As the assault waves of the British 50th Division approached Gold Beach, high winds had brought the tides in rapidly and submerged the beach obstacles before they could be dealt with. Fortunately the beach was not heavily defended because the air and naval bombardment had successfully damaged the German strong-points. Although the 50th Division had not cut the Caen-Bayeux highway or linked up with the Americans from Omaha beach, by the evening of D-Day it had penetrated ten kilometres inland, joined up with the Canadians from Juno beach to the east, and reached the heights above Port-en-Bessin. Beginning an hour later than the Utah and Omaha landings, Gold Beach was located at the centre of the invasion. A rising tide and choppy water meant that mines and obstacles hadn't been effectively cleared. Consequently, the British troops experience some difficulty getting ashore. The Germans had heavily secured the seafront towns of La Riviere and Le Hamel. In addition, four heavy 155mm guns were also trained on the coast from 500m inland. Heavy shelling from HMS Ajax took out the guns and quietened the German defence. By nightfall, 25,000 troops had landed and pushed the Nazis six miles inland. There were just 400 British casualties.
