Arromanches lies along the stretch of coastline, designated Gold Beach, that was liberated by British troops. Within 12 days after D-Day on June 6, 1944, Arromanches was transformed into a Mulberry Harbor (temporary and portable), one of two such harbors built along the Normandy coast to offload troops and supplies to support the Allied troops.
 The second Mulberry Harbor, was located at Omaha Beach to support the American landing troops. It was destroyed by a large storm only days after it began to operate.
These temporary harbors at Gold Beach and Omaha Beach were built in great secrecy, while the Allies were still under fire from German troops. To form “Port Winston,” the synthetic harbor at Gold Beach, a protective breakfront was floated over from England under cover of night, made up of 17 derelict ships, sunk end-to-end 1½ miles offshore, supplemented by 115 cement blocks (“block ships”), each the size of a football field.
Together these shielded the landing vessels against turbulent seas, opening an entry point into the Nazi’s “fortress Europe” through which soldiers, vehicles and provisions were supplied for the march across France, then on to Germany, to liberate Europe from the Nazis and bring World War II to a close.
Within the area protected by the breakfront, 10 miles of floating pontoon roads were constructed to offload vehicles, troops and supplies. Although Port Winston was designed to last only 3 months, it was heavily used for 10 months, offloading a total of 2.5 million troops, 500,000 vehicles, and 4 million tons of needed supplies.
Sections of Arromanches Mulberry Harbor still remain today, with huge concrete blocks sitting in the sand and farther out at sea.
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