Time Team's sites

On landing at Gold Beach, the British immediately came under heavy machine gun and small arms fire, together with a sustained mortar and artillery bombardment. After taking heavy casualties they cleared the beach and forged forward. Two of their initial objectives, Point 54 and Puits d'Herode, provided the focus for some of Time Team's excavations.

The sites are situated on either side of a wide valley leading inland from the sea. Allied intelligence had indicated that Point 54 held a machine gun post, while Puits d'Herode was the site of an observation post (OP) and contained a number of small bunkers and a network of trenches.

On approaching Point 54, the British came under heavy fire from a nearby copse. It transpired that the copse was a well-prepared and heavily manned defensive position containing a 75mm field gun and an associated trench system, apparently missed by the intelligence. The position was taken as a result of daring action and at the cost of significant casualties. Later in the day, further advances and hard fighting resulted in the capture of the OP at Puits d'Herode, which turned out to be held by two complete German platoons.

Today the copse at Point 54 still remains and the trench lines can still be determined. Puits d'Herode exists as a few concrete patches showing through the grass in a field.

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