The British 50th Division went ashore on Gold Beach, the westernmost of the British landings. These troops were responsible for linking up with the United States forces pushing inland from Omaha across the ten-mile gap between Omaha and Gold Beaches.
Unlike the steep cliffs of Omaha, Gold Beach was flat, but heavily strewn with obstacles and mines. Here the Germans concentrated surface defenses, pillboxes, and gun emplacements, allowing them to sweep the beaches with crossfire. Houses were turned into sniper's nests and strong points. More minefields and a pattern of anti-tank ditches crisscrossed the low-lying land on either side of the coastal road and continued up toward the gentle slope that rose to the inland plateau. Gold Beach was dominated by heavy field guns on the heights above Arromanches at the western end, and large-caliber guns in heavy casements at the eastern end.
The 50th Division sent in two waves of troops; the first wave included the 47th Regiment Commandos, the 231st Brigade, and the 69th Brigade. The 47th and 231st swung westward to cross the unsecured gap between Omaha and take the harbor facilities at Port-en-Bessin. The 69th would swing east and drive inland to Creully. The second wave, made up of the 56th brigade and the 151st Brigade, was to drive down the center, deep inland toward Bayeux.
Landing at the far right end of Gold Beach near St-C⌠me-de-FresnΘ, the 47th Regiment Commandos lost fifteen of their sixteen landing craft to beach obstacles. Machine-gun crossfire was heavy. Incredibly, there were so few casualties that the medical team had time to unload ammunition. The 47th ultimately reached their objective, Port-en-Bessin, liberated the town, and immediately put the harbor to use.
The citizens celebrated by ringing the bells of St-C⌠me church. The event moved one witness to record the moment in her diary:
"What seemed impossible has really happened! The English have landed on the French coast and our little village has become famous in a few hours! Not one civilian killed or wounded. How can we express our surprise after such long hours of waiting in wonderment and fear? What a sight met our eyes! As far as we could see there were ships of all kinds and sizes and above floated big balloons silvery in the sun. Big bombers were passing and repassing in the sky. Nothing has changed at Arromanches but at St-C⌠me up to as far as Courseulles one could see nothing but ships. It is a marvelous and an unforgettable sight . . . . Is it all really true? We are at last liberated!" (1)
Meanwhile, the 231st Brigade engaged the German stronghold of Le Hamel before pressing on toward Arromanches. A survivor of the action in nearby Asnelles, Madame d'Anselm, recounted the scene that took place in her garden where she had taken refuge with her seven children:
"We had dug a little trench in the garden, just big enough to shelter the eight of us and a couple of others. It was not very well protected--or covered. When the bombing attacks started we were in the house, but it was so bad that we had to go into the garden and take refuge in the trench, which was fortunate because the windows and parts of the house were soon smashed.
"Then, somewhere between three and four o'clock, two of the children took advantage of a pause to go back to the house to fetch something. One of them seized the opportunity to climb on to the garden wall to see what was happening. There was a German gun just on the other side of the garden wall. Suddenly he shouted excitedly, "Mummy, Mummy! Look--the sea--it's black with boats!" (2)
With the assistance of heavy air and sea support, the 69th Brigade made short work of German-held Hable de Heurtot and a battery position at Mont Fleury. This engagement was the site of unparalleled bravery on the part of Sergeant Major Stanley Hollis, who single-handedly charged a pillbox emplacement and destroyed it with a hand grenade. For his repeated feats of valor, Hollis earned the Victoria Cross--the British equivalent of the American Medal of Honor.
At La Riviere, the 5th Battalion was cornered near the sea wall. Calling in naval gunfire and a flail tank to knock out an 88mm gun in its bunker, the 5th broke free and took forty-five German prisoners. Ninety Allied lives were lost in the terrible fight to secure the village. After taking two guns and thirty prisoners near Mont Fleury, the battalion pushed inland toward Ver-sur-Mer.
The 50th Division pushed inland, and just four hours after the first attack on Gold Beach, the 151st Brigade began to land on the beaches. German forces still held Le Hamel, but all four brigades of the 50th Division were ashore by early afternoon, putting the British 50th Division on the way to their ultimate objective: to take Bayeux and establish an Allied foothold in Normandy.
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1. From the diary of Madame Genget, as excerpted by Warren Tute, "D-Day," (New York: MacMillan Publishing Company, 1974), p. 202.
2. From the diary of Madame d'Anselm, as excerpted by Warren Tute, "D-Day," (New York: MacMillan Publishing Company, 1974), p. 199.
