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
The Royal Highland Fusiliers of Canada Infantry regiment participated in the D-Day landings, disembarking at Nan sector on Juno Beach on June 6, 1944 with the rest of the 9th Brigade, which consisted of The Highland Light Infantry, the Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Highlanders, and the North Nova Scotia Highlanders. These regiments were not in the first wave assault, but landed later in the morning and advanced through the lead brigades. The regiment contributed an aggregate of more than 20% of its authorized strength to the various Task Forces which served in Afghanistan between 2002 and 2014. Battle honours in small capitals are for large operations