There was a saying during The War, “Careless Talk Costs Lives”. This was true for what was to become known as D-Day. As I recall, the few days before were unusually quiet. The American and British Troops had all dispersed to different areas. Some went Westward to Devon, some East to Weymouth and beyond; also all the guns, carriers and lorries that had been hidden away in various woods and copses had disappeared. Some of the soldiers came back after a while and then moved away again; they knew that something BIG was about to happen, but they knew nothing for sure (we often wondered if some of our American friends were lost in the Slapton Sands tragedy when we heard about it years later). On the last few days they were ‘confined to camp’, but a few managed to creep out and visit friends in the village. Two walked cross country from Litton Cheney to visit my family. They would have been arrested had they been found to have left camp. My family was so very worried about them and told them to go back, but they said they had to say a real goodbye this time as they felt sure this was ‘IT’. The evening before D-DAY we were haymaking in the fields at Rudge Lane. My Uncle Rob was on the top of the hayrick; he called to me and said “Come up here Janet, that is a sight I hope you will never have to see again” - the sea was black with boats of all kinds from Portland as far as you could see. He said “this is it, they are going to invade France”. All that night we heard wave after wave of aeroplanes going over. The next day, the sea was absolutely clear - not a sign of a boat anywhere. This was D-DAY.
Janet Guppy - May 2004