Recording heritage and disseminating the untold stories of Second World War troops
The D-Day: Stories from the Walls project explores the stories of some of the American soldiers that passed through Southampton during the Second World War, and the city’s cruicial role in the war. Though their passage was comparatively fleeting, the legacy of these soldiers remains in the form of graffiti etched into walls near the docks.
Just one section of wall bearing this graffiti now remains, and in 2019-2020, the Maritime Archaeology Trust made a digital record of the wall and its inscriptions in order to preserve it for future generations. The project commemorated the 75th Anniversaries of D-Day, the Battle of the Bulge and VE day. Through a programme of fieldwork, research, exhibitions and outreach, it engaged volunteers and communities in the discovery of Southampton’s crucial role during the Second World War (WWII) and the stories behind the men who carved their names on the wall.
This project has been made possible by money raised by National Lottery players; it focuses on an important heritage feature of Southampton.
Explore the wall in 3D & view soldier stories
Through the project viewer you can explore the wall, zoom into the bricks and see the inscriptions. Open the left panel to scroll through the names so far recorded – this will take you to the place on the wall where you can see their inscription. It will also show further information in the right panel where different resources and the soldier’s story can be viewed using the icons at the top of the panel.
Read about the project
Visit the wall
You can easily visit the wall in person: it is on a public road with nearby parking. You could visit as part of our WWII Southampton Walking Tour, put together by volunteer Richard Wyatt:
You can download and have a go at our quiz here. The answers to the quiz are here – no cheating! There is also a history-themed geocaches in the area. Find the clues to it here!
Discover more
Find out more about our work on the Second World War:
