Thursday 6th June 2019
Carved Reminders In Arn Hill Wood Of The American Soldiers Who Left Warminster To Take Part In The D-Day Landings.
Danny Howell writes:
“Whenever I take a walk along the path that climbs up through the woodland on the south-facing front of Arn Hill, Warminster, which is something I do fairly often, I always take time out to look at the initials carved in many of the trunks of the beech trees.”
“Most of these pieces of arboreal graffiti feature the initials of courting couples and maybe the date, with a depiction of cupid’s arrow through a heart. Some of these go back to the 1920s and 1930s, and some are more recent.
Arn Hill Wood has been a public open space since Lord Bath donated it to Warminster back in the first decade of the 20th century, and it has also been for some years now, a nature reserve. It certainly continues to be a popular place for those of us in Warminster who enjoy the outdoors and nature.”
“Apart from the many tokens of love inscribed by young lovers years ago, a few of the tree carvings serve as reminders of a very interesting connection concerning Warminster and the USA during the latter part of the Second World War.”
“Here are a couple of examples. These two photographs which I took on the afternoon of Saturday 31st March 2012, show carvings made on the Arn Hill beeches 75 years ago.”
The first one reads:
“V.A. C.F.O. 1944 U.S.A.”
The second one reads:
“TENN. W.A.S. 1944 U.S.A.”
“No doubt these were carved in the trunks of the beeches by American soldiers who were billeted in Warminster (at the Old Brewery and elsewhere around town) from 1942 to 1944. Many of these men had previously been employees of the John Deere tractor-making business stateside and while in Warminster they established the workshops that later became the 27 Command Workshops REME at Imber Road, Warminster.”
“So there you have it, visible reminders of an unusual kind, that have remarkably out-survived nearly all of the American troops who were in Warminster prior to D-Day.”
