D-Day Story, Portsmouth
- 
A modern museum about D-Day, Operation Overlord and the Battle of Normandy, located in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England. It’s the only museum in Great Britain entirely dedicated to D-Day. It’s modern, with interactive elements but also a considerable number of original artefacts, including some large ones, the biggest of which had to be put on open-air display: the last surviving amphibious tank landing vessel used on D-Day.
More background info: for historical background about Operation Overlord etc. see under D-Day, D-Day Beaches Tour, Memorial de Caen and Normandy D-Day sites.
This site in Portsmouth first opened under the name “D-Day Museum” in 1984 (inaugurated by Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother). It closed for a year in March 2017 for an extensive refurbishment programme. It reopened under the new, fancier name “D-Day Story” in March 2018.
What is now the largest exhibit of the museum, the LCT 7074 amphibious landing craft (see below), was added on open-air display in August 2020. It is the last surviving tank landing craft to have been used on D-Day. So it’s a unique star exhibit.
What there is to see: This is actually three museums in one, as it were: the main D-Day Story exhibition, the Overlord Embroidery in a separate hall and the largest exhibit on open-air display outside: the LCT 7074 tank landing craft.
The latter is what I was advised to visit first (as it closes earlier than the museum, I presume) once I had purchased my ticket. So I followed that advice and headed back out towards the landing craft, where I had to show my ticket to one of the museum staff before being admitted on board. But then I was free to explore on my own – and indeed I had it all to myself most of the time, as there were only two other visitors and they were soon moving on.
You step aboard via the ramp at the front of the vessel and arrive on the tank deck. Two tanks are actually on display here, the one at the front is a Sherman, the one in the back a Churchill. On D-Day, the LCT carried as many as ten tanks (of three types), plus troops.
You can go upstairs to also have a look at the crew quarters, toilets, the bridge, the galley and the commander’s cabin as well as the two 20mm guns on the upper deck. You can also look up the funnel. In addition to a number of text-and-photo panels providing information there are also a couple of interactive screen stations (though one of them was out of order when I visited).
Afterwards I went back to the museum proper, en route taking a look at the “Normandy Wall” of memorial plaques plus some rusty stelae and a statue of an unnamed soldier in front of the main building. And then I went back inside and, after taking a look at the jeep parked in the foyer, started to explore the main exhibition, now fancifully entitled “D-Day Story” (“museum” must have been deemed old-fashioned so it was changed after the 2017/18 refurbishment – see above).
The exhibition is roughly split in half: first, the historical background and preparations for D-Day, and secondly D-Day itself and the Battle of Normandy.
There’s a good balance of explanatory text and displays of a significant number of original artefacts of all sorts, both large and small. In addition there are models of boats and planes, and a few interactive elements too (including some for very young visitors).
The largest indoor exhibits are a BARV tank and a DUKW “Duck” amphibious truck. The former is an adapted Sherman tank turned into a “beach armoured recovery vehicle” (hence the acronym). Its role was to tow broken-down vehicles out of the way so they wouldn’t hamper the landing operation. The adaptation of the tank was done by the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) and also operated by this arm of the British military. The amphibious vehicle, a US design, was for landing small units of troops.
There’s also a so-called “Higgins Boat”, a small landing craft for up to 36 soldiers. This one has its ramp down and comes with a holographic projection of a bunch of soldiers about to emerge on to the beach.
Other artefacts include a decoy paratrooper – basically a fabric puppet with a parachute such as were dropped in large numbers to confuse the enemy – a piece of artillery, a sea mine, a big shell, and a wreck piece of a German plane on which it says “nicht anfassen”, i.e. ‘do not touch’ … how fitting for a museum piece to already come with that instruction ;-)
Among the smaller artefacts are a beret worn by General “Monty” Montgomery, propaganda leaflets, various maps, guns, a hidden radio from the French Resistance and much, much more – too many to go into in detail here.
Thematically, the exhibition begins with the evacuation of Dunkirk, in the early phase of WWII, and then looks into the long search for a suitable stretch of French coast for an invasion. Something I learned here was that the British civilian population was asked to submit postcards or holiday snaps from France’s coastline, and indeed millions were sent in! The lengthy preparations for the operation are described in great detail too, including the arguments that led to the decision to land in Normandy.
The complicated logistics for the sea crossing and landings are obviously covered in quite some detail too. There are separate sections outlining the profiles and special challenges presented by the five chosen beaches (code-named Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword).
A remarkable side story is that of Gustav the homing pigeon who delivered the first message about the ongoing D-Day landings back to Britain after flying for over five hours covering 150 miles – radio messages were forbidden for reasons of secrecy so this method of communication, already successfully used in WW1, was brought back. (In the museum’s gift shop you can buy fluffy soft-toy Gustavs! … and a few are also dotted around the exhibits – I presume for some kids’ game ...)
