D-Day in the New Forest Overview
On the 6 June 1944 thousands of troops with their vehicles and supplies left Britain via locations such as Lepe Beach in the New Forest for the beaches of Normandy. This was D Day, the start of the great campaign to liberate Europe and to bring the Second World War to its end. This was only one part of a huge logistical operation that saw a hive of activity in and around the New Forest, from road widening to camps hidden in woods and from Mulberry to Pluto. We are continuing to expand our knowledge of some of the top secret New Forest activities, but know there is more to find so please do get in contact if you have anything to share, or upload an article on this site.
We have numerous D-Day articles, archives, archaeology and oral histories from around the New Forest on New Forest Knowledge and this article has been created to link them all and provide easy access to the more detailed content.
Related D Day or Mulberry Articles
General
- D-Day at Lepe – Including what you can see today
- History Hit – D-Day at Lepe (Film)
- A Kings Visit
- Exbury House and Gardens – HMS Mastadon
- Operation Overlord – D-Day Dossier – Information on the build up to D-Day
- Lepe Beach: Drone Tour
Mulberry Harbours
- Building Mulberry Harbours
- Beetles at Beaulieu
- Beetles at Marchwood
- Whales at Marchwood
- Lepe launching ramps
- Surviving Mulberry Beetles
New Forest D Day Camps
Advanced Landing Grounds and Air Operations
- Bisterne ALG
- Needs Ore ALG
- Needs Ore Diver Battery
- Lymington ALG
- Winkton ALG
- Daily Life at Winkton – Photos
- Wing Leader Johnnie Johnson at Holmsley South
D Day Landing Craft
- Berthing – Solent plans and maps
- LCT 574 & Crew
- LCT 574 – Kenneth Roy JOHNSON & Log transcription
- LCT 629 – Part 1
- LCT 629 – Part 2 – Memories of Mr Bentley the last living crew members of HM LCT 629
PLUTO (Pipeline Under The Ocean)
- Pluto fuel tanks – Includes videos
- Pluto at Lepe – Leaves for the Isle of Wight
- Pluto lands on the Isle of Wight
Memories and Oral Histories
Misc
- Road widening in the build up to D-Day
- Plotting a D-Day journey
- Maps and charts relating to D-Day
- D-Day is Coming Podcast: Episode 1 – The Forest In the War
- D-Day is Coming Podcast: Episode 2 – The Build Up of Troops
- D-Day is Coming Podcast: Episode 3 – D-Day