THE UNSUNG HEROES OF D-DAY ...NO, NOT THE TROOPS

The armada of Allied landing craft deployed in the liberation of France 80 years ago was a miracle of design, a masterpiece of construction and as vital to the invasion's success as the brave men who travelled to war in them

- Andrew Whitmarsh

WITHOUT them, the invasion of Normandy simply couldn't have taken place. Not the thousands of heroic troops who stormed the beaches, but the very craft that carried them across the English Channel for the liberation of Europe.

And the creation of the armada of small craft used on June 6, 1944, is a fascinating story in its own right.

Arguably, the D-Day landings were won as much by the welders, riveters and stores' clerks who built and supplied the weapons and equipment as the assault troops who courageously fought and died to establish a foothold ashore.

Clearly both groups played their part, and as contemporary reports from Ukraine regularly remind us, courage and munitions are both essential in war. The scale of Allied forces and equipment is one of the most striking aspects of the Normandy Landings.

Nearly 156,000 well-equipped troops landed by sea and air on the first day alone, delivered by nearly 7,000 ships and landing craft, and supported by some 11,600 aircraft. 

Once ashore in France, the wide range of vehicles used by Allied armies would require some 8,000 tons of fuel per day.

Later in the campaign, the Allies deployed the amazing British engineering innovation that was the "Mulberry" artificial harbours: two ports, each the size of Dover Harbour, towed to France in sections and assembled off the beaches.

One soon came to grief in a major storm. Another specially developed British technology was PLUTO, or the Pipeline Under the Ocean a system of underwater pipes used to transport fuel across the English Channel more easily and securely than by ship. In practice, PLUTO's use during the Normandy fighting was limited because it could not be deployed until later than planned.