Mulberry harbour at Arromanches

They say that there are seven wonders of the modern world but the erection of the mulberry harbour at Arromanches,Normany ,France on Gold Beach on this week 57 years ago in June 1944 must be the number eight. For the landings in Normandy to succeed the Allies needed a harbour to supply the invading troops with arms,ammunition and rations. However, all the harbours close by at Cherbourg, Dieppe, St.Malo were heavily fortified and defended by the Germans therefore the Allies could not wait until these were liberated, so they decided that they themselves would have to build an artificial harbour. General Eisenhower agreed that Operation Overlord could not succeed without the use of artificial harbours.

In ordinary circumstances it is an enormous undertaking to build a harbour but to build a floating harbour under enemy fire was a gargantuan task. Meanwhile all the English naval shipyards were fully occupied building landing craft therefore special basins had to be excavated along the banks of the Thames in which the caissons for the harbour could be constructed. Over 8,000 men worked for eight months to build these floating structures which, when finished together weighed nearly a million tonnes and in addition to the concrete used involved 110,000 tonnes of steel.

By the 6^th of June everything was ready. One hundred and thirty two tugs towed the parts of the bridges across the channel. On the 7^th of June in front of the beaches obsolete warships and merchant ships were scuttled and sunk to form breakwaters for the harbours. On the 8^th of June the tugs with their parts for the harbour intact arrived in sight of the beaches. The mission now was to unscramble the parts like a jigsaw and to install them in position quickly and bring it into service with all possible speed.

By June 16^th the harbour was assembled and the unloading of vehicles and supplies commenced. Now the allies had a route directly from the ships unto the beaches and they could unload tonnage of 5,000 and 1,400 vehicles daily and so the Allied push towards Germany and liberation of Europe was very much on. The Allies weakest link no harbour to supply their invading troops inland had now become their strongest link with a constant supply of tanks, ammunition, vehicles and rations.

The construction of the Mulberries was probably the greatest engineering enterprise undertaken since the Persian armies crossed over the Bosphorous, on a pontoon bridge, in BC 480.

Arromanches lies about six miles north of Bayeau and you can see the remains of the Mulberry harbours at the foreshore. Arromanches houses a fine museum and it stands on the very site of the artificial harbour. One of the many interesting aspects of a visit to the museum is offered by a series of very detailed scale models, some of them animated, which demonstrate the movement of the tides. The interplay of lighting and sound effects places the viewer in realistic surroundings and helps to understand what went on along the Normandy coast from that dawn on the 6^th of June 1944. The Arromanches Museum is a memorial to the events of 1944 and is a means of enabling younger generations to learn and understand what happened on Gold Beach 1944. It is a fitting and lasting memorial to those who came across the sea, some in their 20s, to give their lived to liberate Europe.

If you have an interest in modern history Arromanches as a source is a must and it is also a very beautiful seaside resort with golden beach.