‘People were ready to move on’: D-day left little mark on key port of Southampton

Andy Skinner holds up an old photograph next to the Mayflower Pilgrims Memorial. Photograph: Peter Flude/The Guardian

Of the British and Canadian troops who took part in D-day on 6 June 1944, two-thirds set off for the beaches of Normandy from Southampton’s docks.

The on England’s south coast was sealed off by the allies, with permits required in and out, and the civic centre – the first in the country, completed in 1939 in brilliant white Portland stone – was taken over by the US army 14th Major Port Transportation Corps.