Ken Ford - D-Day 1944 (4): Gold and Juno Beaches

The amphibious landings on the beaches codenamed Gold and Juno on 6 June 1944 were just part of the great Allied invasion of France to liberate Europe from Nazi Germanys occupation. Other landings carried out by British and American units took place under the direction of the Supreme Allied Commander, Gen Dwight D. Eisenhower, along the Normandy coastline both to the east and the west. The invasion was the culmination of years of planning which began soon after the British Expeditionary Force had been evacuated from the continent in 1940 in the face of overwhelming superior German forces. In the intervening years, the British, and later the Americans, had been forced to continue the war in other theatres remote from mainland Europe. In the east, the brunt of the fighting was borne by the Russians who had to resist the vast majority of Hitlers forces virtually single-handedly. Pressure was increasingly applied to the western Allies to open a second front to relieve some of the strain felt by the Russians, but a full-scale assault on a strongly held shoreline was an undertaking that required much careful planning and a considerable amount of men and equipment. It took a great deal of time before all of the infrastructure necessary for an invasion could be put in place and a landing in north-west Europe was not realistically possible until early 1944. By the time the Allies felt that they had sufficient strength to launch the invasion, Germany had been in occupation in France for four years.

Infantry storm ashore from landing craft during an exercise in early 1944. Several full-scale exercises were conducted before the invasion involving long sea journeys prior to an amphibious landing against simulated opposition. (Imperial War Museum, H38244)

Troops in a sealed camp north of Portsmouth close to the embarkation ports take their meals from a field kitchen. Most of the camps had temporary tented accommodation, but some made use of existing permanent establishments with Nissen huts (Imperial War Museum, H38283)

Many sites along the coast of northern Europe were considered during the planning stages; most of them had merit, but each had drawbacks. The obvious choice for the landings was France. It was through France that the most direct route into Germany was possible and the shortest route of all would be via landings in the area of the Pas de Calais. It was here that the Channel was at its narrowest, being only eighteen miles wide, and the area was well within fighter range from England. German planners had also identified this area as being the likeliest stretch of coast for an invasion to land and had therefore concentrated on building a formidable array of defences there to repel any landings. The Pas de Calais was the strongest section of Hitlers much vaunted Atlantic Wall and was consequently rejected by the Allies.
The next most promising area was Normandy. It had several good sections of beach where troops could come ashore, it was just within fighter cover from England and German defences there were less formidable. Once ashore, the invading armies would have to contend with the close-knit bocage countryside made up of narrow lanes, small fields and high hedges, but once through this tight farmland area, the ground opened up into good tank country. The Allies deliberated and finally decided that the landings would be made in Normandy, selecting a stretch of coastline from the Cotentin peninsula to the mouth of the River Orne to make their landfall.

Crews from infantry landing craft come alongside a landing barge kitchen (LBK). This converted Thames barge was equipped to provide hot meals for ferry craft crews. On D-Day alone, this barge served over 1,000 meals to the sailors and marines who operated the exposed assault landing craft. The inclusion of LBKs in the invasion fleet demonstrates the amount of attention to detail that was required during the planning of operation Neptune. (Imperial War Museum, A24017)

The operation was given the codename Overlord and the naval component of the invasion was called Neptune. Overlord called for British, American and Canadian forces to land in sufficient numbers to create a beachhead through which would pass the whole of the Allied 21st Army Group. In the British sector were Gold, Juno and Sword Beaches; in the American area were Utah and Omaha. Ten divisions would come ashore on D-Day, three airborne divisions to protect either flank of the lodgement, six infantry divisions across the beaches and one specialised armoured division to stiffen the initial assault.
American 1st Army, landing on the right of the attack, would come ashore either side of the River Vire with the object of closing the base of the Cotentin peninsula and isolating the important port of Cherbourg. The troops landed on Utah Beach would then turn northwards to secure the port itself. The Omaha Beach landings would build a bridgehead of sufficient depth to allow the concentration of the forces necessary to make a break out towards the Loire and Brittany. British 2nd Army would land on the left and make immediately for Caen. The city would be taken with a frontal assault from Sword Beach and a flanking movement from Juno Beach. The landings over Gold Beach would take Bayeux and then link with Juno and Sword to form a lodgement from which operations would be developed to the south-east towards Paris.
To make the assault, British 2nd Army would rely on a mix of high motivation and experience. British 50th Division, with a fine record of service in North Africa and Sicily, would land on Gold, whilst the inexperienced but well-trained Canadian 3rd and British 3rd Divisions would assault Juno and Sword. Both of these divisions had been preparing in England for over three years, and their training in the last year had focused specifically on making an assault landing from the sea.

23 April

- LtGen Morgan appointed to head COSSAC (Chief of Staff to the Supreme Allied Commander) to plan for the invasion of mainland Europe.

July

- COSSAC produces a report which identifies the area of Normandy between the Orne River and the Cotentin peninsula as the proposed site for the invasion, codenamed Overlord.

- Canadian 3rd Infantry Division selected as one of the assault divisions for Overlord.

6 November

- British 50th Division arrives home from Sicily to begin preparations for its role as one of the assault divisions for Overlord.

December

- LtGen Dwight D. Eisenhower appointed as Supreme Commander for Operation Overlord. Gen Sir Bernard Montgomery appointed to command 21st Army Group which contains all land forces to be used during the invasion.

19 January

- MajGen Graham takes over command of 50th Division for the invasion.

April

- British 50th and Canadian 3rd Divisions move south to Hampshire and undertake exercises in the Channel.

- Assault divisions leave their camps and begin embarkation onto ships that will take them to France.

- Bad weather predicted in Channel for 5 June; invasion postponed until 6 June.

- Forces G and J, the invasion fleets set to land on Gold and Juno Beaches, sail for France from the ports of Portsmouth and Southampton.