Ensemble

The magnificent 'Overlord Embroidery', 34 panels telling the story of the D Day Operation in 1944 with Soundalive commentary. It can be seen amongst other audio-visual displays at the D Day Museum, Clarence Esplanade, Southsea

"OK... Let's Go!"
General Dwight Eisenhower - Southwick House, June 1944

"OK let's go!.." With these words, the greatest invasion force that the World has ever seen prepared to hurl itself across the English Channel at Hitler's much vaunted 'Fortress Europe'.
Nestling beneath the northern slopes of Portsdown Hill, the escarpment that stands sentinel over the Naval base of Portsmouth, the village of Southwick with its thatched roofs and half-timbered cottages remains largely unchanged from that day in June 1944 when this little Hampshire settlement became, quite literally, the centre of 'OPERATION OVERLORD.'
It was at Southwick House, the elegant Georgian mansion and ancestral home of the Thistlethwayte family, that GENERAL DWIGHT D EISENHOWER (left), the Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force, made his historic and momentous decision committing 3 million men and 2,727 ships to the operation which turned the tide of World War II. In the spring of 1944 the house became the forward headquarters for
the Normandy invasion. The large, specially produced, wall map on which the progress of the Operation was plotted still remains; the room in which it stands is now part of the Wardroom of HMS DRYAD.

In the village itself the lounge bar of the GOLDEN LION public house became the unofficial Officers' Mess, where members of the planning staff, General Eisenhower, General Montgomery (right) and other senior Allied Commanders, could relax over a beer from the nearby bar. It was at this time that Eisenhower began a daily shuttle between Southwick and Bushey Park.

3rd June 1944

9.30pm - Eisenhower postponed the invasion for 24 hours because of the deteriorating weather conditions.

4th June 1944

4.15am - Eisenhower confirmed the decision of the previous evening and the forward naval
units were recalled.
9.30pm - The evening meeting convened and the Meteorological team led by Group Captain Stagg announced the prospect of improving conditions which would last for at least 24 hours.
9.45pm - Eisenhower consulted his Senior Commanders and made the decision to launch Operation Overlord on 6th June.

5th June 1944

4.15am - Eisenhower confirmed the order with the words... "OK... let's go".