One might wonder why little appears to have been recorded about D-Day in Westbourne.
Possibly this is because the centre of the village had been little affected, unlike Rowlands Castle.
( See https://www.rowlandscastleheritagecentre.org.uk/model-railway/ for more and dates to view the wonderful model ).
The only military unit sited very close to Westbourne centre was an American contingent led by Major Carl V Lazarone and including an unfortunately named Private Thomas T Thomas. They were encamped in a field down Hatchards Lane, now part of Mill Meadows farm i.e. behind the Salvation Army hut, as would have been said at the time. A British Army mobile laundry sat near Paradise Lane “drawing it’s water from the brook” i.e. – the Ems.
But in the surroundings, troops were everywhere. The build up had gone on for months. Tents, lorries and tanks were along the whole length of Emsworth Common Road and up to Stansted, many of them Canadians. Royal Marines filled Hollybank and Longcopse Lane.
A one-way traffic system was in place to assist this build-up.
The boys of the village befriended many of the soldiers. In exchange for running errands (fish & chips !) they earned candy, chewing gum, cigarette cards and treasured caps badges.
Grown-ups helped too – copious cups of tea, uniform washing for Americans and plasters for crashed motorcyclists.
A Toc H ran in the Thatch Cottage opposite the Church, and dances in the old school house in Church Road.
Tom Edwards was some 13 years old at the time. He records a sense of shock when he went to visit his favourite squad after school, to find that they, and almost all others, had vanished overnight. Although the date was a big secret, vehicles had been on the move from the end of May. Tom records that he saw a clue shortly before, in that he visited his favourite Canadians to find them applying a green plastic compound to the Sherman amphibious tanks.
One local, Mr Len Butt – is reported to have been one of the first to storm the beaches of Normandy. Local memories say that he was wounded and sent home. Another account says that despite being blown up three times, he made it to the German border. Following the war he led the Sussex Army Cadets Force in Chichester and it has been reported that they were the smartest and best drilled ever seen.
The above is taken from our WWII booklet, together with recollections of conversations with Tom Edwards, the principal author, and others.
Len Butt’s diary (A Sappers D-Day) has been reproduced on a number of websites. Interestingly – he does not mention being wounded by it’s close at the end of D-Day itself.
For example – see:- http://denvilleshouse.net/interest/members_stories/d_day/index.htm
The Records Office holds a “Len Butt Collection”, for anyone interested in following up. Ref AM 1055 .
Much less is known about the military service of another Westbourne D-Day veteran, Lionel Ellis, owner of Ellesmere Nurseries, other than he was in the Royal Artillery and landed on Gold Beach on 6 June. He continued in service until the end of the war, including the costly failure of Operation Market Garden (Arnhem Bridge etc), the liberation of Belson (too horrific to talk about) and lastly as a guard at the Nuremberg Trials.