from an steel lorry frame and a waterproof lorry tarpaulin. This improvised crossing method, relying on lightweight and easily sourced materials and proved effective in moving heavy loads across water, including a Bedford MWD truck (2,100kg), Willys Jeep (1,113 kg), and a heavy anti-tank gun.
PREPARATIONS FOR D-DAY
By November 1942 most of the 32,000 troops that arrived earlier in the year were sent to North Africa for Operation Torch. By year’s end, all American forces had left Northern Ireland. After completing the invasion of Sicily American troops did not return to Ireland until late 1943 to begin beach landing training for what was to become known as Operation Overlord, the D-Day beach landings.
Lessons in amphibious warfare learned in the invasion of Sicily on July 10th 1943 (Operation Husky), shaped the tactics and procedures later used against well-prepared German defences on the coast of France. The beaches of Normandy were chosen for the invasion despite its location from both the English coast and the German border, as it offered favourable landing beaches, relatively lighter German fortifications, and access to the key port of Cherbourg.
WATERPROOFING VEHICLES
To prepare for amphibious assault, all Allied vehicles had to be waterproofed against seawater. U.S. Army engineers developed a method that allowed vehicles to drive through 3.5 feet of water for up to six minutes without damage—an impressive advancement at the time. The process used a flexible snorkel tube connected to the windshield frame, letting the engine draw in air above the waterline. To protect electrical systems, troops applied AWC (Asbestos Waterproofing Compound), sealing connectors, switches, and other vulnerable parts.
In the final lead-up to D-Day, vehicle waterproofing training ramped up, with each unit spending eight hours at Lough Neagh. Testing of the new jeep waterproofing system took place at Lady Bay along the lake’s shore and was reviewed during a February 1944 visit by Northern Ireland’s Prime Minister, Basil Brooke.
LANDING SHIP TANK
In North County Down, American troops practiced beach landings at Ballyholme Beach, Bangor, using 328 ft (99.9 m) Landing Ships Tank (LSTs) to prepare for the Normandy invasion. Initially adapted from existing ships to British specs, LSTs were later co-designed by the UK and US to support amphibious assaults by delivering tanks, vehicles, cargo, and troops directly onto beaches without docks. Their flat keels, bow ramps, and protected propellers enabled them to beach safely and operate in shallow waters.
Featured in our video is LST US 393, built in 1942 at Newport News Shipbuilding, Virginia. After training in County Down, it landed Sherman tanks at Omaha Beach on D-Day and completed over thirty trips between England and France, transporting tanks, supplies, wounded soldiers, and returning with POWs.
Interestingly “LST 393” survives to this day and is preserved in a museum in Michigan, USA. Although nicknamed “Large Slow Targets” by crew members only 26, of the 1,051 LSTs built were actually lost to enemy actions.
It is widely believed that the success of the LST’s in WW2 led to the development of the fast turn-around ‘roll on / roll off” ferries used today.
OPERATION OVERLORD
In May 1944 the US troops based in County Down were transferred by ship and train to disembarkation bases on the east coast of England. Operation Overlord, the codename for the Battle of Normandy, began on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with airborne assaults and parachute drops by 1,200 aircraft and amphibious landings from over 5,000 vessels, bringing more than 160,000 troops ashore. By the end of August, over two million Allied soldiers were in France.
Check out our previous videos featuring the vehicles used in the Normandy Landings:
Bubblegum and stocking design – restoration of a 1943 Dodge-51 Weapons Carrier https://irelandmade.ie/bubblegum-and-stocking-design-restoration-of-a-1943-dodge-51-weapons-carrier-season-1-episode-80/
Talking DUKW’s in Dublin https://irelandmade.ie/talking-1940s-dukws-in-dublin-season-1-episode-92/
DUKW in Dublin and heartfelt story about American GI Dr O’Connor https://irelandmade.ie/1945-dukw-in-dublin-season-1-episode-98/
Driving a DUKW & the origin of the Dublin Viking ROAR!
Pristine 1944 WW2 Ford GPW Jeep Restoration https://irelandmade.ie/pristine-1944-ww2-ford-gpw-jeep-restoration-for-sale-season-2-episode-74/
Star of the Show – 1944 Willys-Overland MB Jeep https://irelandmade.ie/star-of-the-show-1944-willys-overland-mb-jeep-season-3-episode-8/
If you have an idea for a story, please email Kevin Reid [email protected]
Sources of Information and Photo Credits:
Dufferin Coaching Inn
Centre of Military History (USA)
Irish Central
Jalopnik
Library of Congress
Lonnie Honeycutt Collection – Flicker
LST393.com
Minnesota Military Museum and Library
Mororious
Newry.ie
Northern Ireland War Memorial Museum – ‘Diamonds in the Emerald Isle; The 5th Infantry Division in Northern Ireland; by Clive Moore Flicker – US Forces in Northen Ireland during WW2
Turnstile Tours: Brooklyn to Belfast: Red Bull Division Were First US Overseas Troops of World War II
Wartime NI
Western Maryland Historical Library
