Saturday, June 27, 2026
When the GIs came to Swansea
As you can see from the map below, large areas of the park have since been sacrificed to accommodate the university campus and a large hospital, but it remains a jewel in the city's crown.
As part of Marshalling Area X, it accommodated over 1,500 personnel preparing for the D-Day invasion. Troops staged here before embarking through Swansea Docks on June 4, 1944, to land on Omaha Beach. The site says:
The American army and airforce poured into Britain in 1943 and although greeted with much goodwill, some of the population harboured a deep seated resentment to their presence.
Well fed, smartly dressed and better paid than their British counterparts, pleasure-seeking 'Yanks', with their glamorous film star auras, proved irresistible to many young women. American 'Hollywood-style' glamour was powerful and unwanted competition for war-weary British servicemen home on leave. Local young women, married and unmarried, were always getting 'involved' with American servicemen and there were the inevitable explosive
The potential for trouble in the vicinity the Patti Pavillion - a popular dance venue - and the Cricketer's Hotel was ever present. On Friday and Saturday nights groups of young women 'dressed up to the nines' descended on these places, from all over town, for a good night out. The US Military Police were also there in force to keep the peace, but the mixture of young British and American servicemen, young ladies, music and booze was a powder keg.
...
The Americans came after its heaviest bombing raids were over. The centre of the town was a mass of rubble with well defined streets.There were two large US Army bases - one at either end of the town - and there were jeeps and American servicemen everywhere. Kids and yanks were a great social mix.
Alfred John Whitby remembers the generosity of American soldiers........
"By the time I was eight or nine years old the Americans had built an army base opposite Townhill which is now the Gendros/Penlan area of the city. We, as children, used to visit the army base during the day and were very often given tins of 'Bully Beef ', which was their version of our corned beef, and chewing gum with names like 'Ukatan/Dentine', 'Juicyfruit' etc.."
I have borrowed a photo at the top of this post from the Swansea History Society Facebook Group to show how the troops were garrisoned within the available space.
Nation Cymru adds to this story with an article detailing a forgotten visit to Swansea by Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery in the weeks leading up to D-Day.
The news site confirms that historical records show Swansea and the surrounding Gower Peninsula hosted thousands of American troops as south Wales became a major staging post for the invasion. They add that Swansea Docks handled military supplies and served as a departure point for personnel travelling to France in the days around D-Day.
Swansea historian and content creator Jay Curtis's research is referred to as revealing the significance of a diary entry detailing the military commander’s visit to Swansea and Singleton Park in 1944:
Curtis said the discovery highlighted how important Swansea had been to the Allied war effort.
“People know Monty as one of Britain’s most recognisable wartime figures, but what fascinated me was discovering there are still stories connected to places like Swansea that many people have never heard before,” he said.
...
Montgomery’s links with Swansea extended beyond the war itself. In 1948 he was awarded the Honorary Freedom of the City in recognition of his contribution to Allied victory in Europe. The ceremonial scroll and presentation casket were later returned to Swansea for preservation in 2004.
The American army and airforce poured into Britain in 1943 and although greeted with much goodwill, some of the population harboured a deep seated resentment to their presence.
Well fed, smartly dressed and better paid than their British counterparts, pleasure-seeking 'Yanks', with their glamorous film star auras, proved irresistible to many young women. American 'Hollywood-style' glamour was powerful and unwanted competition for war-weary British servicemen home on leave. Local young women, married and unmarried, were always getting 'involved' with American servicemen and there were the inevitable explosive
The potential for trouble in the vicinity the Patti Pavillion - a popular dance venue - and the Cricketer's Hotel was ever present. On Friday and Saturday nights groups of young women 'dressed up to the nines' descended on these places, from all over town, for a good night out. The US Military Police were also there in force to keep the peace, but the mixture of young British and American servicemen, young ladies, music and booze was a powder keg.
...
The Americans came after its heaviest bombing raids were over. The centre of the town was a mass of rubble with well defined streets.There were two large US Army bases - one at either end of the town - and there were jeeps and American servicemen everywhere. Kids and yanks were a great social mix.
Alfred John Whitby remembers the generosity of American soldiers........
"By the time I was eight or nine years old the Americans had built an army base opposite Townhill which is now the Gendros/Penlan area of the city. We, as children, used to visit the army base during the day and were very often given tins of 'Bully Beef ', which was their version of our corned beef, and chewing gum with names like 'Ukatan/Dentine', 'Juicyfruit' etc.."
I have borrowed a photo at the top of this post from the Swansea History Society Facebook Group to show how the troops were garrisoned within the available space.
Nation Cymru adds to this story with an article detailing a forgotten visit to Swansea by Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery in the weeks leading up to D-Day.
The news site confirms that historical records show Swansea and the surrounding Gower Peninsula hosted thousands of American troops as south Wales became a major staging post for the invasion. They add that Swansea Docks handled military supplies and served as a departure point for personnel travelling to France in the days around D-Day.
Swansea historian and content creator Jay Curtis's research is referred to as revealing the significance of a diary entry detailing the military commander’s visit to Swansea and Singleton Park in 1944:
Curtis said the discovery highlighted how important Swansea had been to the Allied war effort.
“People know Monty as one of Britain’s most recognisable wartime figures, but what fascinated me was discovering there are still stories connected to places like Swansea that many people have never heard before,” he said.
...
Montgomery’s links with Swansea extended beyond the war itself. In 1948 he was awarded the Honorary Freedom of the City in recognition of his contribution to Allied victory in Europe. The ceremonial scroll and presentation casket were later returned to Swansea for preservation in 2004.
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