News
How Pembrokeshire’s beaches were used as practice for the world’s biggest invasion

By Jon Coles, Andy Chandler and Thomas Sinclair
JUNE 6 marks the anniversary of D-Day, when the Allied forces landed on the beaches of Normandy, France as part of Operation Overlord; a concerted and successful attempt to liberate Europe from the grip of German occupation under Hitler.
The invasion of Normandy (codenamed Operation Neptune) was a massive amphibious assault involving 7,000 ships and 11,000 aircraft. A decoy plan, Operation Fortitude, led the Germans to believe the main target was Pas de Calais. It was a major milestone in securing victory for the allied forces.
Tenby, Saundersfoot, Amroth and Laugharne had already experienced their own version of the Normandy landings – in practice form.
Our local beaches were the location for an extensive two-week-long practice, Operation Jantzen. The exercise commenced on July 22, 1943, and was, thankfully, the only land invasion of Wales during World War II.
Under the watchful eyes of Winston Churchill and Lord Mountbatten (rumour has it that Eisenhower also attended), 100,000 American, Australian, British and Canadian forces had a rare opportunity to practice every element needed for a successful attack on “Fortress Europe”, this involved the initial landings, the setting up of Headquarters and even the moving and stockpiling of vital supplies that would be needed by troops on the front line.
Newsreel footage clearly shows trucks somehow being driven onto flat-bottomed transports in preparation for the training excercise on Tenby Beach, a beach more commonly associated with bathing, swimming and making sandcastles.
THE TROOPS
The Regimental War Chronicles of the Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry Vol3 1942-1944 records that the First Bucks Battalion had been training in Ayrshire before moving to West Wales.
The road convoy of over 200 vehicles left Ayr on the July 8, 1943, and the main body departed by train three days later. Troops disembarked at Haverfordwest station, where three-ton lorries lifted them to Picton Park.
Picton Park, consisting of Nissen huts and tents, provided an excellent concentration area and preparations for Exercise “Jantzen,” due to start on the July 17, were pressed forward.
All was ready, but the exercise was postponed owing to bad weather, and the move to the assembly area at Cresselly did not begin until July 20.
The area allotted to No. 6 Beach Group consisted of the village of Saundersfoot and its immediate hinterland. There were two small beaches and a tiny port, and the country behind the beaches was hilly and heavily wooded, with narrow country lanes.
No. 5 Beach Group had an equally difficult area some miles to the east with a steep, shingle bank at the head of the beach which made exits and entrances serious problems.
The first key plan prepared before the exercise needed little adjustment and the deployment of thousands of men and hundreds of vehicles and guns proceeded most smoothly.
Coasters and barges were loaded at Tenby and beached at Saundersfoot on a falling tide.
Stores were unloaded first to barge and then to lorry, and, when the coasters had dried out, direct to lorry. Folding boats were not used and the DUKW had still not made its appearance.
On August 5 (D+14) the exercise was closed.
A great many lessons had been learned from “Jantzen.” The organisation and training of the group were sound. The complicated deployment drill had worked smoothly although it had been shown how vulnerable any beach organisation is to deterioration in the weather.
The effort was not only limited to troop movements.
The first major supply exercise involving barges (36 in 3 flotillas), 36 coasters and other forces, took place at Tenby, South Wales in July/August 1943 in Exercise “Jantzen”.
As part of the preparation for sailing across the English Channel for the Normandy landings, “dumb” Thames River barges sailed from the south coast of England around Land’s End and across the Bristol Channel under their own power.
The barges acted as kitchen vessels and troop transports during the exercise.
They subsequently made even longer coastal voyages over to Normandy as supply vessels.
All of which begs the question: Why West Wales?
The beaches of west Wales were chosen because they mimicked the conditions of Normandy being a mixture of salt flats, shingle and wide sandy areas overlooked by dunes. In addition, earlier in the war some of them had been extensively fortified and defensive measures put in place as part of the preparations for invasion.
The importance of experiencing the ‘draft’ of landing beaches was vitally important as were the changing tidal conditions around the West Wales coast.
