RHH's photos with the keyword: caissons

Taken from the cliffs to the east this is the beach and town of Arromanches-les-Bains. We visited and explored the area and walked the beach on one of the last days we were in Normandy. We finished the day at a cafe, La Baraka, in Arromanches and had a glass of cider and a pot of mussels there. On D-Day, Arromanches was at the center of Gold Beach, one of the British landing beaches and is famous for the artificial harbor that was set up there. The harbor was made of enormous concrete caissons towed across the English Channel and sunk at Arromanches to form the harbor. Remains of the harbor, visible in the photo, destroyed by a storm after D-Day, can still be seen in the water off the cliffs and on the beach.

When we visited the D-day sites at Arromanches we walked the beach and saw there the remains of the artificial harbors used bring in supplies. These harbors were code-named "Mulberries" and were later destroyed by a storm. The remains of one of them are on the beach and out at sea at Arromanches. The photo shows one of the caissons, which were towed across the English Channel on D-day, and which is now on the beach, and another out in the water off the beach. The inset shows the aftermath of a lunch of mussels enjoyed at La Baraka in Arromanches.

These are some of the concrete caissons used on D-Day and after to form an artificial harbor and piers at Arromanches. The caissons were towed across the English Channel and sunk to form the artificial harbor code-named "Mulberry." The harbor was later wrecked by a storm but part of it can still be seen out at sea and on the beach at Arromanches. Several parts are visible on the horizon just above these beached caissons.