Solent: D-Day In a Nutshell

The ‘D-Day In a Nutshell’ tours take you from Hayling Island in the east to Lepe Beach in the west, uncovering locations that were key to the planning and delivery of the invasion force. Each guide offers a flexible way to explore, allowing you to mix and match routes  whether travelling by public transport, car, cycle, or on foot. Clicking on an audio link will provide an audio guide to the location. 

Please Note: This is a self-guided tour, so always be aware of your surroundings. The tour is based on areas open to the public at the time of publication. It is intended as a historical guide to the  sites and not a confirmation that each location is suitable for all visitors. Always  check local signage and on-site instructions.

Public transport details are not included in this guide, and driving or cycling routes suggested by Google Maps are intended only as planning references. They may not reflect roadworks or diversions, so please check up-to-date information before you travel.

Unfortunately, it is not possible to include public transport details as part of this guide.   

Tour 1: Secret War, Exercises and Building a Harbour 

Location 1: COPP Memorial

Parking: Chichester Road Car Park

Toilets: Chichester Road Car Park

Refreshments: Semi-permanent refreshments van in car park

Walk east from the Chichester Road Car Park on the main path and the COPP Memorial in on your right.

Travelling from A to B and then C on the map is a 1Hr 5min walk and a 16 minute cycle (non-stop). 

Location 1: COPP Memorial

Parking: Chichester Road Car Park

Toilets: Chichester Road Car Park

Refreshments: Semi-permanent refreshments van in car park

Walk east from the Chichester Road Car Park on the main path and the COPP Memorial in on your right.

COPP Memorial Hayling Island © BDDH Collection

The Combined Operations Pilotage Parties (COPP) were a group of specialist commandos based at Hayling Island Sailing Club, to the east of the island (now closed to the public), during WW2. The COPP units carried out many secret landings on enemy beaches to conduct surveys in advance of full military landings.

To fully understand the D-Day preparations, we have to go back to the Dieppe Raid of August 1942. This landing by Allied forces was designed to test whether capturing a French port was feasible as part of a full-scale invasion. The resulting loss of life and operational mistakes are still being debated today. However, the lessons learned went on to save many lives on D-Day.

Following the Dieppe Raid, it was realised that detailed intelligence was needed about the geology of the beaches, coastal defences, and the hydrography of the surrounding waters  to ensure troops and equipment could land as safely and efficiently as possible. Absolute secrecy was required at every level. Consequently, it has taken years to learn about the most secret aspects of COPP, including earlier missions in  Sicily, gathering intelligence before the July 1943 landings.

The commandos travelled by mini X Craft mini-submarine, landing covertly on enemy beaches to take soil and beach samples, survey landing areas, and, on at least one occasion, even collect samples of enemy defences for testing.  After many such missions, COPP teams were back in action on D-Day, establishing landing beacons and guiding the first waves of landing craft to ensure all subsequent craft landed in the right place.

Further Resources:

• Rob Crane has written an excellent history of COPP, which is available on the COPP SURVEY
• A documentary, ‘The COPP Memorial Story’ narrated by Dan Snow, is available on YouTube

Walk west back to the car park and travel to 'B' on the Map

HINT: 

If you have difficulty walking on shingle, or if you’re a wheelchair user, you can view the beach from Location A (part of Easy Sector landing area) via the boardwalk opposite the disabled car park spaces before making your way to 'B' on the map. 

Location 2: Fabius II Exercise Beach

Car parking: Pay & Display parking at several locations.

Toilets: Adjacent to Beachlands Amusements building.

Refreshments: Hayling Island Beach Café.

Walk to Hayling Island Beach Café with Norfolk Crescent behind you. Landing beaches are to your left and right. 

Although the images above appear to show D-Day landings, they were actually taken near this location during a major rehearsal. Exercise Fabius II was the last – and perhaps the largest – training exercise held to test readiness for D-Day.

On the 3^rd and 4^th  of  May 1944, exactly one month before the original planned date for the Normandy landings, it is estimated that around 7,000 ships took part in Exercise Fabius, a series of full-scale rehearsals held along the south coast of England.  Landings took place in Slapton Sands in the west (codenamed Fabius 1), and at Bracklesham Bay and Littlehampton in the east(Fabius 3 and 4). The landings at Hayling Island, codenamed Fabius 2, involved 12 Ships, 230 landing craft and about 10,000 men, with air-support provided by the RAF.

Tanks, men, and support vehicles were loaded at embarkation points constructed along the south coast – from Lepe,  west of Southampton, through Gosport and Stokes Bay to Newhaven in the east. The forces allocated to land at Hayling Island boarded at Lepe in the New Forest and sailed around the Isle of Wight to simulate the journey to France. Fabius 2 was designed to simulate landings on Gold Beach.

At 7.30am on the morning of 4 May, the first men landed on four zones of Hayling Island’s beaches – from approximately Staunton Avenue in the west, to Rails Lane in the east. They were codenamed Fox Red, Fox Green, Easy Red and Easy Green.

