Sword Beach

Articleissues
expand = February 2008
refimprove = February 2008
restructure = February 2008
sections = yInfobox Military Conflict
conflict=Sword Beach
partof=Operation Overlord, Battle of Normandy


caption=British infantry waiting to move off 'Queen White' Beach, SWORD Area, while under enemy fire, on the morning of 6 June.
date=6 June, 1944
place=Ouistreham, Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer, Merville, in France
result=British victory.
combatant1=flag|United Kingdom
flag|Free French
combatant2=flag|Nazi Germany|name=Germany
commander1=flagicon|United Kingdom John Crocker
flagicon|United Kingdom Thomas Rennie
commander2=flagicon|Germany|Nazi Wilhelm Richter
flagicon|Germany|Nazi Edgar Feuchtinger
strength1=28,845
strength2=Unknown
casualties1=630
casualties2=Unknown

Sword Beach was the codename of one of the five main landing beaches in "Operation Neptune", the initial assault phase of "Operation Overlord", the Allied invasion of Normandy on 6 June 1944.

Stretching 8 km from Ouistreham to Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer it was the furthest east of the landing points and around 15 km from Caen. The landing site was divided into four zones - Oboe, Peter, Queen and Roger (west-east). The German defences consisted of beach obstacles, anti-tank ditches, mines, machineguns and mortars at the beaches and across the River Orne at Merville there were heavy guns. The defending troops belonged to the German 716th Static Infantry Division and could call on the support of the nearby 21st Panzer division. The landing forces were the British I Corps, comprising British 3rd Infantry Division and the 27th Armoured Brigade.

The landing was concentrated in the Queen sector of the beach Hermanville-sur-Mer. The key objective was to quickly reach and capture the key town of Caen and the nearby Carpiquet aerodrome to the west. Landings began at 0725 when the 3rd Division landed in Peter and Queen. Attached Commando units 1st Commando Brigade and part of 4th Commando Brigade were tasked with seizing the bridges on the Orne River and the Caen Canal, linking up with paratroops of the 6th Airborne Division who were holding the bridges and had earlier destroyed the batteries at Merville. Resistance on the beach was weak, within 45 minutes the fighting had been pushed inland and on the east flank the Commando units had reached the Orne and the paratroopers by midday. The British had been unable to link up with the Canadian forces to the west until much later in the day. The only significant German counter-attacks of the entire landing came from 1600 into this area. In two attacks the 21st Panzer Division pushed all the way from near Caen to the beach between Lion-sur-Mer and Luc-sur-Mer and were only fully neutralized by late evening. 54 German tanks were destroyed or disabled out of 98.

The day ended with 28,845 British troops ashore and only 630 casualties. However Caen had not been reached and in the face of stiffening resistance the assault had stalled 6 km short of the town. British forces had been bogged down on the beaches by the sheer volume of men and equipment being unloaded.

The beaches of D-Day are still known by their invasion codenames today.

Famous names on the beach

*Lord Lovat led his Commando unit to Pegasus Bridge.

ee also

* Utah Beach
* Omaha Beach
* Juno Beach
* Gold Beach

ources

cite book
last = Reynolds
first = Michael
authorlink =
title = Eagles and Bulldogs in Normandy 1944
publisher = Casemate, Havertown, PA, USA
date = 2003
pages = 230 pp
doi =
id = ISBN 1-86227-201-8

External links

* [http://www.dday.co.uk/page30.html http://www.dday.co.uk/page30.html]
* [http://www.mod.uk/aboutus/dday60/sword.htm Sword Beach] United Kingdom Ministry of Defence website.
* [http://www.6juin1944.com/assaut/sword/en_index.php D-Day : Etat des Lieux : Sword Beach]