The area’s roads were also used to give troops experience of moving along thin, rural roads with heavy armour like Tanks and Armoured Troop Carriers.
Speaking to the BBC in 2007, Bentley Howell, whose family lived at Wiseman’s Bridge Inn at the time, remembered some of the events surrounding Operation: Jantzen.
“My half-brother, who was about 40 years old, was at the time the licensee of the Wiseman’s Bridge Inn, Permbrokeshire. In his old age, he used to tell me of his wartime memories and particularly about the day that Winston Churchill called in for a pot of tea.
“A full scale invasion landing practice took place, involving up to 100,000 men, DUKW’s, other landing craft, and troopships disgorging their loads onto the sands of the Saundersfoot bay.
“The publican, John Henry Mathias, or ‘Jack the Bridge’ as he was affectionately known, was appointed a Coastguard because of his local knowledge, and although the whole area had been sealed off for security reasons and a 10pm curfew imposed, Jack was exempt from this and wandered at will.
“Officially, the troops were not allowed to drink, but for 1s 6d they had all they could eat – home killed ham, eggs, fried bread and apple tart. Jack entertained them with tales of a ghostly monk who roamed the tunnels between Saundersfoot and Wiseman’s Bridge.
“One day, several large staff cars swept down the narrow lane to the pub. It was about 3pm, but in those days the pub was open all hours. A blonde woman in an ATS uniform carried out ‘a plain Welsh tea’ to the party of about 15 high ranking officers – later it was learned that she was Sarah Churchill; Winston Churchill surveyed the troops on the beaches together with Admiral Viscount Mountbatten. It was rumoured that Eisenhower was also present”.
For several years after the War, the letter signed by Churchill, thanking the licensee for his hospitality hung on the wall in the pub premises.
In fact, the rumours about Eisenhower’s presence in Pembrokeshire were true, but not quite in the way supposed.
The late and much-missed Vernon Scott wrote in his book An Experience Shared: “Had residents been told on the first day of the fourth month of 1944 that the Supreme Allied Commander, General Dwight D Eisenhower, was in Pembroke Dock, they would have surely dismissed it as an April Fool leg pull. But America’s top soldier in the European Theatre of Operations, really was in the area.”
Eisenhower came to west Wales to inspect the men of the 110th Infantry Regiment, at that time based at Llanion Barracks in Pembroke Dock.
By April 1944, the Regiment was going through last-minute training for the Normandy landings and push for victory.
The Supreme Commander Allied Forces’ visit came as a surprise to the GIs stationed in the County. ‘Ike’ arrived in secrecy at Tenby and was whisked to Pembroke Dock in a staff car kitted out with miniature stars and stripes for the occasion.
The GIs called Pembroke Dock ‘Blitz Ville’, surprised at the extent of the bomb damage in such a small town on the far fringes of Wales.
Pembrokeshire wears its battle-scars proudly, from the huge castles built hundreds of years ago to suppress the native Welsh, to the fuel depots, RAF airfields and anti-aircraft gun bases that were literally thrown up around the county to help protect Great Britain from the power of the Nazi war machine.
The south of the county bore the brunt of Hitler’s wrath. On August 19, 1940, a fuel depot at Llanreath, Pembroke Dock, was bombed by the Luftwaffe. The resulting fire spewed thick, black, oily smoke into the blue skies of Pembrokeshire for 18 days.
The dense plume of smoke could be seen from as far away as the North Devon coast and the fire claimed the lives of 5 Cardiff-based firemen who had been sent down to help deal with the raging inferno as an estimated 100,000 gallons of oil burned.
600 German prisoners of war were also imprisoned in Pembrokeshire during the conflict, with many being placed at local farms to plough, plant and help the Allied war effort ‘dig for victory’.
Looking around today, it’s hard to imagine the full military might of the Allies being put through their paces on our beaches, but our county’s role as a staging area for the biggest naval landing in human history cannot be underestimated
Community
Ground breaking event marks start of key Haverfordwest Public Transport project

KIER and Pembrokeshire County Council held a traditional ground breaking event at Haverfordwest Public Transport Interchange (HPTI) last month – celebrating the official start of work on site.
