Robert Lochner (engineer) major element, the Mulberry Harbour. One of the major challenges facing the D-Day landings was to secure a European port for the delivery of essential supplies, but instead of capturing an existing port, the Allies decided on an audacious plan to build temporary harbours off the coast of Normandy. The big challenge in the rough seas of the English Channel was to create a breakwater to protect the concrete landings from the vicious waves and Robert Lochner was the man chosen by Churchill to lead a group of scientists known as The Wheezers And Dodgers to solve this challenge. The
4th Infantry Division (United States) Infantry Division assaulted the northern coast of German-held France during the Normandy landings, landing at Utah Beach, June 6, 1944. The 8th Infantry Regiment of the 4th Infantry Division claimed being the first surface-borne Allied unit (as opposed to the parachutist formations that were air-dropped earlier) to hit the beaches at Normandy on D-Day, 6 June 1944. Relieving the isolated 82nd Airborne Division at Sainte-Mère-Église, the 4th cleared the Cotentin peninsula and took part in the capture of Cherbourg on 25 June. After taking part in the fighting near Periers, 6–12 July, the division broke through the left flank of