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The German coast defences in Northern France, and particularly in the OVERLORD area, were in the form of a thin crust; and behind them, at points varying from 30 to 50 miles inland, were stationed armoured reserves for counter-attack, backed by the more mobile type of infantry divisions. To defeat any invasion, the Germans relied on the Channel, the difficulties inherent in any combined operation, the blunting power of their coast defences, and a decisive counter-attack by their mobile armoured reserves.

No zones of defences in depth had been prepared, but all ports, even the minor ones like Port-en-Bessin and Ouistreham, in up invasion area, were strongly held. All good beaches in the area of the ports were defended not only by troops but by ingenious underwater obstacles of which there was a great variety.

Elsewhere, there was a chain of infantry strong-points extending inland to a depth of 200 or 300 yards with plenty of mortars and MGs but weakly backed by artillery; in the more in- accessible areas of the coast thin chain was not continuous - as was the case in the area in which 50 Div assaulted.

There, the coastline was held by units of 716 Infantry Division; like the remainder or the German coastal divisions in France, this formation was low-category, and included foreigners captured by the Germans and pressed into the service of the Reich. They represented both limits of the military age range. 716 Div was static, and had practically no transport. It could therefore fight one battle, and one battle only - the battle of the beaches. And, on these benches it was, in fact, destroyed on 6 June, 1944 - though its name lived on and was later given to a division which was forming in the South of France.

716 Div occupied a series of strong-points at bottom important points, such as villages on the coast, exits from the beaches, and so on. The distance between these strong-points varied from 500 yards upwards. They were usually about one platoon strong (ie about 40 men),though in small, fortified villages as much as a whole company was encountered. The normal platoon strong-point consisted of about six concrete pillboxes for machine-guns, with the sides and roof four to six feet thick. Some pillboxes, however, were more concrete emplacements with no roof. The defenders of such a strong-point lived within its perimeter either in dug-in huts or dug-outs reinforced with con- crete. Mortars, heavy MGs and anti-tank guns (sometimes non- German) were always sites within an infantry strong-point. Fire from all these weapons was so co-ordinated that any stretch of the coastline suitable for landing could be covered with cross- fire.

716 Div occupied a series of strong-points at bottom important points, such as villages on the coast, exits from the beaches, and so on. The distance between these strong-points varied from 500 yards upwards. They were usually about one platoon strong (ie about 40 men),though in small, fortified villages as much as a whole company was encountered. The normal platoon strong-point consisted of about six concrete pillboxes for machine-guns, with the sides and roof four to six feet thick. Some pillboxes, however, were more concrete emplacements with no roof. The defenders of such a strong-point lived within its perimeter either in dug-in huts or dug-outs reinforced with con- crete. Mortars, heavy MGs and anti-tank guns (sometimes non- German) were always sites within an infantry strong-point. Fire from all these weapons was so co-ordinated that any stretch of the coastline suitable for landing could be covered with cross- fire.

Between strong-points ran fences of barbed wire and minefields, to make infiltration as difficult and costly as possible and, in this case of the Division's assault area, marshy land promised further hindrance.

The beaches themselves were a mass of ramps, stakes, tetrahedra and other obstacles, many of which had mines or shells attached to the top-arranged so as to explode on contact. These were Field Marshal Rommel's special contribution to the defences of the OVERLORD area. His well-advertised Spring tour of the coastal