As we approach the 68th anniversary of the Landings, a stay in the touristic area of Bayeux-Bessi ...[+]
"As we have no harbour at our disposal, we shall bring ours": Those were Winston Churchill's words to Lord Mountbatten a little before the landing operations in Normandy in June 1944. True feats of engineering, the artificial harbours of Arromanches and Omaha Beach were the key to the Allies' victory in Europe. This is the story of the most important operation of military engineering since Antiquity!
Code name "Mulberry"
Just after 6th June 1944, the success of the landing operations and the rest of the campaign depended entirely on how fast the reinforcements and supplies would arrive in Normandy. As the existing ports could not be captured, the solution was to bring prefabricated harbours to the Norman coast: the Mulberries. Built in England in absolute secrecy, the different components of the harbours were towed across the Channel and assembled off the beaches of Normandy. Today, Phoenix caissons can still be seen off Arromanches.
Churchill originally planned the construction of two temporary harbours: Mulberry A, off Omaha Beach, for the supply of the American troops, and Mulberry B, off Arromanches, for the British troops. On 19th June 1944, a large storm blew over the Channel, and Mulberry A, which was not as far advanced as Mulberry B, could not withstand the breaking waves. The destruction of the Phoenix caissons was a disaster. More than half of them were shattered in the storm. Those that could be saved were used for the port of Arromanches and the project of a Mulberry for the American forces was abandoned.
7000 tonnes per day
The construction of the artificial harbours required 45 000 workers during 8 months. Huge hollow concrete blocks and old hulks were sunk to form a breakwater, thus ensuring a zone of sheltered water for each port. Behind this protection, metallic piers and offloading platforms, which moved up and down with the tide, were installed. The assembled structure constituted floating roadways to the shore, that could withstand tanks weighing 40 tonnes.
The port of Arromanches was operational on 15th June and was used until November 1944. On average 7000 tonnes of equipment were unloaded every day. At the end of the second week in August, the Mulberry harbour saw the landing of more than 10 000 vehicles and 120 000 men. The artificial ports enabled the Allies to get their supplies more efficiently than what the German could send to Normandy. The success of the Battle of Normandy and Europe's future hinged on the floating piers of the Mulberries.
It was the first museum built in commemoration of the 6th June 1944 landings and the Battle of Normandy. In the museum, a large bay window offers a view over the vestiges of Mulberry B, whilst an animated model of the Mulberry illustrate the ingenuity and modernism of the installations, moving up and down with the tides. An archive film made by the British admiralty, and a collection of objects and military uniforms enrich the visit.
AGENDA
D-Day Festival Normandy 2011
4th to 7th of June
Download the programme
VISITES
D-Day Museum Arromanches
More info
D-Day Landings and Battle of Normandy
