Mulberry harbour the armoured vehicles would be able to operate on the beach or become bogged down. The final survey, Operation Bellpush Charlie, occurred on the night of 30-31 January but limited information was gathered due to fog and because German lookouts heard the craft. Further sorties were abandoned. On the afternoon of 6 June 1944 (D-Day) over 400 towed component parts (weighing approximately 1.5 million tons) set sail to create the two Mulberry harbours. It included all the blockships (codenamed Corncobs) to create the outer breakwater (Gooseberries) and 146 concrete caissons (Phoenixes). At Arromanches, the first Phoenix was sunk at dawn
Dick Pirrie VFA. He enlisted in the Royal Australian Navy during World War II. Temporary Sub-Lieutenant Richard Perrie was the first member of the Australian Navy to be killed in action during the landings at Normandy on D-Day (6 June 1944). He was mentioned in dispatches (MiD): Dick Pirrie Richard Michael Pirrie (6 June 1920 – 6 June 1944) was an Australian rules footballer who played with Hawthorn in the Victorian Football League (VFL). The son of Richard Francis Pirrie (1879-1962), and Isobel Agatha Pirrie (1897-1982), née McGuire, Richard Michael Pirrie was born in Hawthorn on 6 June 1920. He attended St