Caissons at Arromanches
At the start of the D-Day invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944, 24,000 British, US, and Canadian airborne troops landed shortly after midnight, and Allied infantry and armored divisions began arriving on the coast of France in amphibious landing craft a few hours later.
The invasion’s planners had anticipated the need to quickly establish a port for larger ships carrying supplies and troops, but realized that it might take months to capture the German-held deep-water harbors at Le Havre or Cherbourg.
So they built one, overnight. Actually two, at Omaha Beach and Arromanches-les-Bains, but a fierce storm destroyed the one at Omaha within a few days.
The British built huge floating concrete caissons which were towed across the Channel and assembled to form pontoon walls and piers linked to the land by floating roadways. During the 100 days of operation of the port, 2.5 million men, 500,000 vehicles, and 4 million tons of material were landed.
The remains of the caissons can still be seen on the beach at Arromanches.
The invasion’s planners had anticipated the need to quickly establish a port for larger ships carrying supplies and troops, but realized that it might take months to capture the German-held deep-water harbors at Le Havre or Cherbourg.
So they built one, overnight. Actually two, at Omaha Beach and Arromanches-les-Bains, but a fierce storm destroyed the one at Omaha within a few days.
The British built huge floating concrete caissons which were towed across the Channel and assembled to form pontoon walls and piers linked to the land by floating roadways. During the 100 days of operation of the port, 2.5 million men, 500,000 vehicles, and 4 million tons of material were landed.
The remains of the caissons can still be seen on the beach at Arromanches.
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