Empire ship the Normandy invasion depended on the successful construction of the Mulberry ports. These were prefabricated ports, constructed at Southampton, Gosport, Portsmouth, Tilbury Docks, and even as far north as Birkenhead and Hartlepool. Two hundred tugs then took three months to tow the components of the harbours from where they were constructed to assembly areas on the South Coast. Between 7 June 1944 and the end of July, the tugs towed the materials across the channel to Normandy. Before D-Day, sixty old merchant ships and four old warships were selected as blockships, to be scuttled in a line to give protection
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