Ballyholme Bay played an important part in the Second World War. In 1944 Ballyholme was a base for American GIs and the US Navy. Between 1942 and the end of the Second World War, around 300,000 American service men passed through Ulster on their way to the frontline. The US troops prepared for war, carrying out training exercises and practising beach landings in Ballyholme.

In 1944 General Dwight D. Eisenhower, who later became president of the USA, went to Ballyholme Bay to watch the US Navy perform exercises. He then set out from the pier in Bangor to visit several ships where he wished the soldiers good luck before they departed for the beaches of Normandy.

In 2004, to mark the 60th anniversary of the D-Day landings, Bangor's North Pier was renamed in Eisenhower's honour.