D-Day: Sword Beach

Sword Beach was the Allied landing site furthest to the east on D-Day, and closest to the formidable German forces amassed around Calais. To protect the 8th Brigade Group who was landing at Sword beach, and to set the stage …

1944-06-06

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Sword Beach was the Allied landing site furthest to the east on D-Day, and closest to the formidable German forces amassed around Calais. To protect the 8th Brigade Group who was landing at Sword beach, and to set the stage for further advances inland, the 6th Airborne Division was tasked with capturing key bridges over the Caen Canal and the Orne River. They achieved their objectives perfectly but the landing forces were not so fortunate. The German coastal defenses were partially intact when the British forces started coming ashore and artillery batteries caused devastating losses before Hobart's Funnies tanks could knock them out. At 9.30 the landing forces finally linked up with the British Commandoes at Pegasus Bridge after having eliminated most coastal defenses, but the delays at the beach allowed German reinforcements to arrive and prevent the capture of Caen on June 6. The consequences of this failed objective was the biggest setback of Operation Overlord and would be felt well into July.

Sword Beach, France

Sword, commonly known as Sword Beach, was the code name given to one of the five main landing areas along the Normandy coast during the initial assault phase, Operation Neptune, of Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of German-occupied France that commenced on 6 June 1944. Stretching 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) from Ouistreham to Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer, the beach was the easternmost landing site of the invasion. Taking Sword was to be the responsibility of the British Army with sea transport, mine sweeping, and a naval bombardment force provided by the British Royal Navy as well as elements from the Polish, Norwegian and other Allied navies.

Wikipedia: Sword Beach

German

British

Game Type: Breakthrough

Board Type: Beach

Website Access: Available