I found this uncredited image in 'Looking Down on War: The Normandy Invasion' by the late Colonel Roy Stanley, USAF, the other day. It's got some great photos of D-Day in it, although very little analysis. So I did my own.

It's actually two separate but sequential images that I've inexpertly stitched together. The only location clue in the book is Gold Jig Red, which I can confirm. These bomb craters appear in other images from D-Day and we can locate the beach exactly.

It's here on Gold Jig Red Beach. The location of the craters is in green, and in the bottom right of the image is a portion of strongpoint WN-35, shown in blue. The right side of the photo is actually the boundary between Jig and King beaches. Google

You can see a little of WN-35 in the bottom right, as well as a number of tiny craters on the beach. Codenamed 'Rug', WN 35 was the target of a number of destroyer, Landing Craft Gun and Flak, and Landing Craft Rocket. I think these craters *may* be from the latter.

Both LCT (R) 362 and 459 targeted Rug. That's about 2,120 rockets aiming for the strongpoint. Both reported successful attacks, so it seems quite likely.

But even more importantly in this corner, we see these. Shadows! They vary a bit, probably with the incline of the beach and dunes, but thanks top these we can place the time somewhere between 0800 and 0900, with most shadows suggesting around 0830 - 0845.

So, the tide has come in more quickly than expected – something recorded in post action reports. The black dots amongst the surf are beach obstacles, which is likely why these LCAs are unloading there.

Given the time, these LCAs are almost certainly those of 554 Flotilla carrying 2 Devons. They were swept east by the tide and all of their accounts mention the obstacles and deep water. Their war diary should say east of Le Hamel – there were no landings west of the town.

These dots are too closely spaced to be obstacles. These are men.

Again, many 2 Devon accounts mention the deep water caused by disembarking further out, behind the obstacles. This one is from 'Gold Beach Jig' by Tim Saunders.

Further out are a number of LCT Mk IV. They have been forced to unload much further out than is ideal and the vehicles will wade in, which led to many trucks 'drowning'.

Again, based on the time, my best guess is that this is 33 LCT Flotilla landing 90 and 147 Regiment RA plus other vehicles. They landed around 0830, so this fits. The grid references in the 147 war diary also correspond to this location.

There's a word for what's happening here, but I'm too polite to use it. These landing craft are all out of position, jostling for space in what is rapidly becoming a crowded sea space. Of note is the LCM Mk I, the bottom right vessel steering south west.

I think this is 231 Brigade's HQ, who transferred to an LCM from the frigate HMS Nith. Their diary records they landed with the Devons, although notice the time difference with the Devon war diary above! To be fair, the author had other things on his mind when he landed.

All the LCT in the picture are Mk IV, except these 2. These are LCT Mk III, sisters to #LCT7074. Assuming they're not LCTs form King Beach that are out of position (which is possible, we're next to the boundary remember), these must be from 15 LCT flotilla.

8 of the flotilla's LCTs carried Sherwood Ranger DD tanks & 2 carried 'spare' HQs of the assault battalions & 3 Churchill Crocodiles. As the DDs did not swim they all beached together at about 0800. These LCTs are lingering a bit, which is to be expected. https://twitter.com/SeaSpitfires/status/1346123655667974146

From the empty hold and the wake of this one, we can tell that she's leaving. Turning an LCT isn't easy at the best of times, so the skipper is sensibly reversing to find some clear water.

From the wake of this one we can see the skipper's doing a bit of emergency manoeuvring. He's probably been drifting toward those beach obstacles – the black dots just below. Look closely in the hold and on the ramp – these appear to be Sherwood Ranger DDs.

I think both LCT Mk III have drifted east a bit, which accounts for their still being here. Notice also that there's few vehicles on the beach and only one set of tracks from an earlier vehicle. I suspect the rest of the Sherwood Rangers landed just out of shot to the right.

Anyway, I think that's the main detail that can be gleaned from this picture. You can find hundreds more like it in this book, but sadly with not quite the same level of analysis https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1781590567?pf_rd_r=GNZ28B2TK15N16S3FPQX&pf_rd_p=6e878984-68d5-4fd2-b7b3-7bc79d9c8b60&pd_rd_r=42c73500-fade-41be-96bb-f2f113355e03&pd_rd_w=tbvAq&pd_rd_wg=veFCA&ref_=pd_gw_unk

PS. I should add that by 'uncredited' in my first post, I mean I don't know if it was RAF or USAAF. The collection is Colonel Stanley's own - he rescued many aerial photos from D-Day when he worked in the USAF. He passed away last year. https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/fredericksburg-va/roy-stanley-usaf-ret-9241245