Council members including the Leader Councillor Jon Harvey, Deputy Leader Councillor Paul Miller, Cabinet Member for Residents’ Services Councillor Rhys Sinnett and for Haverfordwest Castle ward Councillor Thomas Tudor, joined Kier for the event with the ceremonial breaking of the ground marking a key milestone in the project’s progress.
The scheme includes the construction of a modern bus station and multi-storey car park to Haverfordwest’s town centre, providing a new interchange for buses and coaches, with upgraded passenger facilities.
Designed by architects BDP and built by Kier, the completed scheme will include more than 300 parking spaces, seven bus bays, public toilets and accessible changing facilities for people with disabilities.
The project also has a number of sustainable features including electric vehicle charging facilities and an array of solar panels on the roof which will supply the vast majority of the building’s energy usage and help Pembrokeshire County Council meet their commitment to be net zero carbon by 2030.
Ian Rees, regional director at Kier Construction Western & Wales, said: “We have been on site for a number of months now undertaking essential enabling works, this ground breaking ceremony is an important milestone as we progress into the construction phase of this vitally important transport hub.
“This transport interchange for Pembrokeshire County Council will really begin to take shape over the coming weeks and months and will ultimately deliver a much-needed, modern transport hub for the local community, improving connectivity and accessibility for residents and visitors alike.”
Cllr Paul Miller, Deputy Leader of Pembrokeshire County Council, said: “It’s great to see work starting on this new transport interchange, which is an important part of the wider Haverfordwest Masterplan. It’s designed to make it easy and convenient to visit Haverfordwest town centre which is a key part of our efforts to regenerate the town.
“I think we can all agree the previous multi-story car park had reached the end of its useful life.
“Once we’ve completed this project, the town centre will be easily accessible both by bus and of course by car with the car park element of the project benefiting from wider spaces, EV Charging, single tap exit and payment and of course a much nicer, lighter and safer environment for users.”
Architects, landscape architects and civil and structural engineers from multidisciplinary design practice BDP designed the transport interchange.
Matthew Mayes, architect director at BDP, said: “This significant regeneration scheme will be transformational for local people, offering improved access to bus, taxi and cycling facilities with excellent connectivity to the riverside, shopping centre and railway centre.
“Our designs include striking aluminium fins that wrap around the building with stone cladding at ground level to reflect the town’s historic features and a new public square with plenty of greenery and seating for people to relax.”
Built on the site of a demolished multi-storey car park and bus station, HPTI will form part of the South West Wales Metro project, which aims to better integrate sustainable modes of transport and complements the wider regeneration work in Haverfordwest.
The design of HPTI is being funded from the Welsh Government’s Local Transport Fund.
Kier has significant experience in south-west Wales spanning over 60 years and has included the delivery of schools, hospitals and even the home of Welsh television, S4C, in Carmarthen.
This project was procured by Kier through the South West Wales Regional Contractors Framework (SWWRCF).
News
Welsh Government unveils new legislation to transform bus services

PROPOSALS to overhaul the way local bus services are planned and delivered across Wales have been published today, with the aim of improving services for passengers and encouraging more people to use public transport.
A new Bill has been laid before the Senedd which, if passed, will grant powers to establish a fully integrated bus network that puts passenger needs first.
Key proposals include creating one network, one timetable, and one ticket system across Wales. Services will be designed based on local knowledge but coordinated nationally by Transport for Wales, working in close partnership with local authorities and Corporate Joint Committees. The new system would primarily operate through franchised contracts delivered by private, public, and third sector operators.
Welcoming the Bus Services (Wales) Bill, Cabinet Secretary for Transport and North Wales Ken Skates said the legislation had the potential to transform bus travel for communities across the country.
“This is a historic day for public transport in Wales as proposals for bus reform begin their journey through the Senedd,” said Mr Skates. “This is about putting people first—offering one network, one timetable and one ticket across Wales.
