Embarkation routes and the limits of small British ports

The proposed routes place the Sixteenth Army mainly in Belgium, the Ninth at Le Havre and the Sixth at Cherbourg. On the British side, capturing a coastal town would not automatically provide the capacity needed to unload an army's supplies. Brighton and Lyme Regis illustrate the problem because their small harbors served local needs. Folkestone is judged the largest harbor the invaders were realistically likely to obtain, and even that offered limited capacity. Southampton and London illustrate the scale of harbor needed to sustain a large force. The port question therefore constrains what a successful initial landing could sustain.