THEY were two of the most important figures of World War Two.

And they stood on the clifftop at Bournemouth, watching with quiet satisfaction as ships and boats gathered in the expanse of Poole Bay.

This was the build up to the long awaited operation that would mark the beginning of the end of the global conflict.

The two men were General Dwight Eisenhower and Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery and they were watching the preparations for D-Day.

They looked approvingly out across the water, spoke a few words walked into the nearby Carlton Hotel for lunch and to chew over the details of Operation Overlord.

It was May 1944. The two had arrived in town with other Allied commanders to see rehearsals for the Normandy landings taking place in Poole Bay.

Overlord began at 15 minutes past midnight on June 6, 1944 – the day that will forever be known as D-Day.

Three million men left southern England for the shores and fields of northern France aboard 7,000 ships and 11,000 aircraft. No two counties played a greater role in despatching the largest invasion force ever assembled than Dorset and Hampshire.

But it was more than just a military operation.

In a message to the soldiers, sailors and airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force on the eve of their departure, Eisenhower said: “You are about to embark on the great crusade towards which we have striven these many months.

“The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty loving people everywhere march with you. Good luck. And let us all beseech the blessing of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking.”

Eisenhower’s task had been simply laid down by the Combined Chiefs of Staff in the directive appointing him Supreme Commander, Allied Forces in Europe in December 1943.

It said: “You will enter the continent of Europe and in conjunction with the other United Nations undertake operations aimed at the heart of Germany and the destruction of her armed forces.”

By June 4, all was set. Everything except certainty over the weather. There was low cloud and strong winds, a disaster for the airborne operation. Then the chief meteorological officer, Group Captain JN Stagg predicted 24 hours of settled weather from late the following day.

Eisenhower knew he had to gamble on one throw of the dice. “OK. Let’s go,” he told his commanders. As the clock ticked past midnight into June 6, the Longest Day began.

Dorset and Hampshire became huge arsenal for invasion

ONE month before D-Day, the counties of Dorset and Hampshire had become a huge arsenal.

Cornelius Ryan, the author of The Longest Day, described the impressive scene.

“Hidden in the forests were mountainous piles of ammunition. Stretching across the moors bumper to bumper were tanks, half tracks, armoured cars, trucks, jeeps and ambulances, more than fifty thousand of them.

“In the fields were long lines of howitzers and anti-aircraft guns, great quantities of prefabricated materials from nissen huts to airstrips to huge stock of earthmoving equipment from bulldozers to excavators.

But the most staggering sight of all were the valleys filled with long lines of railroad rolling stock, almost 1,000 brand new locomotives and nearly 20,000 tanker cars and freight cars which would be used to replace the shattered French equipment once the beachhead was established.”