A long standing wartime anecdote linking some of the most famous Allied leaders to the famous Fort Henry observation post in Studland, Dorset, has been challenged by fresh evidence.
It is frequently repeated that King George VI, Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and future USA President Dwight D Eisenhower all stood in Fort Henry in April 1944 to observe Operation Smash, the first time amphibious tanks had been used in action.
Canadian tanks land on Studland beach during Operation Pirate in 1943
Large scale assault exercises
But new research published in the British Journal for Military History suggests much of that story is inaccurate, including the revelation that Winston Churchill never stood at the observation window of Fort Henry.
Historian and archaeologist Dante Dunbabin, who lives in Poole, Dorset, has spent years examining private war diaries, official military records and Canadian archives while writing a book about Studland’s role to prepare for the Normandy landings.
His findings conclude that while Fort Henry played a central role in a series of large scale assault exercises ahead of D-Day, neither Churchill nor Eisenhower ever visited the observation post at Redend Point, although they certainly visited Swanage and Studland on other occasions.
Dante’s research on Canadian and British assault training at Studland for Operation Overlord, the D-Day Normandy landings in June 1944, was published by the British Journal for Military History in its April 2026 edition.
And a book taking a deeper look into the history of Studland’s wartime role will eventually be published once more research has been conducted into the impressive anti invasion defences there.
Information boards at Fort Henry, Redend Point, tell only part of its history
So many wartime greats at Studland
One source of the story is the 1990 book Dorset at War: Diary of WW2 by Rodney Legg, but his books are generally remembered for their popular entertainment value rather than historical accuracy.
However Dante believes the urban myth around Fort Henry is due to the proximity of so many wartime greats around Studland in 1943 and 1944, or their presence at Studland earlier in the war.
Winston Churchill visited Studland in July 1940 to inspect the construction of defences against a German invasion, while both Dwight D Eisenhower and the five-star US General Omar Bradley visited American troops in Swanage during April 1944.
King George VI did visit Fort Henry, but to watch a Canadian exercise called Savvy in February 1944, and not Exercise Smash, as previously believed.
Savvy, to establish that field artillery fired from ships could provide useful support to the invasion of Normandy beaches, was held at Studland with the king and other top brass, including General Bernard Montgomery, watching from Fort Henry.
The king travelled to Swanage via royal train early in the morning of Saturday 12th February 1944, and breakfast was served in a marquee at Redend Point.
Dante Dunbabin at the viewing window inside Fort Henry where many distinguished visitors stood – but not Winston Churchill
“Makes Fort Henry even more important”
Dante Dunbabin, an undergraduate at the University of Exeter, said:
“After visiting Fort Henry for several years, I always had doubts about the presence of Eisenhower, Churchill and Mountbatten for Exercise Smash, and what I found in the archives confirmed that very little of Fort Henry’s history had been published.
“With my interest in anti invasion defences and pillboxes, I expanded out into more serious research and started going through the Canadian archives and stumbled across all the war diaries there – frankly, there was so much information to go through.
“Although Churchill and Eisenhower did not visit for Exercise Smash, I think this new knowledge makes the building even more important.
“Rather than just an observation post for largely political guests, Fort Henry was used by those who directly shaped the Normandy Landings and made Operation Overlord a success.”
One of the viewing windows at Fort Henry, built so that military top brass could assess the success of beach assaults
“It could just be a slip of memory”
Dante added:
“I don’t think there’s one individual source where this myth came from – that so many dignitaries gathered in Fort Henry to watch Operation Smash.
“We know for a fact that Eisenhower did visit Swanage by train, to visit the US 1st Division, specifically the 26th Regiment that was based in Swanage at the time, but there’s no evidence that he visited Studland.
“We know the King came to Studland, after arriving in Swanage on the Royal train, but for Exercise Savvy rather than Smash, and we know Churchill visited Studland on Wednesday 17th July 1940 as part of a tour of anti invasion defences – there’s a photograph of him on Knoll Beach.
“Other dignitaries did visit Fort Henry – Montgomery on three occasions, Field Marshall Lord Alanbrooke in July 1940, while Mountbatten briefly visited Shell Bay in February 1943.
“Obviously Smash has had a lot of press coverage due to the DD amphibious tanks and it could just be a slip of memory because so many high profile people were in the area at the time.”
A British sailor keeps careful watch on the Canadian assault force at Studland during the training exercise Operation Pirate in 1943
Canadians got stuck in sand dunes
Fort Henry was built in September and October 1943 by 12 Field Company, Royal Canadian Engineers for Exercise Pirate, the first large scale, live fire, rehearsal for the Normandy landings, so that senior officers and politicians could watch the exercise.
Dante’s research also blew another myth out of the water, that Studland was selected as a training area due to its similarity to the French coast.
Despite popular opinion, Studland was selected as a training area as it was the only available area of unpopulated coastland near Portsmouth, Poole and Portland.
The Canadians greatly disliked it – there are multiple references to their vehicles getting stuck in sand dunes as they tried to negotiate Little Sea – while one British officer went as far as saying ‘the Studland Bay area is boggy, small and bears no resemblance to the French Coast.’
A tank tests its smokescreen before this Canadian landing craft reaches Middle Beach, Studland
“War diaries are incredibly detailed”
Dante Dunbabin said:
“British staff officers who were in charge of finding the training areas selected Studland essentially because it was the only place available, there was nowhere else remotely suitable.
“The Canadians were the first to use it and disliked it, but after they left and the British 50th Division took over there are references to them quite liking Studland.
“We are lucky that Fort Henry was built by 1st Canadian Corps Engineers, as Canadian war diaries are incredibly detailed and tell us much about this hugely important building.
“There is nothing else quite like Fort Henry in the UK that conveys the significance of those exercises which made the D-Day landings a success.
“No one who goes to Redend Point can miss Fort Henry, the size and scale of it is really impressive. It’s a big reminder of the scale of the exercises which saw about 20,000 people landing on Studland Beach.”
War correspondents from Canadian and British media had a slightly choppier experience of Operation Pirate
Further information
- Read Dante’s full article at the British Journal for Military History
