Uncovering the legacy of the 101st Airborne Division at Hamstead Park in 1944

Hamstead Park has always been an important manor near Newbury.

The Grade II-listed estate was tied to the famous Marshal family in the 12th and 13th centuries and hosted the Craven dynasty from 1620, which acquired 20,000 acres of land in Berkshire.

But at the height of the Second World War, the park became home to the legendary ‘Screaming Eagles’ of the 101st Airborne Division.

Before D-Day, the 2nd Battalion of the 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment was billeted at the park under canvas, while the 1st and 3rd Battalions camped at Lambourn from January 1944.

Its sister regiment, the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, was encamped all across the Thames Valley, including at Aldbourne – known for the famous ‘Band of Brothers’.

Hundreds of troops lived in tents at Hamstead Park, as Parliamentary soldiers did before the First Battle of Newbury in 1643.

Electrical power lines ran overhead and leftover hardstanding remains where munitions stores once stood.

The 101st Airborne Division began arriving in the UK from September 1943, and completed training all over Berkshire and Wiltshire.

From Corn Exchange concerts to Cheap Street brawls, the troops worked and played hard in Newbury, soon drawing the attention of the curious locals.

Newbury women would deliver washing to the camp.

And Newbury schoolchildren cycled over after school and at weekends, where the soldiers taught them to fire guns, play cards and throw knifes. Many of the beech trees still bear the scars.

Newbury resident Allan Mercado has fond memories of the ‘Yankee Camp’.

He and his family moved from Highfield Road to Enborne Road.

He soon became acquainted with the American soldiers, who he said taught him to throw a Bowie knife.

“When you passed them as kids you’d say ‘got any gum, chum’, he recalled.

But one day when visitors arrived, all the soldiers had gone.

The 101st took off from the RAF airbases at Welford and Greenham Common for Normandy in June 1944 to take part in Operation Overlord.

After D-Day, the division returned to Hamstead Park to recuperate.

Mr Mercado still visits Hamstead Park during Remembrance, an experience he describes as “sentimental”.

The troops then set off again to fight in the Holland campaign in September 1944. Many would never return.

But one who left his mark was Lester Birky, who served as an automatic rifleman in the 501st Parachute Regiment.

Mr Birky was first billeted at Delamere Stables in Lambourn, but regrouped with the rest of his regiment at Hamstead Marshall after D-Day.

While staying at Hamstead Park, he carved his name and regimental insignia on a tree.

However, it was not until after Mr Birky’s death in 2002 that the carving was discovered.

In April 2011, his youngest son, David Birky, visited Littlecote House, Lambourn and Hamstead Park with his family.

A bronze casting of the carving is housed at the Kennet Valley at War Trust Museum.

A memorial stone dedicated to the 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment stands at Hamstead Park today.

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