Portsmouth D-Day Memorial

The commemorative stone in Southsea was unveiled in June 1948, exactly four years after the Normandy landings took place. It was designed as a copy of the concrete blocks which were placed around the southeast coast of England as protection against invasion forces and bears the following inscription:  

(Facing the sea)

“D-DAY 6 JUNE 1944.”

(Facing inland - left)

“1940

FRANCE AND THE LOW

COUNTRIES HAVING BEEN

OVERRUN WE LABOURED

ALONE TO OBSTRUCT

OUR COASTS WITH SUCH

BLOCKS AS THIS AGAINST

INVASION BY THE

ENEMIES OF FREEDOM”

(Facing inland - right)

“1944

YET FROM THIS VERY

BEACH IN THE COMPANY

OF POWERFUL ALLIED

MANY THOUSANDS OF

OUR MEN EMBARKED ON

THE GREAT ADVENTURE OF

LIBERATING EUROPE AND

ACHIEVED THEIR OBJECTIVE.”

(Below in the wall)

“THIS MEMORIAL WAS UNVEILED BY

FIELD MARSHAL The Rt Hon the VISCOUNT

MONTGOMERY OF ALAMEIN K.G.,G.C.B.,D.S.O.

ON THE 6th JUNE 1948” 

Its location opposite South Parade Pier is poignant in itself, as the pier was used as an embarkation point. The seafront area was closed off to civilians in 1943 and local residents close to the area had to show special passes to pass in and out. The pier had been requisitioned by the government, and parts of it were dismantled to build much larger platforms and scaffolding in order to load as many troops as possible onto the waiting craft. 27 men from Southsea were killed in Normandy during the landings and Battle of Normandy. The stone has been a site for numerous D-Day memorial services, included the one to mark the 75^th anniversary in 2019, attended by Her Majesty the Queen, the prime minister and D-Day veterans.