Arromanches France

Legendary

See where British forces stormed this Normandy beach and built a Mulberry harbour to bring men and supplies to the front lines.

Photo by Rennett Stowe

At low tide today, giant concrete blocks still poke out of the sand at Arromanches. They're leftovers from one of the boldest tricks of World War II.

The Allies didn't capture a port here. They built one from scratch, then towed the pieces across the English Channel.

D-Day happened on June 6, 1944. It was the largest invasion by sea in history.

Nearly 160,000 Allied troops landed along the coast of Normandy that day. The fighting was brutal. Around 4,400 Allied soldiers died, and total losses, including the wounded and missing, were closer to 10,000.

The Allies knew capturing a real port fast enough would be almost impossible. So they built two artificial harbours instead, called Mulberry Harbours.

One went up at Omaha Beach for the Americans. It was called Mulberry A. The other went up at Arromanches for the British and Canadians. It was called Mulberry B.

A storm wrecked Mulberry A just two weeks after D-Day. Mulberry B at Arromanches survived.

Mulberry B was only supposed to last three months. It ended up running for close to five.

In its first 100 days, it moved 2.5 million men, 500,000 vehicles, and 4 million tons of supplies. Those numbers kept the whole Allied army moving forward across France.

Huge concrete blocks, called Phoenixes, were sunk into the sea to block the waves. This made it calm enough for ships to safely unload. Floating roads connected the harbour to the beach, so trucks and tanks could drive straight off the ships and onto French soil.

Walk the beach at low tide and see the giant concrete pieces still sitting where they were left 80 years ago. Visit the D-Day Museum right on the seafront, where small models show exactly how the harbour worked. Watch real war footage at Arromanches 360, a round cinema that surrounds you with pictures from the battle.