Mulberry Harbour
After the experiences of the Dieppe Raid in August 1942, planners had come to the conclusion that it would be impossible to secure an existing functioning Port on the Normandy Coast. Therefore, in planning and preparing for D-Day, the allies included the pre-fabrication of two floating harbours – one for the American Landings to be situated off St Laurent and the other in support of British & Canadian
Landings off Arromanches.
It was partly their awareness of the lack of harbouring which led the German High Command to be sceptical of an attack on the Normandy coast. For the allied plan to be free to ignore the need to capture a working harbour, allowed much more room for manoeuvre in planning.
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