but one of the tanks were disabled or destroyed. Soon one problem lead to another as
those soldiers that landed on the beach were unable to advance and were without any
tanks to bail them out of their predicament. Eventually with the help of the one tank that
39
survived the landing, the troops at Gold Beach were able to press forward. Not unlike
any of the other beaches, Gold had a complicated battle plan including many Divisions,
Regiments and even a commando group. The overall goal was to take the key points of
the German defenses and secure the area. One such key point was Port-en-Bessin
which was to be invaded by the British 47th Royal Marine Commando who would later
40
meet up with an America Regiment from Omaha. The problem was that not everything
went according to plan and they were unable to take the city. The Americans who were
supposed to help in the fight inland by moving through the North-west flank of the area
never showed up. Another such joining of teams did go according to plans as the 50th
Division met up with a Division of Canadians from Juno beach after coming within a mile
of their D-day objective of the taking of Bayeux. The only two groups to succeed in their
D-day objectives as Gold Beach were the 69th and 231st Regiments. The 231st
successfully took the city of Arromanches while the 69th took la Riviere even after they
41
were forced to originally bypass the stronghold and return and destroy it later on. Other
groups involved included the British 8th, 151st and 56th Regiments who aided in the
push inland and the clearing of the beaches of mines and obstacles. By the end of the
day ,most of the D-day objectives had failed but three brigades were ready to push
farther inland at sunlight. The beach was secured and ready for reinforcements.
Unfortunately, Bayeux was not taken but most of the area?s hidden bunkers and trenches
were. Some in fact were found to be manned by unwilling Asiatic conscripts from the
42
southern Soviet republics who were put there by Germans.
Juno beach was Canada?s beach with over 21,000 Canadians
43
landing there. Not unlike other beaches, Juno?s H-hour was delayed until 07:45. The
reason was that air reconnaissance had spotted some underwater ?shoals? (rocks/reefs)
and the Canadians wanted to wait until the tide had gone in to make it safer for the
landing craft. (Later on the ?shoals? turned out to be masses of floating seaweed). The
beach itself was wide enough to land two Brigades side by side, the Canadian 7th at
Courseulles and the 8th at Bernieres. The decision to wait until 07:45 caused more
problems than it solved. The rising tide hid most of the beach obstacles meaning two
things: it was dangerous for the landing craft to come ashore and the demolition crews
couldn?t get at the obstacles to make room for the landing craft. Thirty percent of all the
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landing craft at Juno beach on D-day were disabled in beach obstacle related incidents.
One such example was when one craft started to disembark troops, a wave threw the
craft onto a mined beach obstacle. Like at most of the beaches that day, Armored
Divisions started to bring their tanks in on the landing craft but like on all the other
beaches this caused problems. The Regina Rifles, one of the first groups to land, had to
wait twenty minutes on the beach without the aid of any tanks or heavy artillery. Due to
heavy seas and tanks coming in on the landing craft it ?meant that people who should
45
have been in front were behind.? The Canadians were smarter than most in the setup of
their landing. They chose a position at sea which was only seven or eight miles out
instead of the distance most other beach operations were using of about eleven miles.
This greatly increased the speed and accuracy of the landings and the first Canadian
wave was on the beach by 08:15. Once on the beach the amount of German defenses
surprised the Allied forces, once again the air assault on the German gunneries was not
46
as successful as planned. However, like at Gold beach, the Canadians did find out that
the firepower of their tanks was the difference between being able to push inland and
being pinned down at the beach. After the main beach defenses of the Germans were
taken the inland push became slower and slower the farther south they got. A few of the
main objectives were successful. The 3rd Division reach the Caen-Bayeux road and a
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lot of French towns were liberated. The one strongpoint that would become a problem for troops at Juno, as well as Sword, would be Caen. The Canadians found increased
resistance the closer they got and in that aspect their D-day mission did not succeed. As
48
night fell the Canadians were still well short of a lot of objectives. They did get their tanks
on the Caen-Bayeux road but that was about it. The British 3rd Division from Sword
beach was planned to meet up with the Canadians in order to close the gap between
Juno and Sword beaches but they never showed. This left a two mile gap in the beaches
and would be the area of the only German counterattack of the day. The other linkup
between beaches was successful as Canadians met the 50th Division from Gold beach.
49
Overall the Canadians didn?t get all that far but were in a good position to move inland.
