Page 18 • The HERALD • 14th September 2023 v SAY YOU SAW IT IN THE HERALD v Diamond Exterior Cleaning Local Exterior Cleaning specialists ■ Roof Moss Removal & Coating Applications ■ Driveway & Patio Cleaning ■ Gutter Cleaning & Clearing ■ Solar Panel Cleaning DiamondExteriorCleaning.com 07452 824555 nick.diamondexteriorcleaning@gmail.com Kitchen & Bathroom Showroom with free design service Tel: 023 8084 3787 Email: showroom@pcbuildingsupplies.co.ukWeb: www.pcbuildingsupplies.co.uk D-Day Lepe Heritage Exhibition Live at St Andrew’s Church by Patricia Hedley-Goddard On Tuesday 1st August the Reverend Ian McGill welcomed and invited Sir Julian Lewis MP and Mrs Gilly Drummond OBE to open the D-Day Lepe Heritage Exhibition, which was hosted by St Andrew’s Church in Dibden Purlieu. As usual a great deal of interest was shown by visitors of all ages, from young children to senior citizens, at the Exhibition. e ever popular bomb map, loaned to the D-Day Lepe Heritage Group by Fawley Parish Council, helped local people to identify the bomb dispersal from the returning German and Italian aeroplanes a er their bombing raid over Southampton. e map shows a colour coded dispersal route where the unused bombs were ejected before the aeroplanes returned to the mainland Europe. Much to the delight of the younger generation some of the bombs are still in the ground unexploded. roughout the 10 days of the exhibition there was a continuous footfall of visitors (over 550) through the door, and visitors were genuinely interested in what had taken place in and around Lepe during the preembarkation months. A visiting English couple, who live in Spain arrived and very kindly donated a series of memorial plates depicting beautiful colour images of the various aeroplanes relevant to WW2. Another visitor who had visited Bedford in South Carolina informed us of the ‘Bedford Boys’ was open. On some days visitors came and looked, then went to the excellent and welcoming café in St. Andrews, and then came back for a further couple of hours to continue their tour. e Exhibition contained a cross section of exhibits including photographs, maps, models, including a scale model of a caisson (under part of a Mulberry Harbour), six of which were constructed at Lepe, newspaper articles from that time, and many other relevant artefacts. A couple of gentlemen had driven down from Worcester especially to see the Exhibition a er reading about it on Facebook. ey were delighted with the information provided and said that the journey was well worth the e ort. ey said that they had learnt a lot, and previously had no idea that Lepe had played such a signi cant role in operation Overlord. e Exhibition was manned every day so that visitors pro ted from having someone to help them if they had a question. e interest was such that we were requested several times to remain open for Saturday 12th August when the friends of visitors who were working, would be able to see the Exhibition. St. Andrew’s Church kindly permitted us to stay open for the extra day. One comment in the visitor’s book said: ‘Fantastic Exhibition of such an extraordinary and unbelievable time for those of us who THANKFULLY never live through it. We WILL remember them and be eternally grateful’. e D-Day Lepe Heritage Group would like to thank ALL the personnel at St Andrew’s Church for the warm welcome and kindness they showed towards us. e restaurant was particularly helpful, especially on days when there was only one person manning the Exhibition, in providing a ‘delivery’ service for cups of co ee. who le South Carolina and arrived at Lepe in the UK. ere were 21 of the Bedford Boys who went to ght in Europe, but sadly only 9 of them survived the war and returned home to America. An anecdote from a visiting lady told us of her father who had worked as a carpenter building the caissons at Lepe. He had to enter the restricted area every day and be checked through the highly secret area. He travelled to and from work on his bicycle. Some visitors returned several times during the two weeks the Exhibition Sir Julian Lewis MP and Mrs Gilly Drummond OBE officially open the D-Day Lepe Heritage Exhibition
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