So we have been working very hard on this years events. We have a walk to remember & the friendly invasion event check out the events page for more info.
This year, 2026, marks the 82nd anniversary of D-Day and Operation Market Garden and for Ramsbury it also marks the 83rd anniversary of the “Friendly Invasion” when hundreds of American troops arrived here, making a temporary home in Wiltshire while they prepared for the Normandy invasion.
As well as the village of Ramsbury elements of the 101st Airborne Division were also stationed in Chilton Foliat, Froxfield and Aldbourne.
In Ramsbury, the 3rd Battalion of the 506 Parachute Infantry Regiment (PIR) set up camp in the Rookery Field, on the north side of the village just off Loves Lane. Many of the regiment’s officers were billeted in Parliaments Piece, which backs on to the field.
During the regiment’s time in the area they regularly exercised in fields and woodland surrounding the village including Love’s Copse, Pentico Wood and Littlecote Park. The 506th also ran the Division’s parachute jump school at Chilton Foliat.
In the week or so leading up to D-Day troops belonging to the US 82nd Airborne Divisiontravelled from Lincolnshire to RAF Ramsbury and on June 6th, 1944, they boarded 52 Planes belonging to the US 437th Troop Carrier Group and left RAF Ramsbury for Normandy, France to help liberate Europe from Nazi tyranny.
After six weeks of fighting in France the 506th returned to Wiltshire to recover and regroup and on 17th September left England for Holland as part of Operation Market Garden.
Our American friends were stationed here for over a year and together with British military units that were also quartered locally made a marked impact on village life. To remember this occasion we are putting together a number of events on Saturday 6th June to help celebrate this 82nd anniversary.
Our “Walk to Remember” is exactly that, we will walk in their footsteps from Hungerford to Ramsbury to remember the troops who fought for their countries and the sacrifices they made. We will stop at RAF Ramsbury Airfield to take a breath and lay a wreath for the fallen.
In the afternoon we will remember and celebrate the “keep calm and carry on English spirit” by bringing Camp Ramsbury to life once more with re-enactors, WW2 military vehicles, live music, refreshments and high spirits.
We hope this anniversary will encourage people to dig deeper into our community’s history and help raise much needed funds for military charities.