On the 3rd and 4th of May 1944, and exactly one month before the original planned date for the Normandy landings, the last and perhaps the largest exercise was held to test readiness for D-Day. It is estimated that 7,000 ships were involved, travelling to Slapton Sands in the West, code name Fabius 1, Bracklesham Bay and Littlehampton in the east, known as 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 the Embarkation points that had been constructed along the south coast from Lepe, to the west of Southampton, Gosport, Stokes Bay and Newhaven in the east. The forces allocated to land in Hayling Island boarded at Lepe in the south of the New Forest and sailed round the Isle of Wight to simulate the journey to France. At 7.30am on the morning of 4 May, the first men landed on four zones of the Island’s beaches. Original film of Exercise Fabius: Imperial War Museum.
Негізгі бет Hayling Island WW2 Heritage: Exercise Fabius 2
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