From Sunday 4 June 1944, Poole Bay was filling with activity and ships. On the The 6 June 1944 was ‘D-Day’ – one of the most heroic days in modern history.

On this day allied soldiers from all over the world landed in Normandy (on the North West coast of France) to fight enemy forces and liberate Europe from Nazi occupation.

On the 6 June, long lines of craft surged out of Poole Harbour. Over 300 vessels left from Poole carrying thousands of American troops. Official U.S records state; “the finest co-operation and the best spirit of co-operation prevailed”.

Audio Transcript

One thing I must say when all these people you know, it's quite stirring to see all these people on the bank sort of watching you go out. And I thought, well, if they all know we're coming, I'm pretty sure the Germans know we're coming. [laughs]

We were amazed to see the amount of shipping that there was and craft and you know it's just, the thought of, there’s no fear that you’re just going to go in there on your own. There was this great mass of power behind you, which was reassuring. The feeling of fear didn't really come into it while we were at sea. We were just part of a great armada that was going to do something. But the closer we got, we had to go alongside a liberty ship, and put more men on because the first waves, the waves had gone in. There was lots of debris floating in the water everywhere. And it was it was pretty, a bit scary then.