D-Day
In August 1943, Rosneath was again taken over by the U.S.N. as their main receiving station for American naval activities in Britain and a major supply, maintenance and training centre for the U.S.N. build-up to ' D- Day': the invasion of France.
On 6 June 1944, the Allied forces landed in Normandy. The USN Eleventh Amphibious Force gunfire support group, which had trained at Rosneath, provided rocket and artillery fire in support of the invading troops during the difficult landing on Omaha beach.
After D-Day, Rosneath continued as an American supply and training base and the Portkil hospital served as place of rest and medical care for the injured. As the Allied advance into Europe continued, a gradual reduction of American naval forces in Britain took place. Rosneath Base remained busy however as surplus ships and landing craft were prepared for transfer to the British and Russian navies under lend-lease' arrangements.
Russian sailors became a common site at the base as they arrived to man
ships for the voyage to Soviet ports. Marines of the Royal Netherlands
Navy were also training at Rosneath during this period.
In June 1945, Rosneath Base was decommissioned by the U.S.N. and finally
returned to British control.
During 1946, a proposal to renovate the base facilities for use as a combined operations establishment was considered then cancelled and in 1948, the base was closed. With the exception of the tank farm area and the adjacent land to the north which was originally retained by the Admiralty to house new sheds for inshore minesweepers, the former base industrial area and Clachan House accommodation section around Rosneath village were eventually cleared to make way for housing, a new church and a new school.
It is over fifty years since the base was demolished and, with the exception of some rusty sheds and oil tanks, little evidence now remains of the wartime American presence. The recent publication of a history of the base entitled USN Base Two: Americans at Rosneath 1941-45 by local author Dennis Royal created local interest in the possibility of erecting a memorial to Rosneath Base. A memorial fund was established and with donations from many local and national sources, a memorial cairn was built on a site over looking Rosneath Bay.