SWORD BEACH

The easternmost sector of the 6 June Normandy Landings was a mostly British affair, and Saw some of the biggest territorial gains of the first day of the Allied invasion

- STEPHEN FISHER

On 6 June 1944, the long-anticipated assault on occupied France took place along a 50 mile (80km) front – however the amphibious landings were confined to roughly 12 miles (19km) of beaches across five areas. One of the smallest landing areas was the easternmost, where the British 3rd Infantry Division would land on Queen White and Red beaches alongside the town of Ouistreham.

Sword would be a tough nut to crack. The beach itself was well defended by the formidable stützpunkt 20, codenamed strongpoint Cod by the British, a significant company-sized fortification and the largest single strongpoint on all five Normandy beaches. To the east widerstandsnest 18 (Skate) was equipped with a 3in (75mm) anti-tank gun that could fire down the length of the beach, while widerstandsnest 21 (Trout) a little to the west could bring fire down on the attackers’ right flank. A little recognised fact is that, although considerably narrower than Omaha Beach, the average strength of the defences per mile was practically the same on Sword.

Unlike Omaha, Sword was relatively low-lying and the attackers would not have to contend with the high bluffs that characterised the US beach. But unlike Omaha, 3 Division would have to deal with significant defences inland as well. Once off the beach, several artillery strongpoints and command posts barred the way, the strongest of which was widerstandsnest 17 (Hillman). Set into the broad Periers ridge 2 miles (3km) inland, it boasted numerous underground bunkers, steel cupolas and anti-tank guns. Moreover, its strength had been badly underestimated by Allied intelligence.