An aerial view of a section of the Mulberry artificial harbour. Commencing on 9 June 1944, the ...

An aerial view of a section of the Mulberry artificial harbour. Commencing on 9 June 1944, the block ships (known as Corn Cobs) and the outer concrete blocks (known as Phoenix and Bombardons) were sunk into position and anchored to form an outer breakwater (note the difference in sea state on each side of the breakwater). The calm inner water was known as a Gooseberry which provided shelter for the five main invasion beaches (Gold, Juno, Sword, Omaha and Utah). Two of these Gooseberries were developed into fully functioning harbours and these became known as Mulberries. Mulberry A was constructed at Omaha Beach at Saint Laurent sur Mer for American use and Mulberry B for the British and Canadians at Gold Beach at Arromanches. Visible (centre, top) is an unloading platform made up from a series of piers (known as Spuds), where ships could tie up and unload. Spuds were anchored to the sea floor and were designed to move with the tide on their vertical legs. Connected to the Spuds were sections of steel piers (known as Whales) which were supported by pontoons (known as Beetles). Whales and Beetles were joined to form a floating roadway which connected the Spud to the beach. Using this method, many thousands of vehicles, supplies and soldiers were safely brought ashore in the fortnight after the invasion. Unlike the British with Mulberry B, the Americans regarded Mulberry A as temporary, and in their haste to get it operational, failed to anchor the outer breakwater and other components to the sea bed. When severe storms hit the French coast on 19 - 22 June 1944, much of Mulberry A was destroyed and further assembly ceased. Mulberry B survived and was used for another eight months. It was renamed Port Winston and was used to land over two and a half million men, 500,000 vehicles and 4,000,000 tonnes of supplies. The remains of Port Winston are still visible today from the beaches at Arromanches.