Leaving Bayeux behind us we drove straight north to Arromanches, where the Gold Landing Beach Site lies a bit to the east. The D-Day landing sites were Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, and Sword.
map of the landing beaches @Arromanches
At each beach there is something to see to remember this important day. Near Gold beach in Arromanches a brand new D-Day museum had only recently opened. It focuses on the construction of the artificial harbor on that beach. I’ve never heard about that before, so shame on me. But I was willing to learn and the museum would do the trick here. It was clear from the arrival in Arromanches what the message was.
graffiti @Arromanches
After a quick lunch at the Hotel de Normandie, which I rather want to forget, we walked for a bit along the beach and soaked up the sunshine. As daunting a wide sandy beach must have been on that day in 1944, today it looks fabulous. It was low tide when we strolled along and watched others enjoy the sunny afternoon. Some brave at heart even went for a swim, but I felt not inclined to do that. Below you can see what’s left of the artificial harbor.
sandy beach @Arromanches
The newly re-opened landing site museum was fascinating. The different landing sites and how they fared made up the first part of the exhibition. Then we learned all about the biggest man-made harbor and how it was constructed. It was truly a technical conquest. First caissons filled with water were sunk to the bottom of the sea, on top of that were put some large steel boxes as wave breakers. A floatable dock in T-form was the main feature with a long floating track for the unloading. The floating part was genius as with it the tide made no difference.
D-Day landing site museum @Arromanches
Three possible constructions had been tested in the North Sea and the final model was chosen by a severe storm. Only the one construction survived intact. After landing on June 6, the Americans and the British started to build the pontoon harbor right away. The Americans on Omaha beach finished it first in a rush. After using the artificial harbor once on June 18, a severe storm hit Normandy on June 19 and the American construction got destroyed and was inoperative.
The British one, which wasn’t finished at the time of the storm, got damaged as well, but could be repaired again using salvageable parts from the American harbor. In November ‘44 the harbor and the floating docking stations got already dissembled again. They had done their duty and the material was needed elsewhere. More on the Mulberry Harbor can be found here.
The museum showed only a little bit of what made the D-Day landing and the following days successful, but what a necessary commitment. It was totally worth the time we spent here and the exhibition was well prepared. Even a technical dummy like myself could understand the details of the pontoon bridge and the artificial harbor. What a success story! Yours, Pollybert
D-Day landing museum @Arromanches
