As the nation commemorates the 80th anniversary of D-Day, Simon Bird, Regional Director of the Humber ports reflects on the part the ports played in his role as honorary captain in the Royal Naval Reserve.
This week we remember events of 80 years ago which saw over 150,000 troops set foot on the beaches of Normandy at the start of the liberation of Europe.
Known as the D-Day landings this was the largest seaborne invasion in history. The Allies used over 5,000 ships and landing craft to land more than 15,000 troops on five beaches in France.
The Humber ports played an important part in this. Parts of the Mulberry Harbours (the artificial harbours used by the allies for landing troops and supplies in Normandy) were constructed in the Port of Goole.
These were floated down the Humber to the Port of Immingham, where they were collected and taken to the English Channel. You can see still a section of one of the harbours at Thorpe Bay near Southend-on-Sea. It was being towed from Immingham when it began to leak. It was taken in for repairs, but broke free of its moorings and beached on a sandbank near the Thames Estuary.
The construction of these sections in the Goole dry docks were undertaken in secrecy and 500 people were employed, none of them having any idea about what they were building.
Over at the Port of Hull huge quantities of ammunition and supplies were being handled for the US Forces, which were shipped to France. The city of Hull was the most bombed city in Britain after London, with 95% of houses damaged.
We remember those who lost their lives on 6 June and the days and months later until VE Day was declared. We remember all those who worked in the Humber ports and wider across all ports in the UK, for the vital role they played.
We remember all those who lost their lives, their families and loved ones for the freedom we now enjoy. Lest we forget.
Hon Captain Simon Bird, Royal Naval Reserve
