Upottery Devon

Although billeted mainly in Wiltshire , 506th, 101st Airborne Division has a historical link to the rural county of Devon, in south west England.

Taking part in the exercises leading up to the D-Day landings, in the UK Battle Training area around Slapton and the South Hams, Paratroopers of the 101st AB were ‘dropped’ from trucks around the area to simulate the dispersed nature of an airborne drop.

After months of training in Aldbourne, Easy Company was moved to Upottery Airfield in Devon—one of the many temporary airstrips built to support the airborne invasion of Normandy. On June 4, 1944, the men stood ready beside their C-47 transport planes, fully geared for the jump into France. The opening scenes of Band of Brothers capture this moment, with the aircraft in the background as Lt. Thomas Meehan climbs onto the bonnet of a jeep to address the company:

“There is no jump tonight. The invasion has been postponed. We’re on a 24-hour stand down.”

Upottery (also known as Smeatharpe) was home to the 439th Troop Carrier Group, which flew Easy Company and other units of the 506th PIR into Normandy. While this scene was actually shot at North Weald Airfield, much of Upottery airfield still survives today, including parts of the runway and dispersal areas. The site is also home to a museum of the South West Airfields Heritage Trust, which operates within original wartime Nissen huts, preserving the history of the airfield and the men who departed from here.

On the night of 5 th June 1944 the Dakotas lifted off from this Devonshire airbase carrying paratroopers of the 506th PIR 101st Airborne Division ‘Band of Brothers’, and headed east to Portland Bill, where they assembled at an altitude of 10,000 ft.

Altitude was then reduced to 650 ft as the aircraft headed south-west to a point in the middle of the English Channel code-named GALLUP, which was marked by a Royal Navy beacon-ship.

From here the fleet of 821 Dakotas flew south to a point west of Cherbourg on the French coast, code-named HOBOKEN, which was indicated by a lumious signal from a submarine.

Here the aircraft climbed to 1,650 ft to avoid the Flak guns of the Channel Islands, before heading for landfall on the Normandy coast, named MULESHOE Point.

By now the aircraft were back down to 650 ft and flying at their drop-speed of 110 mph.The first paratroopers of the 101st Airborne jumped into Normandy at 00:50 hrs, June 6th 1944.

This was the Day of Days.

A C-47 returns many years later to Upottery and a map showing the layout of the Airfield including the supporting buildings.

Click pic to go to the excellent website detailing Upottery heritage centre and museum.

Click to go to the official heritage centre webite