American Presence.
The USA declared war on Germany and Japan in 1941 after the Japanese
bombed the US fleet in Pearl Harbour.
37,000 American troops – V Corps - disembarked at Belfast and
Londonderry in January 1942. Corps HQ was at Brownlow House, Lurgan,
with 34 Division in Tyrone and Fermanagh and 1 Armoured Division in
South Down. The troops left at the end of the year to take part in the
Allied landings in North Africa.
XV Corps arrived in the autumn of 1943 to prepare for the Normandy
landings in May 1944. The 120,000 troops made up the 2nd, 5th and
8th Infantry Division and 82nd Airborne Division.
The airfield at Langford Lodge was the centre of the air activity, with
6,000 personnel engaged in assembly, servicing and repair work.
Contact with the local population led to many enduring friendships and
some 1,800 local girls sailed to the States to marry their GIs.
Northern Ireland and the American people. It depicts the US forces
training and embarking for the Normandy landings from Belfast Lough.
