10/06/2026
That must have been a sight !
6 June 2026 — 82 Years Since D-Day
This map shows the Solent and Isle of Wight anchorage areas on the eve of D-Day, June 1944, during Operation Neptune, the naval phase of the Normandy Landings.
For those living on the Island at the time, the sight was unforgettable. The Solent was said to be so full of ships that “you could walk to the mainland without getting your feet wet.” Then, almost overnight, they were gone… sailing south toward Normandy and history.
From Yarmouth to Ryde, and across to Portsmouth and Gosport, thousands of vessels gathered in carefully organised assembly areas before the launch of the largest amphibious invasion the world has ever seen.
Operation Neptune by the numbers:
• Nearly 7,000 vessels took part
• Around 156,000 Allied troops landed on D-Day itself
• Over 11,000 aircraft supported the operation
• Approximately 4,000 landing craft and assault vessels crossed the Channel
• Thousands of vehicles, tanks and tons of equipment departed from ports and anchorages across Southern England, including the Solent and Isle of Wight waters
The Isle of Wight played a vital role in the build-up to D-Day. The Island became part of a huge military staging area, with troops, equipment and convoys constantly moving through its roads, ports and coastline in the weeks leading up to 6 June 1944.
Prime Minister Winston Churchill later described the operation as:
“Undoubtedly the most complicated and difficult that has ever taken place.”
Today, 82 years on, we remember not only the scale of the operation, but the people who witnessed it here in the Solent, and the thousands who never returned.
