LE HAMEL, FRANCE, 6 June 1944: The resistance nest known as ‘WN 37’ was situated on the far right of Gold beach, at La Hamel. To the east, the Germans had flooded the area just inland of the dunes. The plan was for “A” Company, 1st Hampshires, with armor and engineer support to land, secure the beach, and clear a path through the dunes. “B” Company would then pass through “A”, advance inland, turn right and attack Le Hamel from the east. In keeping with the ‘rule’ of most military operations, the landing did not go as planned. The supporting artillery and air bombardment failed to suppress the defenders in WN 37. British infantry, as well as half the breaching squadron’s LCTs, were pushed to the east and landed well away from their intended target. Lastly, all but two of the LCTs carrying the Centaur tanks of the supporting Royal Marines, failed to arrive. Thus, only five LCTs closed on the beach close to Le Hamel at the appointed time, three with the Breaching Squadron’s tanks and the supporting Royal Engineers, and two with the Royal Marines’ Centaurs. LCT 886, carrying a breaching squadron closest to Le Hamel, was repeatedly hit and disabled with heavy losses. This craft was unable to unload its tanks or disembark its engineers. The remaining tanks became bogged down on the beach or nearby, in the dunes, were knocked by A-T fire or disabled by mines. The engineers only cleared of few of the beach obstacles before they were forced to seek shelter in the dunes. The landing had been a disaster and the attack on WN 37 was stalled.
>> To mark the 80th Anniversary of D-Day, Gold Beach gets an Everyman Edition with a twist -- you also get FREE BONUS British MMC and a full sheet of Fortifications, AFVs and More plus a sheet of 88 LC and More. The set consists of 9 scenarios, all playable - no CG here - using the MASSIVE collection of 20 boards - that link to form one giant Gold Beach recreation BUT are presented, labeled -- for use in one or 2 boards in the scenarios.
That's PLAYABLE, easily fits on your table and accessible. For the weekend of the D-Day Anniversary only then it must be withdrawn from the catalog.
