All the heroic deeds of the D-Day battles fought 68 years ago earned a place of honour in the history books – but one part of the Allied invasion which has always had pride of place both in military annals and war films actually had its roots in a Cornish seaside town.

Now the Castle Heritage Centre at Bude is creating a series of new displays focussing on the famous assault carried out by the Second Battalion US Rangers – and staff are looking for memorabilia associated with the American troops and their short but memorable time in Cornwall.

Anyone who has seen films featuring the D-Day landings (including The Longest Day) will have marvelled at the sight of soldiers scaling huge cliffs on flimsy ropes under enemy fire – the scenes are based on the extraordinary vertical assault mounted by the US Rangers on gun emplacements at Pointe du Hoc on the Cotentin Peninsula in Northern France.

It was one of the deadliest small-scale battles of the invasion – by nightfall on June 6, only 90 of the 255 Americans who began the attack were left to hold the position they had gained at the top of the cliff. Many of their comrades were lying dead on the beach far below, having been strafed with machine-gun fire as they climbed.

Their terrifying but vital vertical battle has gone down in history. Though what's not generally known is that these men not only spent months training for the assault by ascending similar cliffs near Bude, but that almost all of them were housed by local people during their time in Cornwall.

"Because all the hotels and guesthouses in the town were already full of American soldiers serving with the artillery, the Rangers were billeted two at a time with local families," said heritage centre manager Patricia Wright.

"We believe this was the only time during the war that foreign troops were sent to live in people's homes."

Staff at the centre are hoping there will be some local people who remember the US Rangers living and training in the area 68 years ago.

"You may have a story you'd like to tell us about the time the GIs were 'overpaid, over-sexed and over here' in Bude," said Mrs Wright.

"Or you may have tucked away photographs which, with your permission, we'd appreciate a copy of for the display."

Mrs Wright said she would welcome the loan or donation of any photographs, souvenirs, trinkets, postcards or object from a US Ranger as a memento or gift when he left for the D-Day landings.

She added: "These Rangers trained in Bude in preparation to be landed on a narrow strip of shingle at the base of 100ft cliffs, to climb fully laden with all their gear, and destroy the huge German guns on the Pointe du Hoc that were thought to overlook and threaten the landings on both Utah and Omaha beaches.

"Bude has a unique place in the history of this famous action and here at the Castle Heritage Centre, we want to remember them," she added.