US Assault Training Centre - Braunton Burrows

[Fardap]

Crow Point on the edge of Braunton is a great place to take Pluto the lab, been there a few times since getting him.

One aspect I hadn't completed until last weekend was to view the 'concrete landing craft' used to train 10,000 US troops in the run up to D-Day.

They are LCT and LCM footprints, with the LCTs having been saved from demolition by the engineers in the 90s as training - the two LCMs sadly only the concrete pads remain and rubble where the front ramp/doors were.

There is a fair bit of ironwork showing where the temporary canvas/corrugated iron sides were put up during training.





There is a service every 6th June and laying of wreaths from various Army, Navy groups both UK and US and also French wreaths. A few poppies have been blow away but a really poignant spot.





There are also additional things to find in future visits including the Bazooka Wall, Pill Box Target, Dragons teeth and the remains of a Matilda Tank...

More info available online with some interesting drone images showing them as if they have beached.

US Assault Training Centre

[Moonglum]

Most interesting @Fardap . I have not seen or were aware of these antiquities. During the late 1960s and well into the 1970s, my parents took us on holiday to the area and we stayed at Saunton Sands (just below the hotel in chalets). I worked two school summer holiday seasons (73/74) on the beach as a car park attendant, cleaner, ice cream seller etc. etc. RAF Chivenor was very active then and Concorde was often seen having flown out of Filton (Bristol) during its development.

We did go down to Crow Point via the "Old American Road" once or twice but didn't stray onto the Burrows because of the risk of unexploded ordnance. The north end of the Burrows was safe.

I found this on YouTube, which is worth a look and shows further arial views of the concrete landing craft that you mentioned and as seen in the link. The Burrows is now a UNESCO (SSSI) site and is still used by the military for training.

The nearby railway from Barnstaple to Ilfracombe was still in use during our first few holidays at Saunton Sands and closed to traffic in October 1970 - apart from the level crossing and station at Braunton I recall little of it. It has been a while since I last visited the area.

Tim