In the run-up to D-Day, millions of soldiers prepared for Operation Overlord, the massive offensive to free Europe from the Axis Powers. It’s documented that around 3.5 million soldiers departed for France from Southampton and many more soldiers were shipped out across various locations on the United Kingdom’s south coast.
As the soldiers made their way down the Western Esplanade towards the Royal Pier to be loaded onto ships, a nearby brick wall became quite notable for soldiers carving their names into it, the first carving was dated from a few days after D-Day by Sidney Greenwald, an American soldier, as he too was preparing to be sent to France. From that day until 1946, the wall kept getting filled by engraving after engraving of soldiers’ names.
Skip forward to 2019 and the 75th anniversary of D-Day, the Maritime Archaeology Trust in the UK, with a small army of volunteers, set up a project to record the 19-meter section of wall and the names associated with it. They not only documented the names, but began a major effort to find the people who put their names on the wall and tell their stories. Most had records with the U.S. Military, so the wall has also earned the name: The American Wall.
The Trust was able to trace 13 families from the names on the wall and even chat with 96-year-old William Mueller who lived in New York, who was one of the men who carved their names in the wall.
Families were thrilled by the discovery of parts of their loved ones’ history. One volunteer from the Trust quoted on the Maritime Archeology Trust website: “When you put your fingers in the initials of the name of someone who carved that, all those years ago, and you knew where they were going, it is quite emotional, and you’re terrified you’re going to miss someone’s name.”
Today, the wall still stands in the middle of Southampton City Center, a monument to D-Day, those who served, and a very touching memorial to those sent into one of wartime history’s most critical events.
