ATS Port-en-Bessin: 47 RM Commando 7-8 June 1944

PORT-EN-BESSIN, NORMANDY, 7 June 1944: Port-en-Bessin was a little fishing harbor west of Arromanches in Normandy, it was situated between two landing zones, Omaha Beach the American sector, and Gold Beach the XXXth British Corps sector. The 47th Royal Marine Commando came ashore east of Arromanches and progressed toward Port-en-Bessin; at night the Commando stopped a few kilometers from the objective. On 7 June the British launched the attack with fighter bombers support; about forty men were killed to capture the harbor's western side. On 8 June British commandos liberated Port-en-Bessin and linked up with Americans from the 29th I.D.

Welcome to ATS Port-en-Bessin! Even some of our vaunted tactical-level gaming compatriots may not realize that a house-to-house battle took place as part of the Normandy Invasion. The place was Port-en-Bessin, a small but important fishing town that was to be the objective for the 47 (RM) Commandos ... an amazing group of soldiers that would suffer heavy casualties in the operation. One source put it this way, " About two miles outside Port-en-Bessin, you'll reach a wooded hill with a grassy crown covered with orchids called Mont Cavalier. It was here that the surviving men of 47 RM Commando spent the night of D-Day, the twin peaks of the Eastern and Western features brooding ominously on the horizon. They had supplemented their weapons with German Schmeissers and Spandaus, captured in firefights along the way.

On the morning of June 7, they had got safely through the outer defences and headed into the port when disaster struck. While clambering up the steep slopes of the Western feature, one of their troops was caught out by withering fire from two German Flak ships, which were unexpectedly moored in the harbour. Eleven men were killed, 17 wounded and one – George Amos – captured. Meanwhile, back on Mont Cavalier, the unit's rear HQ was overrun.