Sword beach was the easternmost beach in Normandy. Like at Juno Beach H-
50
hour was again postponed because of ?shoals? until 07:25. The main objective at Sword
beach was to advance and invade the German strongpoint of Caen. Four whole
brigades of the 3rd Division were sent to Caen. There were also Airborne Divisions that
dropped behind lines using large gliders which could carry troops as well as other
Armored vehicles. Those groups not supposed to head toward Caen were planned to
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reach the Airborne Divisions and secure the area?s bridges from counterattack. Even as
the Canadians moved inland, trouble was developing back at the beach. Although all the
DD tanks made it to the beach the tide was turning the already small beach into one with
only ten yards from the seafront to the water?s edge. With only one road off the beach
the overcrowding caused delays in most objectives for that day. Some of the Armored
Divisions like the 27th Armored Brigade abandoned their objectives in order to bail out
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Infantry pinned down on the crowded beaches. Those who did make it off the beach in
time were quite successful in reaching their D-day objectives. By late afternoon the
leading troops of the Brigades heading for Caen had reached and liberated the towns of
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Beuville and Bieville which were only two or so miles short of Caen. Strongpoints, like
the one at La Breche, were taken as early as 10:00. Those troops that didn?t make it off
the beach in time, like the 185th Brigade, had to leave all their heavy equipment behind
in order to catch up with the forces already nearing Caen. The move inland was really
looking quite promising until the Germans launched the only counterattack of the day.
The 21st Panzer Division was sent out from Caen, half to take on the southward allies
and the other half to head right up between Juno and Sword beach where that two mile of
beach was unoccupied by Allied forces. Fifty German tanks faced the Brigades heading
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for Caen. Luckily the British were ready with artillery, fighter-bombers and a special
?Firefly? Sherman tank that was fitted with a seventeen pound anti-tank gun instead of the
normal 75mm gun. Soon, thirteen of the German tanks were destroyed with only one M-
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10 tank destroyer damaged. This just went to show that the British were slow in advance
but almost unbreakable in defense. Still the Germans pressed forward until about 21:00
when the last wave of gliders of the 6th Airborne Divisions came in. The Germans
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looked up and saw about 250 gliders fly in and land behind them. The allies now were
attacking from two directions and the only German counterattack ended quickly. By the
end of the day the German resistance at Sword beach was almost obliterated other than
that at Caen. A lot of the success was because of the joint effort of Airborne Divisions
and Divisions landing on the beach. Of the 6,250 troops of the 6th Airborne that landed
there were only 650 casualties. Unfortunately Caen was not taken but it?s liberation was
imminent.
By the end of June 6, 1944 one of the most complicated and the most coordinated
invasions the world would ever witness had started. On Utah Beach, the American 1st
Army held a firm beachhead with several Divisions already receiving the supplies they
needed and would soon be ready to move inland. On Omaha Beach, the troops there
had recovered from what had looked like an impending disaster in the first hours and
started to break through the stiff German defenses. At the British run beaches of Juno,
Gold and Sword the forces had managed to push inland an average of six miles. Even
with the amount of soldiers numbering about seventy-five thousand, the casualties
between the three U.S. beaches were only approximately three thousand. Overlooking
the Omaha beach landing site is the Normandy American Cemetery. Under headstones
of white Italian marble lie 9386 American soldiers, airmen and sailors. Of these men
whom are buried here are 307 whose names are known but to God. Their valiant
soldiers unselfishly gave their lives in landing operations, the establishment of the
beachheads and the drive inland towards Paris. The remains of 14,000 others had
originally been buried here but had been returned home at the request of their next of
kin. This was the price paid for a foothold on Europe. D-Day was the beginning of the
end for the Germans in Europe and the end of the beginning for the fight for Europe.
SOURCES USED
Ambrose, Stephen E. D-Day June 6, 1944: The Climatic Battle of World War II, ( New York New York, Simon and Schuster 1994)
Golstein, Donald M. Katherine V. Dillon, and Michael Wenger, D-DAY NORMANDY: The Story and The Photographs, ( Washington, New York, London, Bassey?s 1994)
Young, Brigadeir Peter D-DAY, ( London England, Bison Books Limited, 1981)
The American Battle Monuments Commission, Normandy American Cemetary and Memorial, ( A Handout; The American Battle Monuments Commission 1987)