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Exhibition – 80th Anniversary of D-Day
July 6 @ 10:30 AM – August 18 @ 4:30 PM
June 6th, 2024, will see the 80th anniversary of D-Day, the allied landing on the Normandy beaches. The Museum will be commemorating the event with an exhibition reflecting the lead up to D-Day and the impact on the local area and people connected to Emsworth.
It is hard to comprehend the complexity of planning an event of this magnitude, co-ordinating resources from multiple nations, whilst maintaining absolute secrecy. In Emsworth alone, in the weeks leading up to the landings there were Canadian, Free French and British troops all camped in the surrounding woods, and movement of the local population was strictly controlled with checkpoints to pass in and out of the area.
The landing sites needed to be surveyed and mapped, a role undertaken by the COPPs who operated out of Hayling Sailing Club; the troops needed to be trained for the landing; local shipyards were building and repairing landing craft etc.; and local people were busy in various roles, including making camouflage netting in the church hall.
The exhibition will also look at the engineering feats such as the Mulberry Harbours (the remains of one can still be seen in Langstone harbour), ”Pluto” (Pipeline Under the Ocean) and the Hobart Funnies.
The exhibition includes material from Emsworth residents who participated in the landings, some dating back to 2014 when we covered the 70th Anniversary in an exhibition.
