Mulberry Harbour bits on Aldwick beach

I know next to nothing about Mulberry Harbours, but believe this photo shows a 'spud' (pier head) and 'beetle' (section of pier/roadway) exposed at low tide on our beach, down here in sunny Aldwick.



And a nice sunset shot...




Both photos by Dawne Davis

 

EDIT: Link removed, no longer points to correct page, plenty of info with internet search.

 

Definitely a Beetle. I often refer to these relics as hidden in plain sight. This definitely is one I have missed. Must give it a visit. I guess someone knows how it got there? Maybe lost whilst being towed, Broke loose in the storms. I believe most were constructed around the Solent.

 

Yes, as this article says, there were about 50 constructed around the Bognor/Selsey coast, and another wrecked part of a Mulberry sits off the Pagham beach...
Incredible story behind the huge Bognor beach wreckage only seen at low tide

There are also the remains of an Obstacle Z1 on Pagham beach: Obstacle Z1

And also sections of the old Pagham Harbour.

 

Thanks I knew there would be some info out there. But that is not the only one in England. There are several beetles used as tidal defence in Southampton Water supposedly built at Marchwood and Surplus, plus a concrete water barge!

 

As part of VE Day celebrations, the Old Salthouse at Little Welborne, Pagham was opened up and used for a small exhibition.


This lovely lady explained the Mulberry Harbours from the Aldwick/Pagham perspective...


...and even tried to re-create the demo that Mountbatten gave to Churchill as proof-of-principle...


The 6,000 ton concrete sections were sunk so as not to be spotted by German planes, and then re-floated to be towed across the channel to France.

What neither of us knew was how they used pumps to re-float them, given that they were fully submerged in the sea. Does anyone have the answer?

The Salthouse (believed to be 18th century) was used during WW2 by the local Home Guard who knocked holes in the back and one side to look out across the water of what used to be the old Pagham Harbour.

 

I thought that it would be better to hijack Steve’s thread than to start a new one.

This recovery of a section of whale in Southampton last month popped-up on bsky earlier:

C20 Society (@c20society.bsky.social)

 

There's a section of Mulberry in the mud off Southend The true story of Southend's Mulberry Harbour and how it was meant to play a key role on D-Day

 

I only discovered that recently: What have you learned about WW2 recently?