The HMS Belfast played a crucial role in the Allied landings in Normandy in June 1944. Almost taking Winston Churchill with her on D-Day, the crew of the HMS Belfast received their orders from Captain Frederick Parham on the evening of June 5, 1944. Sailing from the Orkney Islands in Scotland to Portsmouth on the English Channel within two days, speculation among the marines grew that the landing in Nazi-occupied France was imminent.
Despite the top-secret nature of the timing and exact plans, bad weather forced the postponement of D-Day. However, Captain Parham announced that the ship was setting off to liberate Western Europe. 80 years later, marine Bob Shrimpton’s memories of this event are housed in a collection of audio recordings at the Imperial War Museum in London.
As a popular tourist attraction and a symbolic role in commemorations, HMS Belfast is docked at the south bank of Thames river in London. In 1944, she carried around 850 people with an infrastructure similar to a village below deck. The crew did not get much sleep on June 6th as they prepared for their critical role in D-Day operation while equipped with twelve 152-millimeter cannons. The warship played a key role offshore by providing support and firepower for British and Canadian forces during Operation Neptune which lasted for five weeks.
The oral history of events on HMS Belfast is preserved through countless documentaries and testimonials from war veterans, highlighting not only its importance as floating gun platform but also its ability to provide critical support during this historic operation. As we approach