Contents

RM Instow

RM Instow
Located near InstowinDevon
Royal Marines Base, Instow
RM Instow Location within Devon
Coordinates	51°03′29″N 4°10′33″W / 51.05815°N 4.17588°W / 51.05815; -4.17588
Type	Royal Marines Barracks
Site information
Owner	Ministry of Defence
Operator	Royal Navy
Controlled by	Royal Marines
Condition	Operational
Site history
Built	1939 (1939)
Built for	Admiralty
In use	1939-Present
Garrison information
Occupants	11 Amphibious Trials and Training Squadron

RM Instow, also known as Arromanches Camp, is a military installation operated by the Royal MarinesatInstowinNorth Devon located 5.2 miles (8.4 km) south west of Barnstaple, Devon, and 3.2 miles (5.1 km) north east of Bideford, Devon, England.

The site, which was established in 1939, was used as a training facility for troops preparing for the Normandy landingsatArromanchesonGold Beach in June 1944 during the Second World War. In the 1970s the towns of Instow and Arromanches instigated an arrangement whereby families visited each other's town every other year staying with a host family.^[1]

The site is split into two different areas, firstly the camp where the workshops and accommodation are located and secondly the beach located 1.2 miles (1.9 km) south-west which is where the main landing craft are based. The site is occupied by 11 Amphibious Trials and Training Squadron and the Amphibious Trials and Development Wing (ATDW), both of which are part of 47 Commando (Raiding Group), which carries out training for operations which include disembarking from landing craft, wading across a water gap of up to 1.5m (4 ft 6 inches) in depth, an activity known as fording, and arriving at a beachhead.^[2] The site is also used for trialling new landing craft: the Royal Marines have been moving away from the use of flat-bottomed landing craft or DUKWs to armed powerboats.^[3] The site is available for filming.^[4]