“Change is needed. While some areas are well-served, it’s not the case everywhere. I want a bus network that is reliable, affordable, easy to use, and better integrated with other modes of transport such as trains and active travel.
“The benefits are clear: improved access to services, greater equity for those most reliant on public transport, and a meaningful alternative to car travel.”
Buses carry around 190,000 passengers a day in Wales and account for three-quarters of all public transport journeys. The Bill aims to address common barriers to bus use—such as poor reliability, lack of ticket interoperability between operators, and weak links with other transport modes.
The public will benefit from clearer, easier-to-navigate timetables and more seamless transitions between buses and trains. Ticket revenue will be reinvested across the country, improving services in both rural and urban areas.
Mr Skates highlighted current examples of successful integration, including the TrawsCymru T1 service, which already offers joint bus and rail tickets, and the 1bws ticket in North Wales, valid on almost every local bus in the region.
“These examples show what can be achieved with joined-up thinking,” he said. “I don’t underestimate the scale of change this Bill represents, which is why the rollout will happen region by region. But when complete, it will be truly transformational.”
The rollout is expected to begin in South West Wales in 2027, followed by North Wales in 2028, South East Wales in 2029, and Mid Wales in 2030. However, Mid Wales will benefit from earlier improvements through the Bridge to Franchising programme, already underway.
Education
Welsh pupils harness Minecraft to explore offshore wind and climate careers

PUPILS at Golden Grove School in Pembrokeshire are diving into the world of renewable energy and marine conservation through the immersive Minecraft Education world Offshore Wind Power Challenge—a collaboration between The Crown Estate and Microsoft UK.

Available in both Welsh and English, the virtual world enables students to design and build their own offshore wind farms to power a coastal village. Along the way, they gain insights into climate change, environmental protection, and careers in sustainability, engineering and conservation.

The initiative has now been expanded with new classroom resources tailored for younger learners and aligned to the Welsh curriculum. Lesson plans for teachers are also being provided to support the integration of the material into everyday teaching.
As part of their focus on developing green skills in schools across Wales, The Crown Estate partnered with education specialists Dosbarth to create the new learning content. The organisation is currently delivering taster sessions across the country, including to Year 5 and 6 pupils at Golden Grove.
Wales is emerging as a leader in renewable energy, with new floating offshore wind farms set to be developed in the Celtic Sea under The Crown Estate’s latest seabed leasing round. These projects have the potential to generate up to 4.5GW of electricity—enough to power more than four million homes. Independent research estimates the economic value of these developments could reach £1.4bn, supporting up to 5,300 jobs.*
Rebecca Williams, Director of Devolved Nations at The Crown Estate, said: “This is an exciting collaboration that brings new educational content to schools through the best-selling game of all time. This Minecraft Education world provides students and teachers with a fun way to explore the opportunities and challenges of our energy transition while protecting the natural environment, through the languages that matter most to them.
“The Crown Estate is committed to creating partnerships that have a positive impact. We hope this initiative will inspire young people to develop their skills and discover the green careers of the future.”
Karen Jones, Managing Director of Dosbarth, added: “By creating new materials for younger audiences that align with the Welsh curriculum—and providing accessible lesson plans for busy teachers—we believe these resources will inspire even more pupils across Wales to become the next generation of environmental leaders and problem-solvers.”
-
Charity7 days ago
Emergency services unite for charity at Pembroke Dock Fire Station
-
Sport7 days ago
Kildunne hat-trick rips Wales apart in record-breaking Six Nations clash
-
Community7 days ago
Tenby comes alive with eccentricity as Steampunk Festival returns in style
-
Education7 days ago
Supported employment learners take off on airport adventure
-
Community7 days ago
Funeral arrangements confirmed for popular local entertainer, Matt Baker
-
Business4 days ago
SpaceX eyes Milford Haven for new UK facility
-
Crime5 days ago
Pembrokeshire farm worker accused of threatening to burn employer’s farm
-
Crime5 days ago
‘Yeah but no but’ insult to female officer lands Monkton man with court fine