By Lieven Engelen
On the 6th of June 1944, allied forces launched the biggest amphibious military attack in history, landing along fifty miles of the heavily fortified Normandy coast and creating a significant dent in Adolph Hitler’s Atlantic wall that ran all the way from Spain to Norway. The success of Operation Overlord, as the Battle of Normandy was called, would depend on the speed with which reinforcements and supplies could reach the mainland. As there was no port available and after the failed experience of the amphibious raid on Dieppe, the British solution to the problem was to bring their own. To quote a very determined Lord Mountbatten: “As we have no harbour at our disposal, we will bring ours.” It was the beginning of the Mulberry Harbours, situated off the coast at Arromanches-les-Bains and regarded by many as the key to liberating Europe from Nazi Germany. A total of 146 concrete caissons were built, each 60 meters long, 18 meters high, and 15 meters wide.
The images taken of the remains of the Mulberry Harbours are a stark reminder of the enormous and truly ingenious effort that went into liberating Europe from Nazi dictatorship. And the risks that were taken in order to get there. Like silent witnesses of a present rooted in one of the darkest days of Europe. In honor of all those who sacrificed their life so that we can live in freedom.
Lieven Engelen is a photographer living in the Netherlands whose work centers on landscape and portrait photography. While he takes inspiration from the past, his approach is also highly personal and situated in the present, also revealing a sense of identity and being. More of his work may be found here.
All images with permission @Lieven Engelen.
