The town of Arromanches-les-Bains in the Calvados department was recaptured from the Germans by the 50th British infantry division on the evening of the landing of June 6, 1944. The next day, the Allied forces began the construction of the artificial port intended to allow the arrival of reinforcements and equipment by sinking old ships and towing the Phoenix caissons manufactured in England. In total, 529,000 tons of equipment were unloaded at Arromanches-les-Bains until the cessation of activity at the artificial port on November 19, 1944.