The Cherbourg Story.

The Cherbourg Story. Cherbourg, the first major Continental port liberated by the Allies, optimized the pattern of engineering skill which military salvage experts have used to restore Tripoli, Bizerte, Palermo and Naples and make them booming supply centers feeding war material to the Allied advances against the Nazi's. For two years, U.S. and British Navy and Army engineers studied photgraphs and data on Cherbourg and prepared their plans and equipment in England. As soon as the port was liberated June 27, 1944 ---- three weeks after D-Day------ they arrived with scores of ships loaded with special equipment. They surveyed the damage done by retreating Germans, found their plans correct. Engineering crews were sped to selected tasks and began the work of constructing harbor facilities, repairing rail lines and putting the port to use. In 30 days, Cherbourg was handling more tonnage than it over had in peacetime. These pictures, many of which have just been released by the censors, show how it was done. American tugboats, brought to England months ago and held in readiness for the liberation of Cherbourg, were used to bring bargeloads of vital war material from the big ships to the piers before the harbor was cleared. One of them is pictured here bringing in a barge from an early convoy. Bezoekr meldt: The tug TID 21 shown was a British built standard wartime tug. It was part of a large fleet of British tugs that were loaned to the US Armed Forces to assist in the D-Day landings. Built in 1943 by Richard Dunston Ltd., Thorne, yard no. T421, official number 169320. 54 tons.