Remains of a Mulberry harbour from the D-Day invasion, Arromanches-les-Bains, Normandy, France

© Javier Gil/Alam

A bulwark of liberation. Engineering an artificial harbor in Normandy

For the 75th anniversary of D-Day, the beginning of the end of WWII, we’re focusing on the remains of a Mulberry harbour—one of the most impressive military engineering feats of the war. Knowing that the ability to land huge numbers of men, vehicles, and supplies would be crucial to the Allies’ success in the invasion of Normandy, Winston Churchill challenged his forces to come up with artificial harbors that could be towed into place and operational within days of the initial landings.Over 40,000 men were involved in the creation of two harbors that were installed at Omaha and Gold Beaches beginning on June 9, 1944, and which were completed just six days later. The harbors included breakwaters comprising sunken decommissioned ships, pre-built concrete caissons, 33 jetties, and over 10 miles of roadways. A violent storm on June 19 destroyed the harbor at Omaha Beach, but Mulberry B, at Arromanches, survived and by the time it was abandoned six months later it had landed 2.5 million men, 500,000 vehicles, and 4 million tons of supplies into northern France.