Gold Beach on D-Day

The westernmost part of the British and Canadian sector was Gold. Four beaches, running in a row from Le Hamel to La Riviere had been selected for the assault of 50th (Northumbrian) Division: Jig Green, Jig Red, King Green and King Red.

Order of Battle

50th Division normally comprised three brigades - 69th, 151st and 231st - each of three infantry battalions. However, for the D-Day landings it had been reinforced with a fourth brigade, the 56th. This allowed the division to plan on landing a brigade in each of the Jig and King sectors, with a second brigade following up in each case as a reserve. The division had also been allocated 8th Armoured Brigade to provide tank support, and a Royal Marine Commando from the 4th Special Service Brigade.

The Duplex Drive tanks, able to swim ashore from landing craft, were supposed to be the first to reach the shore and provide covering fire for the assault battalions. The Centaur IV tanks of 1st Royal Marines Armoured Support Regiment were armed with 95mm howitzers and were designed to be able to fire from their landing craft during the run-in to the beach. Similarly, the three Royal Artillery Field Regiments each had 24 Sexton self-propelled 25 pounder guns which could be fired while still aboard the landing craft.

Commodore Douglas-Pennant commanded Force G, the landing craft assigned to Gold Beach. (The letter designating the Force corresponded to first letter of the Beach). He commanded from HMS Bulolo, which had been the first dedicated amphibious headquarters ship built by the Royal Navy specifically to control this sort of operation. He commanded 28 flotillas of Royal Navy and Royal Marine landing craft, 1 flotilla of Royal Canadian Navy landing craft, and 8 flotillas of US Navy craft and landing ships. Force G sailed from the Solent for France from 0700 on 5 June, escorted by Force K, which was to provide the naval bombardment of Gold.

Force K included four RN cruisers and the Dutch gunboat Flores. Each of these was assigned to bombard a specific German artillery position. Thirteen RN and Polish destroyers were allocated to shell the beach defences along Jig and King. Eight of Force G's landing craft flotillas did not carry troops or vehicles but instead were armed with guns and rockets to provide additional firepower close in to the shore.

The Initial Assault

Allied minesweepers had swept channels through the German minefields off the coast, and the large Landing Ships Infantry began lowering their small Landing Craft Assault (LCAs) carrying the assault battalions just before 0530, some six miles off the coast. The cruisers began their bombardment at 0530, and USAAF heavy bombers attacked the shore defences as well. The LCAs began their run-in at about 0600. However, the heavy seas experienced led to a decision not to risk launching the DD tanks - their flotation relied on canvas screens with little freeboard and they could all too easily be swamped. Instead, their landing craft were instructed to land them directly on the beach. The Royal Marine Centaurs were also missing; their landing craft had proved top-heavy, one had capsized, and the others had fallen behind schedule.

Jig

Jig Green beach was overlooked by a German strongpoint, WN-37, located in Le Hamel. Despite the weight of ordnance thrown at it, it had survived intact and was able to bring heavy fire down on 231st Brigade. The first British troops ashore at about 0725 were specialist tanks - the Armoured Vehicles Royal Engineers and the Westminster Dragoons' Crabs. These attempted to open up routes through the obstructions, but suffered heavy casualties to anti-tank fire. The Royal Navy frogmen and Royal Engineers operating on foot also suffered and were unable to make much progress in clearing the obstructions.

Furthermore, the wind blew the LCAs off course, with troops that should have been landing at the western end of Jig Green near to Le Hamel instead coming ashore further east. A company of the 1st Hampshires successfully stormed a strongpoint in a customs house near Les Roquettes. However, when they attempted to advance west towards Le Hamel, they suffered heavy casualties from WN-37, which also knocked out several tanks of the Notts Yeomanry as they came ashore. Of the five Royal Marines tanks that finally made it to shore on Jig, four were quickly knocked out. To make matters worse, the landing craft carrying 231st Brigade headquarters was sunk.

Unable to tackle WN-37, the Hampshires moved inland and liberated Asnelles, behind Le Hamel, at about midday. WN-37 was only taken in the late afternoon, in an attack which involved the Hampshires, an AVRE and a Sexton from the Essex Yeomanry (147th Field Regiment). Meanwhile, 1st Dorsets had passed behind Asnelles towards Buhot and Arromanches, and 2nd Devons were advancing south-west towards Ryes. 56th Brigade was able to start landing behind 231st Brigade on Jig at noon.

