6th June 1944
Panel 134 of the Great Tapestry of Scotland depicts the Scottish involvement in D-Day, the largest seaborne invasion in history.
Soldiers, Sailors, and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force: You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you.
Dwight D. Eisenhower, Order of the Day, 6th June 1944
The Normandy Invasion began on June 6th 1944 and was a pivotal operation in World War II. This monumental assault marked a turning point in the battle against Nazi Germany, as the Allied forces launched a massive amphibious invasion on the beaches of Normandy, France.
Operation Overlord, often now known as D-Day, was a decisive moment in the Allied campaign and is often considered the beginning of the end of World War Two.
The invasion began around midnight on the morning of June the 6th with more than 2,200 Allied bombers attacking targets along the coast and further inland, followed up with an airborne assault — the landing of thousands of airborne troops.
At H-Hour, 06:30 AM, the first soldiers of the invasion force arrived on the beach. The target, a 50-mile stretch of the Normandy coast, was divided into five sectors: Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, and Sword. The US Army was primarily the western invasion force, landing on Utah and Omaha beaches with the eastern invasion force being made up of mainly British troops, landing at Gold and Sword beaches, and Canadians, landing at Juno.
In total, the Allied forces used over 5,000 ships and landing craft to land more than 150,000 troops on five beaches in Normandy. These landings marked the start of a long and costly campaign in north-west Europe. By the end of June, 850,000 men, 148,000 vehicles, and 570,000 tons of supplies had landed on the Normandy shores. By August 1944 northern France had been liberated and by spring of 1945 the Allies had defeated the Germans.
Panel 134 was stitched in Edinburgh and Winchburgh, by Margaret Burgess, Olive McCrone, Anne Ratigan, Caroline Scott, Nicki Slater and Alison Wood.
Lord Lovat and Bill Millin
Among the nearly 29,000 men landing on Sword Beach, were the 1st Special Service Brigade, later renamed the 1st Commando Brigade. Landing on the eastern extremity of Sword Beach, the 1st Special Service Brigade was led by Brigadier Simon Fraser, 15th Lord Lovat. Lovat had developed a reputation conducting a number of Commando Raids across occupied Europe and personally had 100,000 Reich marks placed on his head, dead or alive.
Upon landing on Sword Beach, he ordered his personal piper, Bill Millin to pipe the commandos and himself ashore. With the use of bagpipes being restricted to rear areas by the time of the Second World War by the British Army, Privet Millin objected, citing the regulations. Lord Lovat replied
“Ah, but that’s the English War Office. You and I are both Scottish, and that doesn’t apply”.
To the tune of “Highland Laddie”, “The Road to the Isles” and “All the Blue Bonnets Are Over The Border” the 1st Special Service Brigade landed on Sword Beach. Millin later reported that captured German snipers had not shot him, because they thought he had gone mad.
D-Day Deception
The Scottish impact on D-Day wasn’t limited to the day itself. For months in advance, training and deception had been taking place across the country.
In Achnacarry, Lochaber commando training took place and in Dundrennan in Kirkcudbrightshire the armoured units practised. In Argyll, Inveraray was home to amphibious warfare training and the US Navy had a base in Gareloch.
Practise landings took place on beaches across Scotland, and The Mulberry Harbour which became the temporary ports after D-Day were built on the Clyde and tried and tested at Garlieston on the Solway Firth.
Operation Fortitude North was established, to imply there was a fourth Allied Army in Scotland, preparing for an attack via Norway. This proved so successful that by late spring 1944, Hitler had positioned 13 army divisions in Norway.
The Stitchers Story
Panel 134 was stitched a group of 6, who, for the most part, hadn’t met prior to working on the panel. The group had a range of abilities but included two stitchers, Margaret Burgess and Caroline Scott, who had previously worked on the Prestonpans Tapestry. The stitchers in this group already had a personal connection to the Second World War, and D-Day.
Meeting at Margaret’s house the group drew lots to decide who would stitch each element. The main soldier was stitched by Margaret, who’s own father James Keddie had served during World War Two and landed on the beaches of Normandy and surviving D-Day.
Olive, who was nine years old when D-Day took place, remembers listening to the BBC account of it with her parents. During the work on the panel she recalls the group deciding to ensure that the names of Scottish Regiments that took part in D-Day should be included. After consulting with the General in charge of the Scottish National War Memorial at Edinburgh Castle they group worked with Andrew Crummy who added in the regimental names.
Nikki who worked on the floating mulberry harbour and completed the main soldiers trousers took the panel to her husband’s family home in the North East coast of Scotland. While working on the panel she was watched over by a photo of one of her Husband’s Uncles who had died during World War Two. By the end of the week, she was thinking of the soldier’s trousers as Uncle George’s Trousers!
Caroline stitched the section with Piper Bill Millin. In the original drawing, he had was wearing a standard issue Brodie Helmet, however following a conversation with his son, John, this helmet had to be unpicked, redrawn and restitched to show the green beret that the Commandos proudly wore into action.
Anne had three family members who were involved in the war effort. One of her Grandfathers, Tom McKean Grieve, served in the Fife and Forfar Yeomanry and went ashore in Normandy on Sword Beach. She added a pair of glasses onto one of the soldiers to remind her of him.
His brother, Ian McKean Grieve was a Navy signaller and radio operator during the D-Day landings and Anne’s Australian grandmother, Corporal Gertrude Olive Brettel served in the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force, and her duties included “dip sticking” the fuel tanks of returning bombers to check their fuel supplies.
Alison had worked on the section featuring the landing crafts, beaches and floating harbour and her thoughts turned to her own father. He served with the Camerons and was fighting in Italy at that stage of the war. Sometimes remembered as the “D-Day Dodgers”, in reference to their role away from Normandy, men in Italy faced brutal conditions as they battled to take Monte Cassino and dislodge enemy soldiers.
Sharing Yarns
During the creation of the Tapestry, all the stitchers involved were encouraged to record their experiences. These diaries have been compiled into a book, telling the story of the Tapestry, by those who made it.
To find out more stories about the stitching of the Tapestry, from the stitchers themselves, pick up a copy of “Sharing Yarns” compiled by Dorie Wilkie, the Head Stitcher of the Great Tapestry of Scotland.