Channel Ports#World War II

File:Dover from air.jpg

The ports vary in size and their relative importance has fluctuated during recent history. Dover has established a lead in the cross-Channel ferry routes through its geographic position and development of its facilities and hinterland. This business has been sustained despite competition from the Channel Tunnel. Other minor ports in Kent and Sussex have retained some trade but these tend to be single routes, such as Newhaven–Dieppe.

Longer routes mainly radiate from Portsmouth but there are lesser ports at Poole and Plymouth, with routes to Normandy, Brittany and Spain.

The major French port with cross-Channel connections is Calais, with frequent sailings to Dover. Other close French channel include Dunkirk and Dieppe.{{fact|date=September 2024}}

Longer routes are served from Le Havre, Caen, Cherbourg, Roscoff and St Malo. There are services to Ireland (Rosslare and Cork).{{fact|date=September 2024}}

The ports are important commercial facilities, reinforcing connections between the British and European road systems. They are also vulnerable to industrial action such as strikes by port employees{{cite web| title =Dover-Calais/Boulogne ferry services hit by strike| publisher =eTravel.org| date =16 October 2008| url =http://etravel.org/news/4163/| accessdate =15 July 2009| url-status =dead| archiveurl =https://archive.today/20130414191747/http://etravel.org/news/4163/| archivedate =14 April 2013| df =dmy-all}} or blockades by disgruntled fishermen.{{cite web

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| title = Ports blocked in cod quota protest

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| publisher = CNN

| date = 11 December 2002

| url = http://edition.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/europe/12/11/eu.fish/index.html

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| accessdate = 15 July 2009 }}

Their importance as military facilities was demonstrated during two World Wars.

During World War I the British and French Channel ports were major conduits for British materiel and troops.

The Belgian ports of Ostend and Zeebrugge were considered a major threat by British Admiral Admiral Jellicoe. He was concerned by their use not only as German U-boat ports, but also as torpedo boat bases and even possible departure points for a cross-Channel attack. This concern was transmitted via Whitehall to the British chief of staff on the Western Front, General Haig, for whom it merely confirmed the need for an offensive in Flanders, and eventually led to the Battle of Passchendaele (also known as the Third Battle of Ypres).Strachan, Hew. The First World War. Pocket Books, 2006, pp. 244–5.

During World War II, likewise, the Channel ports provided major supply routes which had to be reopened in 1944. Dunkirk was the route from which British and Allied troops were evacuated in 1940; see Dunkirk evacuation. Dunkirk was left under siege until the general German surrender.{{cite web

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| title = Clearing the Coastal Belt and the Ports, September 1944

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| publisher = Department of National Defence

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| url = http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/UN/Canada/CA/Victory/Victory-14.html

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| accessdate = 15 July 2009 }}

In September 1944, the First Canadian Army (Canadian, British, Polish, Czechoslovak and other national units) was to capture the ports from Le Havre to Zeebrugge. Dieppe and Ostende were undefended but major military actions were required for Le Havre (Operation Astonia), Boulogne (Operation Wellhit) and Calais (Operation Undergo). It took several weeks to bring the ports back into use at a time when Allied armies badly needed supplies.{{fact|date=September 2024}}

• Operation Stack
• List of ports and harbours of the Atlantic Ocean
• Cinque Ports (in England)
• France–UK border

{{Reflist}}

{{refbegin}}

• {{cite book|last1=Cowsill|first1=Miles|last2=Hendy|first2=John|title=Newhaven-Dieppe: the car ferry era|date=1994|publisher=Ferry Publications|location=Kilgetty, Pembrokeshire|isbn=1871947200}}
• {{cite book|last1=Cowsill|first1=Miles|title=Ferries of The English Channel: Past and Present|date=1997|publisher=Ferry Publications|location=Kilgetty, Pembrokeshire|isbn=187194743X}}
• {{cite book|last1=Hendy|first1=John|title=The Dover–Ostend Line|date=1991|publisher=Ferry Publications|location=Staplehurst, Kent|isbn=095135065X}}
• {{cite book|last1=Hendy|first1=John|title=Ferries of Dover|date=1993|publisher=Ferry Publications|location=Staplehurst, Kent|isbn=0951350692}}
• {{cite book|last1=Hendy|first1=John|title=Ferry Port Dover: the development of cross-channel vehicle ferries, their services and allied infrastructure|date=1997|publisher=Ferry Publications|location=Staplehurst, Kent|isbn=1871947472}}
• {{cite book|last1=Hendy|first1=John|title=Dover-Calais: The Short-Sea Route|date=2009|publisher=Ferry Publications|location=Ramsey, Isle of Man|isbn=9781871947939}}
• {{cite book|last1=Hendy|first1=John|title=Folkestone: for the Continent|date=2014|publisher=Ferry Publications|location=Ramsey, Isle of Man|isbn=9781906608767}}
• {{cite book|last1=Hendy|first1=John|title=Dover-Calais|date=2016|publisher=Ferry Publications|location=Ramsey, Isle of Man|isbn=9781906608743}}
• {{cite book|last1=Pattheeuws|first1=Stephen|title=The Ostend Ferry: from start to finish|date=2015|publisher=Ferry Publications|location=Ramsey, Isle of Man|isbn=9781906608804}}
• {{cite book|last1=Searle|first1=Brian|last2=Peter|first2=Bruce|title=Weymouth Ferries: The Rise and Fall of a Port|date=2010|publisher=Ferry Publications|location=Ramsey, Isle of Man|isbn=9781906608088}}

{{refend}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20090310032813/http://www.visitfrance.co.uk/channel_ferries.cfm A commercial site promoting cross-channel traffic]
• [http://www.aferry.co.uk/ferry-to-england-uk-ferries-uk.htm List of ferry routes to England]
• [http://www.aferry.co.uk/ferry-to-france-ferries-uk.htm List of ferry routes to France] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121013061826/http://www.aferry.co.uk/ferry-to-france-ferries-uk.htm |date=13 October 2012 }}

{{Ports and harbors}}

Category:Ports and harbours of England

Category:Ports and harbours of France

Category:Ports and harbours of the English Channel