5th June: D-Day tank at Lepe

Lepe Beach on Spring Bank Holiday

Monday 31st of May was the Spring Bank Holiday and coincided with a very brief spell of hot weather. I was on the afternoon shift and made the mistake of approaching Lepe via Blackfield only to find a queue of cars waiting to get into the top car park. I had to try to drive down the wrong side of the road to get to the training hut parking space. Twice I was met by a car coming the other way and had to back all the way back; finally I made it. There was disapproving comment from cars in the queue but it was they who were causing a road block preventing cars driving past Lepe towards Exbury. The beach looks less full in the photo than it did at the time, but after all, people are still supposed  to be social distancing!

The following weekend, 5th June marked the D-Day commemoration and there was a display in the training hut and and one of the amphibious “duplex drive” tanks, as used in the D-Day landings, was on dsiplay in the upper car park area.