Port-en-Bessin
47th RMC Commando Memorial
This picturesque village was the objective of the 47th Royal Marine Commando, which landed east of Le Hamel.
The 47th was hard hit coming ashore, losing four LCA's (with nine others damaged) on the run in. Unexpected resistance delayed its advance westward, and Port-en-Bessin was not liberated until the night of 7-8 June.
Damage to the port was extensive; cargo would not begin to come ashore until 14 June.
A monument commemorating the landing stands on the jetty forming the outer breakwater. It is easily spotted from the shore because of the array of Allied flags flying above it. A well-preserved seventeenth-century defence tower, designed by the Marquis de Vauban, stands at the landward end of the jetty. Below it is a German blockhouse bearing a plaque to the 47th Royal Marine Commando.