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
Australian contribution to the Battle of Normandy their contribution. "Normandy" is also one of the 47 battle sites recorded on the Australian War Memorial, London, which was dedicated in 2003. In 2004, Australian Prime Minister John Howard attended the ceremonies in France that marked the 60th anniversary of the Normandy invasion. The French Government also awarded the Legion of Honour to ten of the surviving Australian veterans of the landings to commemorate this anniversary. In 2014, Prime Minister Tony Abbott and a party of seven Australian veterans of the campaign attended ceremonies held to commemorate the 70th anniversary of D-Day. When the Mémorial de Caen opened in