 Because Allied air superiority meant it would be difficult for the Germans to move up their reserves , Rommel believed that their best chance was to stop the invasion at the shore . The scope of the invasion meant that once these coastal defences were defeated and the troops scattered , it was difficult to defend territory inland or launch counter @-@ attacks . At 22 : 33 , <unk> ordered the 352nd Division to create a defensive line north of Bayeux but this proved impossible , as most of the territory involved was already in British hands and all the defending units had taken serious losses . The Luftwaffe played only a minor role on D @-@ Day . At Gold , several small groups of bombers that arrived at sunset caused Allied casualties at Le Hamel and damaged a road near Ver @-@ sur @-@ Mer . At 06 : 00 on 7 June , the operations room of HMS <unk> , offshore near Gold , was damaged by a bomber attack , but the ship was able to remain on station . The unit responsible was likely II . / <unk> 40 ( KG 40 — <unk> Wing 40 ) . Under the command of <unk> <unk> ( <unk> Command Atlantic ) , it was based at <unk> – <unk> . On the evening of the 6 / 7 June 1944 , 26 Heinkel He 177 heavy bombers equipped with <unk> <unk> 293 anti @-@ ship guided missiles attacked shipping over Normandy , included the Gold area . II . / KG 40 lost 13 aircraft to all causes during the attack . 
