Gold Beach,
the British sector.

Position and layout

Gold Beach is one of the five Allied landing beaches of 6 June 1944. From west to east: Utah (American), Omaha (American), Gold (British), Juno (Canadian), Sword (British). Gold Beach occupies the central position and runs for some 8 kilometres between Asnelles in the west and Ver-sur-Mer in the east. Arromanches sits at its centre — this is where Mulberry "B" was assembled.

The 6 June operation

Gold Beach was taken by the 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division, supported by the 8th Armoured Brigade and several specialist units of the Royal Engineers. The tactical objective was to link up with the Canadians at Juno to the east and with the Americans at Omaha to the west, while securing the planned location of the artificial harbour at Arromanches.

The link with Juno was made the same day. The link with Omaha was achieved only in the following days, owing to the very heavy American losses on that sector.

Memorial sites in the sector

• Arromanches: D-Day Landing Museum, 360° circular cinema, Mulberry "B" remains on the beach and offshore.
• Ver-sur-Mer: the British Normandy Memorial, inaugurated in 2021, which bears the names of the 22,442 soldiers under British command who fell in Normandy between 6 June and 31 August 1944.
• Longues-sur-Mer: German coastal artillery battery, one of the few to have kept its original guns in place.
• Asnelles: semi-rigid or kayak outings towards the Phoenix caissons.

Why see it from the sea

Gold Beach read from the water gives a different perception: the chain of sites becomes visible at a glance, Mulberry "B" finds its place in context, the natural slope of the beach that allowed heavy matériel to be landed becomes apparent, and the overall silhouette resembles the one seen by the Allied ships. Read our approach.

Sources: Normandy Tourism (en.normandie-tourisme.fr); Chemins de mémoire (cheminsdememoire.gouv.fr); Imperial War Museum.