King

The initial attack by 69th Brigade on King went rather more according to plan than on Jig. The German defences had suffered more from the bombardment and the landing craft suffered fewer navigational difficulties. The RN and RE clearance teams landed at 0725 and began demolishing the beach obstructions. 19 Sherman DD tanks of B Squadron 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards were able to land alongside the first troops from 6th Green Howards. A Company, supported by three AVREs and a Sherman, overran a strongpoint at Le Pont Chausse, while B and D Companies attacked uphill towards the Meuvaines ridge and Mont Fleury respectively. At Mont Fleury, Company Sergeant Major Hollis of D Coy attacked a bunker with grenades, the first of two actions that day which won him the Victoria Cross. By 1030, 6th Green Howards held the high ground overlooking King.

Meanwhile, 5th East Yorks and their supporting troops had come ashore on King Red. The landings at the western end of the beach had gone well, but at the eastern end, near La Riviere, strongpoint WN-33 caused heavy casualties amongst C and D Companies of 5th East Yorks, and two AVREs were lost. Gun-armed landing craft closed in to provide covering fire, while tanks manoeuvred to engage the bunkers. A Sherman Crab succeeded in knocking out the main gun position and the East Yorks were then able to enter La Riviere, where fierce street fighting ensued until the last German defenders surrendered at around 1100.

6th Green Howards then advanced on Crepon, while 7th Green Howards, supported by a pair of Churchill Crocodile flamethrower tanks, advanced through Ver-sur-Mer. The follow-up formation, 151st Brigade, had begun landing on King at 1030 and were preparing to move inland.

Inland

The Green Howards reached Crepon at around 1300, where CSM Hollis again distinguished himself rescuing two of his men after a probing attack failed. A Squadron of 4th/7th RDG pressed ahead with 7th Green Howards reaching Creully in mid-afternoon. As the Green Howards advanced into the village from the west, they came under fire, but it was quickly established that their opponents were in fact Canadians of the Royal Winnipeg Rifles, who had entered from the eastern end; Gold and Juno Beaches had made contact.

However, the Germans were mustering for a major counter-attack and 5th East Yorks and 6th Green Howards ran into this force at Villiers-le-Sec. The village was taken by the British infantry, and the 4th/7th RDG lost six tanks in a fight with German assault guns, knocking out four of their opponents near Fresnay-le-Crotteur. Unfortunately, naval gunfire from HMS Orion was misdirected onto the British troops, causing some casualties. 69th Brigade ceased its advance around Brecy, while 151st Brigade, consisting of three battalions of the Durham Light Infantry, took up overnight positions to the west around Vienne-en-Bessin, despite the unfortunate loss of its Brigadier, captured in an ambush when his jeep ran into an isolated pocket of Germans.

The other follow-up formation, 56th Brigade, had also advanced quickly inland, some its attached tanks from the Notts Yeomanry reaching the outskirts of Bayeux before turning back to avoid overreaching themselves. Further north on the coast, 231st Brigade had continued to meet heavy German resistance advancing west along the coast. 1st Dorsets, supported by artillery, machine-guns from 2nd Battalion The Cheshire Regiment, and Shermans of the Notts Yeomanry, eliminated another strongpoint, WN-40, west of Asnelles. After a difficult fight, 2nd Dorsets also succeeded in capturing the important village of Ryes, while 1st Hampshires curved back to the coast to take Arromanches that evening.  Arromanches had been selected as the site of Mulberry B harbour, and the huge fleet of ships engaged on its construction were busy by 7 June surveying the waters and positioning the blockships which formed the first breakwater.

Part of the Mulberry harbour, seen from a floating trackway leading out to the Spud pontoon pierheads

47 Commando Royal Marines had landed on Jig at 0950, assigned the task of force-marching nine miles west to seize the small harbour of Port-en-Bessin, which would become the main port for fuel deliveries to Normandy until Cherbourg had been liberated. The landing did not go well, five of the Commando's LCAs being sunk, with 76 casualties out of a unit strength of just 420. As a result, the advance was delayed by a couple of hours, but they set off at noon and despite having to fight through La Rosiere, were able to dig in for the night above Escures. A successful assault, supported by naval gunfire, took Port-en-Bessin the following afternoon after a fierce fight.

Last Updated: 22 Jun 04