Sailing Through History: The Beaulieu River’s WW2 Legacy

First Class Sailing tutors will often sail on the Beaulieu River, and you could too when you sign up to one of our RYA sailing courses. But did you know about the river’s wartime history?

The Beaulieu River is not just known for its natural beauty and fantastic sailing opportunities, but it also has incredible naval history and shipbuilding history. For example, Buckler’s Hard, a shipyard on the river, had launched over fifty Royal Navy vessels between 1745 and 1814. By the 20th century, the area had become a leisure destination with regattas and the Beaulieu River Sailing Club.

But when the Second World War broke out, the peace that had been on the river for so long, was broken. After Luftwaffe bombing raids on nearby shipyards on Southampton water in 1940, the Admiralty moved minesweeper fitting-out operations to the Beaulieu River, and barges were also converted into landing craft to be used in later operations.

In 1942, the Admiralty requisitioned the entire river and the same year, Exbury House, home of the de Rothschild family, was taken over with just 48 hours’ notice. It became HMS Mastodon, a Combined Operations base focused on landing craft logistics, maintenance, and crew training.

Additional facilities sprang up along the river, the scale of operations reflected growing preparations for a major amphibious assault: D-Day.

This included contributions to the Mulberry Harbour project. In 1943, an old oyster bed at Clobb Copse was dredged and concrete pontoons known as Beetles were made there, forming essential components of the floating harbour used off the Normandy beaches.

On 6 June 1944, landing craft began their journey from the Beaulieu River toward the beaches of Normandy for the D-Day operation. Many men never returned, and by early 1945, the river’s military role had diminished. The Beaulieu Estate was given back control of the river. But today it’s possible to see signs of its wartime past – if you know where to look.

Perhaps you might spot something from WW2 when on an RYA sailing course with us?

Nowadays Buckler’s Hard is home to a charming pub called the Master Builders. It is not uncommon for our boats to head up the Beaulieu River to Buckler’s hard for an evening/night.

Here’s other locations we will likely visit when teaching you how to sail.

Blog written by Marc Heighway of the New Forest & Hampshire Wartime Association.

Posted by: First Class Sailing