The Americans in Pont Rufeinig May 1944 (Roman Bridge) . . .
There can’t be many folk in Dolwyddelan who don’t know the legend of the American soldiers, whose camp was flooded out at Roman Bridge, but not many know who these men were, and believe it or not, still are.
We have Richard Swinford of Pen-y-Bont, Pont Rufeinig to thank for his persistent research, leading to him uncovering the name of the regiment these GI’s belonged to. They were the 83rd Infantry Division, popularly known as the ‘Thunderbolts,’ hailing from Ohio, formed in September 1917.
In April 1944, under the command of Major General Robert C Macron, the Thunderbolts arrived in England, ready to undertake ‘on the ground’ training, in readiness for the D-Day landings; their main base camp being at Keele Hall, Staffordshire.
From there, troops headed out for rougher terrain, the 1st and 3rd Battalions of the 331st Regiment belonging to the 83rd Infantry Division finding themselves in the landscape around Ffestiniog, the remoteness of the area allowing them to practice with live ammunition, without the danger of hitting anything but a few sheep.
Much against the landowners advice, on the 10th of May, the Americans set up their base camp on the flat pastureland near the station in Roman Bridge. Anyone local knows this is a flood plain, but the GI’s didn’t listen; and this was not just a camp made up of a few tents, it was a small township of around 180 men, including mess tents, sleeping bivouacs, latrine blocks and stores.
All was good for a few days, the sound of gunfire echoing around the local hills. The men trained hard during the day and slept soundly at night with the help of the good Welsh air.
The training was going well, or as well as training in a wet, freezing, wind blown landscape could go, until a few nights in, when further into the hills of Snowdonia torrential rain was falling. Along with the sunrise came a tidal wave of water, swelling the placid Lledr river, from a peaceful stream to a torrent, and then to a lake; the flood plain doing what a flood plain does! Within a very short space of time the whole camp was a foot deep in water, the sodden tents, along with the soldiers’ belongings were being washed downstream. A hurried evacuation was put into place, as many as possible taking the army vehicles which had been left overnight, on the road on higher ground, others getting on trains speedily laid on at the nearby Roman Bridge station.
A flooded Pont Rufeinig. This is what
the Americans woke up to.
From a local newspaper a few years after the event . . .
“This was not quite the end. As the waters receded, all manner of desirable trophies were revealed. For a while, local youngsters enjoyed playing cowboys with real rifles (until the police took an interest.) Other souvenirs furnished local cottages, one lady still prunes her roses with fine-quality wire cutters abandoned by the Americans on that fateful night, still good as new in their original pouch. Many is the mantlepiece adorned with American bullets displayed proudly, or an American helmet being used as a feed bucket for the chicken’s corn.”
The 83rd left Wales and headed for the south coast for the expected transportation to Europe, where they were to take part in the Allied Invasion of Normandy, but against all odds, the weather was set against them once again.
These words are from the soundtrack of a Pathe Newsreel which shows the soldiers of the 83rd disembarking, in treacherous conditions before starting their advance into France . . .
“A sudden channel storm whips up off the coast of Normandy. Off Omaha Beach lies the convoy carrying the 83rd, ships break up and run aground. Ashore the heavy steel landing piers are twisted and ripped apart. For three days and three night the division rides out the storm, waiting.”
They finally landed on Omaha beach on the 18th of June, almost two weeks after the allied D-Day invasion of Western Europe.
Men of the 83rd waiting to land on Omaha
Beach, just days after leaving Dolwyddelan.
Click to watch the Pathé News-reel of the 83rd landing in France.
As soon as I [Shaun Hewitt] had learnt from Richard Swinford which Battalion the soldiers belonged to, I of course did an internet search, and what do you know, the 83rd Infantry Division have a Facebook page! Late one evening I posted a message to them, asking if anyone had heard of the flooding at Roman Bridge, or knew anything about it; more in hope than expectation. The following morning, I woke to a long series of replies, including . . .
Suzy Moravick – “My father was in the rain and went to higher ground. My father who was an avid outdoorsman, told us the story and that he told the other men to get to high ground, but many did not.”
Steve Moravick
Jodell Newman Ryan – “My father said he was the coldest he’d ever been in his life in Wales.”
Seimon Pugh-Jones – “The greyest place on earth. Grey sky, grey stone . . . but the people with hearts of gold.”
Judy Bielen – “My father Stanley Bielen passed away in 2015. Amongst the memories he shared with his children was his regiments training in Wales around Mount Snowdon. He also related the flooding story.
My father also spoke of how friendly and hospitable the locals were towards the GI’s.”
Stanley Bielen was 19 years old at
the time he was training in Wales
Tim Klu – “Al Klugiewicz remembers training at Blaeneu Ffestiniog, he remembers the flooding and believes so much equipment was lost.”
Aloysius Klugiewicz in Germany 1945
And here is Al, at 102 and a half years old, in February 2019 at an 83rd reunion dinner.
