Skylighters, The Web Site of the 225th AAA Searchlight Battalion: They Came This Way: Part I -- Movements of the 225th AAA S/L Bn in Great Britain

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They Came This Way
Part I — Movements of the 225th
AAA S/L Bn in Great Britain

SIGNPOST (6 K)

Wise travellers, pause
To see the ways your Fathers knew,
That they may aid your climb,
Toward tomorrow's view.

You are listening to Roll Me Over in the Clover
courtesy of the Sassy Lassies

When I was a boy, there were Yanks stationed on the High Road by what we called Charlton's farm. We used to watch them line up drums full of oil along the road and then set fire to them. The smoke was quite bad. Every Sunday morning we would line up outside the barracks, where they would hand out chewing gum, money, and candies.

— Kenneth Hutton's memories of the 225th in Hebburn

GIs catch some shut-eye crammed into a truck bound for a camp somewhere in England.

The map below is an "active" map of Great Britain showing the movements of the 225th between arrival in late December 1943 and departure in June 1944. The zig-zag nature of the movements was deliberate — the routes followed would confuse German agents trying to report on the disposition of such units, and, in addition, the destinations were often chosen because of the prearranged mobilization plan for newly arriving units, which required them to become acclimated to English life, draw specialized equipment, and begin interaction with British AAA units as an aid to training. Simply click on any red circle to view a close-up map of a particular area, along with some historical information about it. (Most maps are from Multimap.com.)

Visit Our Special Report on
"The Yanks in Britain"

or peruse our list of
U. S. Army Camps in the United Kingdom

NOTE: The Gourock, Hadrian's Camp, Moor Park,
and Portsmouth/Southampton pages are still under construction.

MAP OF BRITAIN SHOWING 225th MOVEMENTS (100 K)

LEGEND

1 — Gourock Harbor
2 — Blandford Camp
3 — Dan-y-Parc
4 — Castle Camps
5 — Moor Park
6 — Hadrian's Camp
7 — Newcastle upon Tyne
8 — Portsmouth
and Southampton

Coming Soon — Northern France!