HMNB Portsmouth the military and naval units destined for Sword Beach on the Normandy coast as a part of Operation Overlord and the D-Day landings on 6 June 1944. Troops destined for each of the landing beaches left from Portsmouth aboard vessels such as the armed merchant cruisers HMCS "Prince Henry" and HMCS "Prince David", escorted by the Canadian destroyers HMCS "Algonquin" and "Sioux". The majority of the naval support for the operation left from Portsmouth, including the Mulberry Harbours. Boathouse 4 (built around the start of hostilities) contributed to the construction of landing craft and support vessels as well as more
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