The first museum designed to commemorate 6 June 1944 and the Battle of Normandy, the D-Day Museum in Arromanches-les-Bains opened in 1954.
Built opposite the still visible remains of the artificial harbour built for the D-Day landings, the museum tells the story of the Allied forces' arrival, known as Operation Overlord, and describes how Arromanches harbour worked.
In the night of 5 to 6 June 1944, the first parachute drops preceded the arrival of a fleet of around 5,000 Allied ships on the Norman coasts, from which 130,000 American, British and Canadian soldiers disembarked. One by one, at a cost of very heavy losses, the strategic targets were reached: Bénouville Bridge, Pegasus Bridge, the Merville battery and Sainte-Mère-Église. The Battle of Normandy had begun. The D-Day Museum tells the whole story of this great page in history, and gives an idea of the logistical challenge that was the Allied forces' D-Day adventure on the beaches of Normandy, including the construction of the artificial harbour, which was carried over the sea in pieces and assembled in front of Arromanches. This masterpiece of engineering played a key role in victory in Europe.
