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
History of the US Army National Guard In Europe, the 34th Infantry Division was one of the first two US infantry divisions to fight in the European Theater of Operations (ETO) when it landed in Algeria as part of Operation Torch. The 29th Infantry Division of the Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and District of Columbia National Guards was one of two assault divisions on Omaha Beach in Normandy during the D-Day landings on June 6, 1944. National Guard units participated in all combat theaters and took part in 34 separate campaigns and seven assault landings, sustaining 175,000 casualties (killed and wounded). 48 Presidential Unit Citations were awarded to