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"In August, 1943, the base was again taken over by the US Navy for use as a training, supply and maintenance base for ships and units training for D-Day.

"Ships and men of the USN 11th Amphibious Force Gunfire Support Group trained at Rosneath and were involved in the bombardment of enemy positions overlooking the famous Utah Beach in Normandy as the initial waves of American assault craft hit the beach on D-Day, June 6, 1944."

After the Normandy invasion, the base housed thousands of survivors of the D-Day operations whose vessels had been sunk.

The memories moved centre-stage yesterday when a memorial was dedicated by Royal Navy chaplain Martin Poll.

Mr. Royal, who has also written a book about the base, United States Navy Base Two (please click  if you wish to purchase from our sponsor at Amazon.com. With air shipping the charge will be around $16.93 U.S.), which includes stories of some of the men and women who served there, admitted to feeling like a nervous wreck after all his work.

He said: "I will never do this again. It's hard going but it has been worthwhile."

The project was supported by the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, a US-based patriotic group, and the Anvil Trust, a local historical society. Numerous other people have made contributions including sailors who served at the base. 

The land for the memorial was donated by the Rosneath Castle Holiday Park.