Stormy weather uncovers D-Day history on Hampshire beach: Loading platforms known as hards emerge

A large swathe of the D-Day hards have been uncovered after stormy weather and scouring tides revealed the infrastructure that is usually buried beneath the sand at the Hampshire Beach.

The concrete D-day loading platforms, built in 1942 for use by Landing Craft Tank ahead of the invasion on the beaches of Normandy, appeared in clear view on Saturday afternoon at low tide at Stokes Bay in Gosport. 

Known to locals as the ‘chocolate blocks’ the flexible concrete matting, built in four stretches along Stokes Bay, is sometimes stripped of its sand covering at low tide depending on the weather, however such an open stretch is rarely seen.   

The four purpose built hards, measuring 200 feet wide by 73 feet each, were built on top of the beaches to ensure sturdy slipway access for tanks and other support vehicles as they loaded up onto Landing Craft in preparation for the embarkation to…