RARE WWII D-Day Arromanches Gold Beach Invasion Reconnaissance Postcard For Sale

This postcard helped the Allies plan the Normandy D-Day invasion!

This original WWII invasion reconnaissance postcard is labeled ‘Arromanches’ also referred to years later as Gold Beach. Gold, commonly known asGold Beach, was thecode namefor one of the five areas of theAlliedinvasion ofGerman-occupied Francein theNormandy landingson 6 June 1944, during theSecond World War. Gold, the central of the five areas, was located betweenPort-en-Bessinon the west and La Rivière on the east. High cliffs at the western end of the zone meant that the landings took place on the flat section betweenLe Hameland La Rivière, in the sectors code-named Jig and King. Taking Gold was to be the responsibility of theBritish Army, with sea transport, mine sweeping, anda naval bombardment forceprovided by theRoyal Navyas well as elements from theDutch,Polishand other Allied navies.

The objectives at Gold were to secure abeachhead, move west to captureArromanchesand establish contact with theAmerican forcesatOmaha, captureuxand the small port at Port-en-Bessin, and to link up with theCanadian forcesatJunoto the east. Forces attacking Gold faced elements of theGerman 352nd Infantry DivisionandGerman 716th Infantry Division. About 2,000 men were stationed in the immediate area. Improvements to fortifications along the Normandy coast had been undertaken under the leadership ofGeneralfeldmarschallErwin Rommelbeginning in October 1943.

OnD-Dayat Gold, naval bombardment got underway at 05:30, and amphibious landings commenced at 07:25. High winds made conditions difficult for the landing craft, and the amphibiousDD tankswere released close to shore or directly on the beach instead of further out as planned. Three of the four guns in a large emplacement at theLongues-sur-Mer batterywere disabled by direct hits from the cruisersAjaxandArgonautat 06:20. The fourth gun resumed firing intermittently in the afternoon, and its garrison surrendered on 7 June. Aerial attacks had failed to hit the Le Hamel strongpoint, which had itsembrasurefacing east to provideenfiladefire along the beach and had a thick concrete wall on the seaward side. Its 75mm gun continued to do damage until 16:00, when anArmoured Vehicle Royal Engineers(AVRE) tank fired a largepetard bombinto its rear entrance. A secondcasematedemplacement at La Rivière containing an 88mm gun was neutralised by a tank at 07:30.

Meanwhile, infantry began clearing the heavily fortified houses along the shore and advanced on targets further inland. TheBritish CommandosofNo. 47 (Royal Marine) Commandoadvanced on Port-en-Bessin and captured it on 7 June in theBattle of Port-en-Bessin. On the western flank, the 1st Battalion,Hampshire Regimentcaptured Arromanches (future site of one of the artificialMulberry harbours), and69th Infantry Brigadeon the eastern flank made contact with the Canadian forces at Juno.Company Sergeant MajorStanley Hollisreceived the onlyVictoria Crossawarded on D-Day for his actions while attacking two pillboxes at the Mont Fleury battery. Due to stiff resistance from the German 352nd Infantry Division, Bayeux was not captured until the next day. British casualties at Gold are estimated at 1,000–1,100. German casualties are unknown.

As seen in the reference photos, this postcard features one of the most notable buildings seen in many historical photographs of D-Day and Gold Beach. Using these exact postcards Allied troops due to land on were briefed to orientate themselves by looking out for the distinctive seafront villas and landmarks.

The fascinating story of how ordinary Brits’ holiday postcards helped win D-Day:

Across Britain, excited families jumped at the chance to send in their French holiday snaps after a call-out on the wireless. Many immediately hunted through boxes stuffed with photos of happy families posing on beaches as kids built sandcastles - but they had no idea their beloved pictures would prove instrumental in the D-Day landings. The request came in 1942, with Brits desperate to help the war effort sending in 30,000 packs of pictures of the French coast within just 36 hours. Incredibly, by 1944, 10 million holiday snaps and postcards, hotel brochures, letters and guidebooks had arrived by post. The best were pinned to a board in a top-secret planning room, so army bosses could study every inch of the beaches and landing areas where the Normandy invasion would go on to take place 75 years ago today. Those thrilled families enjoying the biggest treat of their lives had no idea of the horror that was about to unfold on those beaches - and, to look at them now, the innocent snaps are achingly poignant. Major Maddock along with hundreds of others used these postcards of the Normandy Coast to help plan the 1944 invasion of France. Many of these postcards were used in briefings with officers, land craft operators and other infantry soldier to study and orient themselves based on their drop locations of the building and landmarks in these photos.