European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 6, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Potwin Stothe artificial Harbor that confounded hitlers general by de Beavis staff writer a a romances France a when the 50th anniversary of a Day is marked in a this Small but famous Norman port a technological Miracle will be saluted. Arro Manches was the site of port Winston the massive artificial Harbor that served As the umbilical Supply Cord for the allies in the weeks after a Day. In fact for two months after a Day More daily tonnage came through arro Manches than any other Harbor in the world. Today at arro Manches a few remaining caissons a prefabricated cubes of reinforced Concrete a Mark the outline of an artificial Harbor so massive that most visitors cannot believe the pieces were towed across the English Channel. A single Caisson weighed 7,000 tons was 230 feet Long 65 feet wide and 50 feet High. More than 100 caissons were needed for the arro Manches Harbor. There actually were two harbours both constructed As part of the super secret project Mulberry. The Harbor at arro Manches was dubbed port Winston honouring British prime minister Winston Churchill a support of the Harbor construction idea. 1\ is army a second Harbor Mulberry a was built in the american zone at Omaha Beach but a Channel storm june 18, 1944, wrecked the Structure. The artificial harbours confounded Adolf hitlers generals who had told him if the ports of at Low tide some of the remaining pieces of the massive he Tabor at arro Manches Are still vis Ipie. S4s. A a a a a army engineers begin the Harbor Assembly above at Omaha Beach. At left ambulances Roll out to ships anchored inside the port breakwater. France could be held Europe would remain in German hands. The terrible losses in the Canadian British raid on the Northern French port of Dieppe in August 1942 convinced the allies it would be impossible to take a fortified port without catastrophic losses. Thus the decision was reached to construct Harbor facilities and Tow them to the French coast after a Day. V starting on a Day plus 1, the harbours were to be constructed within 14 Days. The piers breakwaters and steel roadways were made in England and towed across the Channel with the invasion forces. John Luck a retired British major said he left England on a Day with the initial Section of port Winston. The tugboat towing five Bridges arrived off arro Manches nine Days later. Retired British col. Ronald Cowan also worked on port Winston. He said the storm of june 18 was almost disastrous for both artificial ports. However port Winston survived. A a we were partly protected by the Calvados reef a Cowan said. A and we anchored All our positions. The americans were More exposed to the sea and the storm and they did not Anchor each  o the Harbor elements were assembled in the South of England and the Phoenix caissons were hidden underwater in the sea. The raising of the caissons was done by filling them with compressed air. To Start the Harbor nearly 80 obsolete warships and other Craft were sunk around the outer Harbor perimeter As the initial breakwater. The first Phoenix arrived at arro Manches at Dawn june 9. By june 18,115 of them were sitting on the seabed in a 4.2-mile-Long line opposite the town. The troops on the Mulberry had 600 guns of various Caliper for air defense plus smoke screens and Aerial balloons against dive bombers. He completed facility was larger than the English port of Dover. Port Winston survived the june 18 storm and assumed the workload for both ports when the Omaha Harbor was deemed unusable. By sept. 5, 1944, More than 2 million men and 3.4 million tons of supplies had landed at arro Manches. It was not until the other ports on the coast were captured and made operational at the end in tree Hal the main l0adins operations could be shifted from arro Manches. 1 he arro Manches museum directly on the Ocean overlooking the Caisson remains contains a British built working Model of the Mulberry. 48 a stars and stripes commemorative edition june 6, 1994