On June 6, 1944 the British objective of Gold Beach lay just to the east of the American target of Omaha Beach. Between Port-en-Bessin and Arromanches in the British sector lay the heaviest concentration of German artillery in Normandy, much of it sited to provide deadly enfilading fire on Omaha. Montgomery selected the British 50th Division for the Gold assault. Made up of sturdy North Country coal-miners and industrial workers, the division had...