Captain (Capt) Jol Woodard, the Commanding Officer of BRNC and Colonel (Col) Michael Brant Stephenson, the US Army Attaché at the United States Embassy in London, were invited to unveil the plaque, which has been commissioned by the American Battle Monuments Commission. The plaque has been sited on a wall at BRNC in the main College thoroughfare.

The US XI Amphibious Force was headquartered at BRNC during the war; arriving in 1943 as the Allies prepared for and then left the UK for the invasion of Europe to defeat Nazi Germany.

Welcoming the members of the US Armed Force, representatives from the American Battle Monuments Commission and other dignitaries to BNRC, Capt Jol Woodard said: “I’m absolutely delighted to be able to mark the events of 1943 and 1944 by the unveiling of this plaque here in the College.

“Whilst in historical terms the American Forces were here for a relatively short period, as we know the time that they were here was a defining moment in the war and therefore also a defining moment for our country and the relationship between our two great nations.”

During World War 2 the College evacuated to Eaton Hall, in Cheshire, and was formally commissioned there as HMS Britannia (Royal Naval College, Eaton) on February 1st 1943. The buildings left behind in Dartmouth were first taken over by Combined Operations and used to train Royal Marines in amphibious warfare.

On December 27th 1943 the Americans arrived to take over the College on behalf of the US Naval Advanced Amphibious Base.

It was one of a number of bases occupied by the US Forces throughout Devon and Cornwall. Known as U Force, the Americans were destined to land on Utah Beach on the Cherbourg peninsula, which closely resembled the South Devon coast.

By the beginning of 1944 over 4,000 US Navy personnel were based in the Dartmouth area. The US troops and their equipment set sail from Dartmouth on June 4th, taking shelter in Weymouth Bay on 5th until the storm abated, reaching Normandy the next day.

Capt Woodard and other representatives from the College also joined the people of Dartmouth and the guests from the USA at the annual D-Day commemorative service in the town and the formal dedication of a memorial to the US and Allied Forces, commissioned by the American Battle Monuments Commission, situated in Royal Avenue Gardens, Dartmouth.