ePetition details

Operation Overlord 1944 Exhibition

We the undersigned petition the council to ….....to use the empty space at the SeaCity Museum within the Civic Centre for a new exhibition dedicated to Operation Overlord and in particular Operation Neptune, the crossing of the English Channel during World War Two.

Whilst working temporarily as a Museum Assistant at the SeaCity Museum I was surprised to find that staff were not aware that during WW2 the wing nearest to the Civic Centre adjoining the museum, at the suggestion of the mayor at the time, was the headquarters of the US Army 14th Major Port who controlled much of the south coast during Operation Overlord.

Next to a doorway of the wing is a plaque which reads, 'This tablet records that a wing of the Civic Centre was used as the headquarters of the 14th Major Port US Army during World War Two between D-Day, June 6th and the end of hostilities. Orders were issued from here directing the embarkation of the American Armies who together with their allies sailed from Southampton Docks to liberate Europe. During the operation over 2,250,000 troops, 250,000 vehicles and millions of tons of American supplies were shipped through the port.'

The lack of knowledge generally of the significance of Southampton during World War Two encouraged my application for 2 other SCC ePetitions 'To Save the WW2 Whale' and an 'Application for UNESCO World Heritage' status. Southampton would be following the port of Liverpool with a backstory which includes the slave trade that was recognised by UNESCO in 2004 and went on to become European City of Culture.

Similarly an application from Southampton to UNESCO as a representative of a south coast port that was the 'springboard' for Operation Overlord and the liberation of Europe in 1944 might help support the application as the UK City of Culture in 2025.

It is hoped that recognition of Operation Overlord as a world changing event leading to UNESCO status, would also gain financial support for the proposed construction of the Mulberry Visitor Centre and the Operation Overlord Exhibition at the Civic Centre. – Please take the time and trouble to also sign the ePetitions to Save the Whale and apply for UNESCO World Heritage status as they need 1500 signatures before they may be considered at a full SCC council meeting.

This ePetition ran from 04/01/2021 to 15/06/2021 and has now finished.

56 people signed this ePetition.

Council response

Thank you to the organiser for this petition. We fully appreciate and acknowledge the significance of D-Day and Operation Overlord to Southampton’s history. However, our holdings relating to D-Day are primarily archival/photographic, and therefore not extensive enough for a major exhibition. As such we have focussed a section of the Southampton Stories exhibition (at SeaCity Museum) on Southampton’s D-Day role, with photographs from our collection and oral history recordings of Southampton residents and dockworkers at the time.

We are also in the process of developing a new website focussing on our museum collections, which will include D-Day as an online exhibition. In addition, we have recently collaborated with The D-Day Story and the National Museum of the Royal Navy on a project to display and interpret LCT-7074, which carried soldiers, tanks and other equipment from Southampton.