NORMANDY 

Normandy battle - Arromanches and its artificial port

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From Ouistreham, the D 54 follows the shore from the length of the Cote de Nacre, with a well signposted CIRCUIT DE DEBARQUEMENT indicating everything related to the Landing. The first three landing beaches lying between Ouistreham and Port-en-Bessin were given the code names SWORD, JUNO, and GOLD where British and Canadian troops disembarked. 
Today memorials are being added to town centres and new museums opened to honour a particular troop division or action. And life goes on: some visitors come to COURSEULLES-SUR-MER to see a Sherman tank dragged out of the sea in 1971to decorate its waterfront, others enjoy the best oysters of Normandy J.
Near the village of St. Come a windy viewpoint overlooks the port of ARROMANCHES-LES-BAINS.
It is a common mistake to imagine this little bath station as a landing beach of WWII. Nevertheless it is in a certain way.
Arromanches became one of the MAIN SHRINES OF HISTORY OF THE BATTLE OF NORMANDY thanks to the unimaginable floating and ingenious artificial port built here for helping the Allied.  The Mulberry harbour and considered as the most incredible technical prowess of WWII.
"Those who possess the ports, possess Europe" was one of the German's beliefs. But malicious and clever as they were, Churchill and Lord Mountbatten, had found the repartee: if one cannot conquer the coast harbours, too well guarded, why not bring one of your own??
So "The Mulberry", vast floating prefabricated port, was built in 1943 in England, highest top-secret level! The project was aware of the stakes: 115 giant reinforced concrete lockers, weighing each 7000 tons, which will serve as wave-breakers along a distance of 5 miles.

Washed up Mulberry caisson

22 metallic platforms supported by props hooked on the bottom of the sea will figure the landing piers. Immense roads on cable-buoys, connected to the beaches by telescopic elements, will enable the transport of vehicles, materials and troops. And to make the dispositions complete, 60 boats will voluntarily be scuttled off Arromanches, 146 caissons (hollow rectangular concrete boxes) to form a semi circular harbour wall to keep the harbour safe from the surge. On June 9, the elements arrive, hauled by 200 towing-vessels. During 100 days, the port of Arromanches will be more productive than any other in the world at the same epoch. 2.5 million men, 500.000 vehicles and 4 million tons of war material will have passed over its wharves!!
The Musée du Débarquement in Arromanches (tel 0231223431) has photographs and admiralty films of “Port Winston” in action, complete with barrage balloons, battleships and tanks rolling ashore. Thrilling! Dozens of display-windows with objects of those times, some are very rare. Most interesting are the very well made small-scale models of the artificial port. A diorama of 7 minutes exposes very clearly the first Landing manoeuvres. Open every day, except in January.
Another interesting site to visit is the CIRCULAR MOVIE-THEATER (tel 0231223030) on the slopes of Arromanches, identical to the one at Futuroscope in Poitiers. Open 7 days a week. A film lasting 15 minutes, called "Le Prix de la Liberte", reunites yesterday's and today's images to give the spectator the impression to revive the most formidable military adventure of the 20th century.
Heading now for BAYEUX, visit the BATTERIE OF LONGUES-SUR-MER. Four concrete casemates and their commanding post are still on display. Impressive.  

Ouistreham

Arromanches artificial port

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