Another side story is about the role of the “Wrens”, the women working for the war effort in the background as typists, clerks, radar plotters and so on (cf. Western Approaches).
There is one unusual exhibit that looks like it’s made out of some dark resin, representing a strip of coast from the beachfront and its fortifications to the cliffs and German bunkers behind that the invading Allies had to overcome.
Another topic is the transition from getting a foothold on the Normandy beaches to making them floating harbours (especially the so-called Mulberry Harbours – see D-Day Tour). The reactions in the press to the landings are covered too, as are the German divisions, the caring for the wounded and the role of the French Resistance.
Personal stories of those who participated in the operations are woven in throughout the exhibition in the form of personal items and audio stations where you can play recordings, plus a couple more of those holographic-looking projections with individuals (actors) playing particular participants’ roles.
All in all, I found this a pretty convincing exhibition with a good balance of textual information, audiovisual and interactive elements (not too many!) and a wealth of authentic artefacts. I also learned quite a few things that were new to me, including some eye-opening details. The space of this exhibition is perhaps a bit crammed, which could be an issue when it gets busy in here. But fortunately it wasn’t when I was there, so it wasn’t a problem for me.
The other indoor part of the museum is the “Overlord Embroidery”, which is housed in a separate circular hall. This is indeed a large piece of embroidery, in several sections, 272 feet (83m) long in total. It was made over a period of several years by members of the “Royal School of Needlework” (yes, it really exists!). The different sections depict scenes from D-Day, from departing soldiers saying goodbye to their families, the sea crossing, aircraft, to the landings, as well as featuring the main commanders, the German defences, and the victors, including a cigar-smoking Churchill and “Monty” with his beret (see above).
There are also a number of display cabinets with yet more artefacts, such as medals, uniform parts, etc. and also one about D-Day in the media, such as the movies “The Longest Day”, “The Last Rifleman” or “The Great Escaper” with Michael Caine. The story of the making of the embroidery is covered too.
The “Overlord Embroidery” may be an endearing add-on, but it is no more than that really, an optional extra, nowhere near as significant as the main exhibition.
Back in the foyer you can also have a look around the rather large museum shop offering books, models, toys, mugs, bags and even beer with themed labels.
Location: on Clarence Esplanade in the Southsea part of Portsmouth, Hampshire, England, Great Britain. Postcode: PO5 3NT.
Google Maps locator: [50.7797, -1.0894]
Access and costs: easy by car, but a bit outside the centre and with not ideal public transport; not the cheapest.
Details: to get to the museum it’s easiest if you have your own (hire) vehicle; there’s a large car park (not free) right behind the museum off Clarence Esplanade, which is reached via Avenue de Caen from Clarence Parade that skirts the north side of Southsea Common.
Public transport from the city centre of Portsmouth only gets you part of the way to Osborne Road (bus stop “Southsea Shops”, bus lines 3 and 23). From there it’s a ten-minute walk, south along on Palmerston Road, which takes you to Southsea Common and Avenue de Caen.
Opening times: daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (to 5:30 p.m. between April and September); closed over Christmas and on some selected dates – best check the website (theddaystory[dot]com) ahead of your visit. Last admission to the museum is half an hour before closing; last admission to LCT 7074 is at 3:30 p.m.
Admission: regular 17.55 GBP when bought on the door; when buying a ticket in advance online, the price goes down to 15.95 GBP, but for that you have to decide on a specific time slot; there are concessions for seniors (aged 60+: 14 GBP, online 12.70), students/children (5-17: 8.80, online 8 GBP), and under five-year-olds get in free.
Time required: I spent about an hour at this museum, but if you want to read absolutely everything in full detail there and then, and listen to all the audio material, you will need a bit longer.
Combinations with other dark destinations: nothing in the immediate vicinity, but for some the Royal Navy Museum at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard (open 10-17:30h) may be of interest (if you can stomach the steep admission price of 41 GBP!). Its star exhibit is Lord Nelson’s flagship Victory, but there’s also HMS M.33, the last surviving WW1 warship from the Gallipoli campaign in 1915, which ended so disastrously for the Allies, but this ship escaped unscathed, though it was later damaged in the Russian Civil War in 1919.
The nearest other dark destination covered on this website is Greenham Common (an hour to an hour and a half drive north).
See also under Great Britain in general.
Combinations with non-dark destinations: directly south of the museum is Southsea Castle, which may be worth a look; and of course there’s Portsmouth as such. When I was there I didn’t have time for exploring the city, so I cannot say anything about it from first-hand experience.
See also under Great Britain in general.
