Southwick House

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Southwick House was the manor house of the Southwick Estate located just to the north of Portsmouth in Hampshire, England. The house was built 1800, although it has undergone extensive renovation and repair since.

The house became important during World War II. In 1940 the estate owners allowed the Royal Navy (RN) to use the house to accommodate overnight pupils of the RN School of Navigation, HMS Dryad in Portsmouth Naval Dockyard. In 1941, after heavy bombing of the dockyard, the house was requisitioned and became the new home of HMS Dryad.

In 1943, with the planning for D-Day already underway, the house was chosen to be the location of Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force. Due to this, HMS Dryad was moved out of the house onto further land requisitioned from the estate.

In 1944, in the months leading up to D-Day, the house became the headquarters of the main allied commanders, including Naval Commander-in-Chief Admiral Ramsay, Allied Supreme Commander General Eisenhower and the Army Commander-in-Chief General Montgomery.

After the end of the war the HMS Dryad remained on site, with the house becoming the wardroom. In 2004 the functions HMS Dryad was transferred to HMS Collingwood and the site reverted back to its original name of Southwick House. Since it has been home to the Tri-Service Defence Police College.

The large wall maps that were used in planning D-Day are still in place in the house, with the various markers showing the positions of the involved forces at the moment the first landing commenced.