A poignant ceremony with visitors from two countries has taken place to commemmorate the sacrifice of one small town in the bloody second world war D Day landings.

On Thursday a large crowd gathered in the drizzle at the American war memorial in Harford Road, Ivybridge for a brief service and wreath laying, led by the town branch Royal British Legion chairman Dermot Roberts.

In attendance were local dignitaries and a group from Ivybridge Community College. They were joined by 30 members of the Bedford International Alliance from West Virginia, USA, and a further group from the area of the Normandy coast that will be forever known as Omaha beach - the name given to it for the D Day operation.

From May 1943, soldiers from Bedford, Virginia were stationed in Ivybridge ahead of the operation, codenamed Overlord, when allied troops began the reconquest of mainland Europe.

Come the fateful day in June 1944, some 30 soldiers from the small town were in Company A, 116th Infantry Regiment of the 29th Infantry Division. They formed part of the huge forces ordered to land on Omaha beach, a nine kilometre stretch of sand near the towns of Vierville-sur-Mer, Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer and Colville-sur-Mer in Normandy, France.

By the end of the day, 19 of the ’Bedford Boys’ were dead. Two more Bedford soldiers died later in the Normandy campaign, as did yet another two assigned to other 116th Infantry companies. Bedford’s population in 1944 was about 3,200, making it the American town that suffered proportionally the worst D Day losses. For this reason it was chosen as the site of the USA’s National D Day Memorial.

Thanks to the work of local people in both countries, ties between Bedford and Ivybridge have been nurtured over the years, helping to ensure the sacrifice of those young men is never forgotten. Ivybridge has a dedicated war memorial for the American soldiers, and Macandrews Field is home to two handmade wooden benches commemmorating the Bedford Boys. Visits have taken place in both directions, including this latest which saw the Americans stay in the town for two nights, before moving on to Normandy.

Speaking after the ceremony, Ivybridge mayor Cllr Anthony Khong said: "The visitors are all very grateful to us for setting up this act of remembrance for them, they even invited us over to France to join them in their celebrations, if we could.

"We agreed that all three countries should stay in touch, to ensure that we don’t forget those soldiers who passed through here."

American group leader Linda Zimmerman added: "This is our second trip to Ivybridge, we were here in 2004 when they put up the stone. We have a smaller version at home. We wanted to come a different date to June 6 with a smaller crowd, so we picked the end of September as we thought the weather would be better. 30 came this time, and we normally bring 50.

"This town is quaint, just like our little town. We’re going to Dartmoor today, and Slapton Sands, and hopefully to Plymouth to see the poppies."

Philippe Josse was a member of the French group. He explained they would take the Americans on a tour of some key second world war sites in northern France, adding they took the visitors into their homes as guests, rather than sending them to hotels.

Carol and Tandy Amburgey were making their first visit to Ivybridge as part of the Bedford International Alliance. Mr Amburgey said he had enjoyed the ceremony and loved visiting Ivybridge, where his forebears had been stationed all those years ago.

He said: "It’s been great to get a feel for how the Bedford Boys must have felt when they were here, and how well the people here treated them."

The Ivybridge Heritage and Archives Group has done extensive research into the American troops’ time in the area, and other aspects of the town’s history. Much of this can be seen on the website www.ivybridge-heritage.org .