Gold Beach

About 10 miles North of Caen, you run into the beaches of the Normandy coast. The beaches are sandy and broad and slope gently out into the channel. The land rises quickly from the beach to form high bluffs overlooking the beach. In some places, there are no bluffs or beaches, but only cliffs that drop down to the ocean.

To the North of Caen is the village of Arromanches. On June 6, 1944, Arromanches was the westernmost point of Gold Beach, where British troops landed. After the British secured the beaches and bluffs, then the allies used the waters off of Arromanches to create an artificial harbour. They towed in huge concrete barges and sunk them to form a breakwater. Then they brought in huge pontoons to serve as the platform for bailey bridges. For a few weeks, the artificial harbour here was the largest port in the world - landing men and material in support of the allied invasion of France.
The pictures here show the area around Arromanches and Gold Beach. You can still see the old concrete breakwaters in the picture above. In the picture below, you can see the old pontoons stranded on the beaches like dead whales.