On 7th June 2014 the Mayor of Lyme Regis, Cllr Sally Holman, unveiled a new plaque at Cobb Gate which commemorates the men of the 1st Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment of the US Army who were billeted in Lyme prior to taking part in the D-Day landings.
Find the plaque on the wall below Bell Cliff, above the Cobb Gate car park.
The plaque reads:
16th Infantry Regiment United States Army
Amicitias Immortales Esse Opporter
"Friendships Should Be Immortal"
From November 1943 to May 1944, the men of the 1st Battalion, 16th Infantry, were billeted in and around the town of Lyme Regis, training and preparing for the upcoming assault landings in Normandy, France. Throughout this period, the people of the Lyme Regis area were exceedingly hospitable and generous to those troops, many of whom brought home war brides from the area after the war. This memorial is dedicated on this day, first to remember those soldiers of the 1st Battalion who were stationed in this area and later gave their all for ensuring the freedom and liberty of Europe. However, it is also placed to remind us of the grand alliance and friendship between the United States and the United Kingdom in the great crusade of the 20th Century. A superb example of the best of that alliance was manifest here between the people of Lyme Regis and the soldiers of the 16th Infantry Regiment,United States Army.
Provided by the 16th Infantry Regiment Association to the people of Lyme Regis on the 70th Anniversary of D-Day, 6 June 2014
