Page 19 - Flaming Cauldron – Issue 63

ACC ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER

US Rangers marching along Weymouth seafront to their embarkation point

Airborne Chefs Association

D-Day marches and reunion

In the final years of WW2 many thousands of the ACC Association for their help with the transport)
allied troops were stationed or camped all along to take them to their start point, ready to set off
the south coast of England and in June 1944, on their tab to once again commemorate the
Weymouth, Dorset was set to be one of the D-Day marches along Dorset’s fascinating, if not
largest and busiest embarkation points for troops challenging, coastline.
planning to storm the beaches of Normandy. The tab did not follow an easy route and almost
The vast majority of troops leaving from immediately, the team faced a long steep climb.
Weymouth were Americans but they also included The going on this part at least was stone or cobbles
British and Canadians. Most of the available so we were yet to reach the mud. Nevertheless,
mechanised transport was already loaded onto Chip with Keith and Roger it didn’t take long before were puffing like the
ships and that which remained was earmarked for in the background RAF on a BFT.
the carriage of ammunition and heavy equipment.
Subsequently, most of the embarking troops
marched with packs and personal weapons from
their camps to the various piers and jetties on the
Weymouth seafront.
Four years ago, the Airborne Chefs first
commemorated the D-Day marchers by following
their route along the hilly climbs from Lulworth
to Weymouth, a distance of around 13 miles. Since
that first march, the Airborne Chefs have returned
and repeated the arduous tab each year.
On Friday 15th March 2024 and having satiated
themselves on bacon and egg banjos, washed down
with plenty of tea, a hardy group of Airborne Chefs
climbed aboard a minibus (with huge gratitude to
SECRETARY@ACCASSOCIATION.ORG | WWW.ACCASSOCIATION.ORG PAGE 19