The small town of Arromanches on the Northern
coast of France is today the centre for British and many
other visitors to the D Day Landing Beaches.
There
were five landing beaches code-named Utah, Omaha,Gold,
Juno and Sword. The first two were the American beaches,
Gold was British, Juno was designated as Canadian and
Sword included British and 'Allied' (meaning in essence
French commandos).
In
order to re-supply the invasion after the initial landings
two concrete floating harbours named 'Mulberries' were
towed across the Channel. One was assembled off Omaha
beach and the other off Arromanches at the end of Gold
beach.
Thirteen
days after the landings of 6 June 1944 a fierce storm
destroyed the harbour off Omaha but the one at Arromanches
survived and many of the concrete caissons that formed
the harbour are still in place today offering a graphic
picture of time past.
There
is a formidable museum at Arromanches which shows and
tells the story of the harbour and the town has become
the centre of pilgrimage each year for many hundreds of
British veterans.
We
tell the story of the Mulberries and what there is to
see and to do in our guide book to the Normandy D-Day
Landing beaches. Click HERE
to find out more.
