Portsmouth has an astounding naval history, and has paid heavily for it. The past of many other British cities is preserved in antiquated buildings and narrow, medieval streets, but Portsmouth suffered 67 major bombing raids between 1940 and 1944, which forever changed the city. Portsmouth also was a major staging area for Operation Overlord, the great seaborne invasion of Normandy in June 1944. Areas around Portsmouth, then covered with trees, swarmed with troops and equipment, using the natural camouflage of the woods.
The first dry dock in the country was built in Portsmouth in 1495. The British Navy moved in and found Portsmouth so amenable it is still there, more than 500 years later, in Portsmouth Dockyard. This also is where 156,000 Allied troops gathered before they shipped out to one of the most dramatic battles in history.
The award-winning Portsmouth D-Day Museum was opened in 1984 to commemorate the 40th anniversary of D- Day and it helped mark the 60th anniversary in 2004- The museum’s exhibits give you a real feel for what life was like on the home front and the important roles that fell to women. Then there is the magnificent Overlord Embroidery, composed of 34 large embroidered panels commissioned as a tribute to all who were affected by the events leading up to D-Day.
As you stand on the steps of the D-Day Museum and look over Southsea Common, it is easy to imagine what it must have been like in 1943, aswarm with military preparations. Then look to your right at Southsea Castle and imagine 400 years earlier, when King Henry VIII built it to defend the coast. Despite being under siege during the English Civil War, the castle never fired a shot in anger in more than 400 years of continuous military use. Its exterior is rather unimpressive as castles go, but inside there are displays about Portsmouth’s military history and you can explore the tunnels built to defend the castle moat. Back outside, as you stand on the sidewalk behind the castle, there are wonderful views over the Solent, the body of water separating the British mainland from the Isle of Wight.
Looking over the harbor, there is what looks like a very large cement hatbox sitting a mile out. That is Spitbank Fort, which was built, off and on, between 1861 and 1878, to protect Portsmouth Harbor from French invaders (although they never tested its capabilities). There are two of these massive harbor fortifications sitting in the Solent. During World War II they were equipped with antiaircraft guns and several saw action.
Rising to the north behind the city is Portsdown Hill, where the Royal Armouries Museum at Fort Nelson is located. This fort also was built to guard against the French, from whom the worst was expected, again. The guns face away from the city, however, in case the cunning French tried to attack over land rather than by sea. The Victorian fort, perfectly preserved, now houses the 16-ton Turkish “bombard” of 1464, a French field gun from the Battle of Waterloo, barrel sections from the top-secret Iraqi “super gun” impounded before the Gulf War, and sundry other artillery and cannon. If you like to hear the bangs, there are reenactments and firings held regularly during the summer. There is a wonderful view from here, looking back over the city. If you want a photo of Portsmouth, go early so you have the morning sun shining on the city, the So- lent, and the Isle of Wight beyond.
The Millennium Promenade is a walkway created by the city to link some historic waterfront sites. The route is marked in the sidewalk by a chain design, a reminder of the chain that was stretched across the harbor entrance at times of potential attack. The walk begins at Clarence Pier, just to the west of the D-Day Museum, and continues through Old Portsmouth and along the waterfront to the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard. There you can step onto floating history in the form of the Mary Rose, Henry VIII’s favorite flagship, which sank in front of Southsea Castle as she sailed off to fight the French in 1545. HMS Victory, which also is here, was commanded by Britain’s greatest naval hero, Vice Admiral Horatio Lord Nelson, at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. Also present is HMS Warrior, commissioned during an uneasy peace between the English and the French in 1861. She was Britain’s first iron-hulled armored warship. Like Southsea Castle, she never fired a shot in anger, although she did set off a flurry of imitation shipbuilding.
Portsmouth is easily accessible from London. The summer of 2005 would be an especially fine time to visit the city. There will be numerous events from June to October commemorating Nelson’s victory at the Battle of Trafalgar, including an international fleet review on 28 June. For more information about Portsmouth and its many attractions, visit www.portsmouthand.co.uk; for more information about commemorations for Trafalgar, visit www.trafalgar200.com.