Location B sits within the Fox sector, to the south of Norfolk Crescent. After a simulated barrage from destroyers sitting offshore, the first troops disembarked to secure the beach and prepare for the arrival of additional troops and equipment.,  They then advanced inland to seize a line from Havant to Bedhampton.

This was a full-detailed landing involving men, tanks and machinery. While there was no enemy fire, the exercise was otherwise an accurate simulation - including cutting and driving through beach obstacles, thought to include those from Britain's own coastal defences. Sadly, seven men drowned during the exercise, leading to change in the way infantry disembarked from Landing Craft Infantry LCI (L) pictured above (H038225).

The objective for Gold Force was to land, then for the 50^th Northumberland Division to attack and seize a line along what is now the A27, from just east of Emsworth to Farlington in the west, by last light. Local residents were told to "keep their curtains closed," but it must have been quite a sight as a full-scale invasion passed though the island. 

No visible clues or artifacts relating to this exercise survive today. Many of the buildings shown close to the water in period film footage have now disappeared, though the buildings in Norfolk Crescent still stand and provide a useful reference point when viewing archive material. The White building, then known as the Royal Hotel, is reported to have hosted Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Allied Supreme Commander General Eisenhower, who observed the exercise from there. In some footage, a figure resembling General Montgomery can also been among the observers.

When reviewing these films, it’s interesting to note that several landing craft and vehicles display American markings. Documentary evidence and Film Roll ID confirms this was indeed Exercise Fabius, suggesting that equipment was  shared between Allied forces, based on need rather than nationality.      

This exercise is just one example of the detailed planning that went into making D-Day a success for the Allies in 1944.

Travel west via Sea Front and Ferry Road to Location C at Ferry Road Car Park.

Note: After passing a WW2 pillbox on the right, look out for a nearby houseboat that appears to have been converted from a wartime landing craft.

Location 3: Mulberry Phoenix Construction Site 

Car parking: Pay & Display at the location. Avoid the Parking next to the Ferry Boat Inn unless you are visiting the Pub as it is NOT Free.

Toilets: Adjacent to The Ferryboat Inn, In their Car Park.

Refreshments: Beach Café, at the location and Ferryboat Inn close by.

Walk to the Beach Café where you will find a Hayling WW2 Trail Information Board (Arrowed) describing the Construction Site.

During the invasion planning in 1943, it was estimated that the allies would require 12,000 tons of supplies a day to be unloaded to sustain the liberating force as it crossed France. The ambitious invasion plan avoided well defended ports and therefore called for temporary floating port units to be towed across the channel. These temporary ports were roughly the size of the harbour at Dover. After some innovative design work an enormous construction project began at locations in Scotland, Wales, London and along the south coast including here at the south-west coast of Hayling Island where four of the floating concrete Caissons that were to form the main harbour walls were built by 600 workers.
There were six types of caisson weighing upwards of 2,000 tons. It is believed that the four caissons constructed here were 60 meters long and 18 meters high and weighed 6,000 tons when completed. The Codename for these units was Phoenix with the two temporary ports being known as the Mulberry Harbour A and B.

Standing ant the Information Board facing the Ferryboat Inn you are standing on Construction Site No:1 Turning right, past the Huge Blocks with metal rings, mark the beginning of the launch area. Walking along the carpark with reference to the 1946 photo above, you are now walking on the construction deck of Caissons 2,3 and 4.   

Extract of a 3D model created by Wessex Archaeology of a site at Lepe

The Phoenix Caissons were partly completed before being hauled to the launching area. In another example of brilliant design, the Caissons were constructed on a mobile deck on large ball bearings, meaning that several thousand tons would move relatively easily to the launch site.

If you are able to move safely to the beach at the launch area you will see the remains of the concrete blocks and the edges of the construction deck particularly where the winter storms have exposed them.   

When completed the Caissons were towed to a storage area at Selsey where they were sunk for safekeeping and to lessen the risk of being spotted. 

Two Caissons remain at Selsey just off the coast to this day, and it is understood that they didn't release from the sea bed as the water was being pumped out.

A further Caisson almost certainly from Hayling was left in Langstone Harbour to the north of the Ferryboat Inn after it developed cracks during construction. It is not visible from the Hayling Island side of the Harbour unless you are intending to take the Ferry to Eastney (foot passengers and cycles only). Google Maps included a good aerial photo of the Caisson. Click here to View.   

After D-Day they were towed to two locations in France Mulberry A served the American Beaches whilst Mulberry B served The British Beaches. Here they were assembled with the other parts of the Harbour, brought from other locations. Mulberry A was damaged in a storm and never fully completed whilst Mulberry B was used for several months.

Further Resources:

Ferry Times are available on the  Hayling Ferry Website

This is the end of Section 1 of the Solent: D-Day in a Nutshell Tour. 

Tour 2 Begins at The Ferry on The Eastney Side of Langstone Harbour.