During early 1944, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel had begun preparations to repel an Allied amphibious assault that the German High Command knew was coming somewhere along the coast of Nazi-occupied Europe. He ordered millions of mines to be sown and the construction of steel hedgehogs and Belgian gate obstacles to hinder approaching landing craft and armour.
When the ‘Longest Day’, June 6 1944, arrived, the Normandy beaches were the scene of heavy fighting. British, American, Canadian and Free French troops stormed ashore, and among the first to set foot in
