Gold Beach Timeline
07.25 – The 231st and 69th Assault Brigades hit the beach. DD (swimming) tanks and beach clearance groups, delayed by bad weather, are landed directly on to the beach.
07.45 – Troops make slow progress against raking fire, but three beach exits are cleared within the hour.
08.20 – Follow-up battalions and No. 47 Royal Marine Commando land.
09.30 – Les Roquettes is captured.
09.50 – Stiff resistance at Le Hamel. Commandos head for Port-en-Besin to link with American forces. CSM Stan Hollis, 6th Green Howards, performs acts of bravery at Crépon for which he is later awarded the Victoria Cross.
10.50 – Reserve brigades begin to land; seven beach exits have been secured.
16.00 – Le Hamel is finally captured. 231st Brigade moves on to Arromanches. 69th Brigade encounters resistance in Villers le Sec/Bazenville area.
20.30 – 56th and 151st Brigades reach the outskirts of Bayeux and the Caen-Bayeux road.
21.00 – Arromanches is captured.
23.59 – A large bridgehead has been established, six miles wide and deep, linking up with the Canadians at Juno Beach. 47 Royal Marine Commando are ready to take Port-en-Bessin on the following day.
By midnight on June 6, the 50th Division had landed 25,000 men with approximately 400 casualties. They had penetrated 10 km (6.2 mi) inland and met up with the Canadians coming from Juno Beach at Tierceville. The 56th, 69th and 151st Brigades had dug in on a line between Vaux-sur-Aure and Coulombs. During the evening, patrols of the 2nd Gloucestershires reach the outer suburbs of Bayeux. To the west, Arromanches is reached at 2000 hrs and cleared an hour later. The link-up with the American troops cannot be made.
Men of the 47th Royal Marine Commando, after a day-long progression into enemy territory, had dug in on Hill 72 south of the Longues-sur-Mer battery. Their objective, Port-en-Bessin, did not fall until June 8.
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