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
Order of battle for the American airborne landings in Normandy RAF Exeter Brig. Gen. Harold L. Clark at RAF Cottesmore Brig. Gen. Maurice M. Beach at RAF Greenham Common German chain of command Supreme Command West: Generalfeldmarschall Gerd von Rundstedt Army Group B: Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel Seventh Army: Generaloberst Friedrich Dollman (died 28 June) LXXXIV Corps: General der Artillerie Erich Marcks (KIA 12 June) Order of battle for the American airborne landings in Normandy The Order of battle for the American airborne landings in Normandy is a list of the units immediately available for combat on the Cotentin Peninsula between June 6, 1944, and June 15, 1944, during the American