About Gold Beach
Gold, commonly known as Gold Beach, was the code name for one of the five areas of the Allied invasion of German-occupied France in the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944, during the Second World War. Gold, the central of the five areas, was located between Port-en-Bessin on the west and La Rivière on the east.
Suffolk funeral for one of last D-Day veterans, aged 100
... Mr Cattini landed on Gold Beach on D-Day as a bombardier in the 86th Field Regiment of the Hertfordshire Yeomanry...
Poppy appeal wall: Veterans stories shared on installation
... Mr Morgan was a codebreaker during the World War Two and became the youngest RAF sergeant to land on Gold Beach in Normandy on 6 June 1944...
Harry Billinge: D-Day veteran's funeral to be held
...The funeral of Harry Billinge, one of the first British soldiers to storm Gold Beach during the Normandy landings in 1944, is taking place later...
D-Day: 10 things you might not know about the Normandy invasion
... On Gold Beach, by contrast, casualty rates were around 80% lower...
D-Day anniversary events in northern France
... D-Day veterans, some of them approaching 100 years old, made the pilgrimage to Normandy to remember their fallen comrades Veteran David Edwards was among those who attended Dennis Thompson, 96, was photographed enjoying a cigar in his original uniform In Bayeux, the first city to be liberated by the D-Day invasion, veteran John Quinn met George Sayer, aged six A service of remembrance was held at the city s cathedral, with Tony Cash among the veterans to attend Bishop Jean-Claude Boulanger led the service, which included a two-minute silence held in memory of those who died Those present included Prime Minister Theresa May, the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall After the service, the commemorations continued at Bayeux war cemetery D-Day veteran Reginald Perkins was among those who attended the service There was a flypast of aircraft from the period over Bayeux war cemetery Earlier in the day Theresa May was at Ver-sur-Mer, where British forces landed on the morning of 6 June 1944, for the unveiling of a new British Normandy Memorial The monument features a statue showing three British soldiers fighting their way up the beach Mrs May and French President Emmanuel Macron paid tribute to British soldiers killed and injured in the fighting, before laying a wreath together In Colleville-sur-Mer in Normandy, US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump joined veterans for a French-US ceremony The pair watched a dramatic flypast over the Normandy American Cemetery, along with Mr Macron and his wife, Brigitte Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also attended the D-Day commemorations in Normandy In Arromanches-les-Bains in Normandy, visitors took to the beach Vehicles from the war era were on display as part of the commemorations And crowds were treated to the acrobatic aerial skills of Patrouille de France The day s commemorations were started by a lone piper playing on the Mulberry harbour in Arromanches-les-Bains, marking the exact moment the first British soldier landed on Gold Beach, 75 years ago In the UK, Prince Harry met veterans at the annual Founder s Day parade at the Royal Hospital Chelsea in London The annual parade marks the founding of the Royal Hospital by King Charles II in 1682...
D-Day: Veterans and world leaders mark 75th anniversary
... The memorial, which overlooks Gold Beach, depicts three soldiers advancing across the sand...
D-Day: 10 things you might not know about the Normandy invasion
D-Day on Omaha Beach in Normandy
On 6 June 1944, British, US and Canadian forces invaded the coast of Normandy in northern France.
The landings were The First stage of Operation Overlord - The Invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe - and aimed to bring an end to World War Two.
By night-time, around 156,000 Allied troops had arrived in Normandy, despite challenging weather and fierce German defences.
At the end of D-Day, the Allies had established a foothold in France and within 11 months Nazi Germany was defeated.
Here are 10 things you may not have known about the operation:
1. Photography appealAs early as 1942, the BBC launched a bogus appeal for photographs and postcards from the coast of Europe , from Norway to the Pyrenees .
and Normandy was settled on.
Millions of photos ended up being sent to The War Office and, with The Help of the French Resistance and air reconnaissance, military bosses were able to target The Best landing spots for D-Day.
The Remains of the D-Day "Mulberry" artificial harbour at Arromanches, Normandy 2. Phantom armyThe Allies put a lot of effort into trying to convince the Germans.
They invented phantom field armies based in Kent as part of their D-Day deception plan, named Operation Fortitude.
They built dummy equipment - including inflatable Tanks - parachuted dummies, used Double Agents and released controlled leaks of misinformation which led the Germans To Believe the Allies were going to invade via the Pas-de-Calais and Norway.
The Germans took The Bait so much that even after D-Day they held many of their best troops in the Calais area expecting a second invasion.
3. Two million troopsBy 1944 More Than were in Britain preparing for The Invasion .
On D-Day, Allied forces consisted primarily of US, British and Canadian troops But also included Australian, Belgian, Czech, Dutch, French, Greek, New Zealand , Norwegian, Rhodesian [present-day Zimbabwe] and Polish naval, air and ground support.
A French poster from WW2, the translation for which reads: All Together , for a Single Victory 4. Weather watchingThe officers organising the operation were very particular about the timing of D-Day.
They wanted a full moon with a Spring Tide so they could land at dawn when The Tide was about half way in - But those kind of conditions meant there were only a few days that could work.
They chose to invade on 5 June, But ended up delaying by 24 hours because of bad weather.
It was Group Captain James Martin Stagg
5. Rommel's shoesIn fact, The Forecast was so bad that the German commander in Normandy, Erwin Rommel , felt so sure there wouldn't be an invasion.
He was in Germany when the news came of The Invasion .
Getty ImagesD-Day landings156,000allied troops landed in Normandy, across
5 beaches
7,000ships and Landing Craft involved and 10,000 vehicles
4,400from the combined allied forces died on the day
4,000 - 9,000German casualties
Thousandsof French civilians also died
6. Sleeping HitlerWhen the D-Day forces landed, Nazi leader Adolf Hitler was asleep.
None of his generals dared order reinforcements without his permission, and no-one dared wake him.
Crucial hours were lost in the battle to hold Normandy.
When Hitler did finally wake up, at around 10am, he was excited at news of The Invasion - he thought Germany would easily defeat the Allies.
7. Commonwealth strengthWhile America formed the biggest national contingent, the combined force of Commonwealth service Personnel - mostly British and Canadian - was greater.
Of the 156,000 men who landed in France on 6 June, 73,000 were American, and 83,000 British or Canadian. The Commonwealth naval contingent was twice that of The Americans .
8. Bloody OmahaThere were five beaches that were chosen for the operation, codenamed, from east to west, Sword, Juno, Gold, Omaha, Utah.
Casualties varied widely - on "Bloody Omaha", where around 4,000 men were killed or wounded, one US unit landing in the First Wave lost 90% of its men.
On Gold Beach , by contrast, casualty rates were around 80% lower.
Troops of the US 7th Corps wading ashore on Utah BeachThe fighting during the Battle of Normandy, which followed D-Day, was as bloody as it had been in the trenches of World War One.
Casualty rates were slightly higher than they were during a typical day during the Battle of the Somme in 1916.
9. Smashed toiletsThe vibration of Hms Belfast 's guns firing during D-Day was so powerful it actually cracked The Crew 's toilets.
10. Pub testHaving been given his top-secret mission to attack the Merville battery on D-Day, Terence Otway had to be certain his men wouldn't spill the beans ahead of 6 June 1944.
He sent 30 of the prettiest members of The Women 's Auxiliary Air Force , dressed in civilian clothes, into village pubs near where his soldiers were training.
They were asked to do all they could to discover The Men 's mission. None of The Men gave anything away.
Sources : ,
75th anniversary of d-day, d-day, world war two
Source of news: bbc.com
