Sword Beach

Sword
	Part of Normandy landings and the Battle for Caen
	; British infantry waiting to move off Queen Beach, SWORD Area, while under heavy enemy fire, on the morning of 6 June
Date	6 June 1944
Location	Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer to Ouistreham, France
Result	Allied victory
Belligerents
United Kingdom; France; Poland; Norway;	Germany
Commanders and leaders
John Crocker; Thomas Rennie; Lord Lovat	Wilhelm Richter; Edgar Feuchtinger
Strength
28,845; 223 tanks	8 infantry companies; (716th Infantry Division); 9,790; 124–127 tanks; 40 assault guns; (21st Panzer Division)
Casualties and losses
683 casualties	unknown casualties; 40–54 tanks lost; 6 bombers destroyed

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 commenced on 6 June 1944. Stretching 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) from Ouistreham to Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer, the beach proved to be the easternmost landing site of the invasion after the abortion of an attack on a sixth beach, code-named Band. 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.

Among the five beaches of the operation, Sword is the nearest to Caen, about 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) from the goal of the 3rd Infantry Division. The landings were achieved with low Allied casualties but the advance from the beach was slowed by traffic congestion and resistance in defended areas behind the beach. Further progress towards Caen was halted by the only armoured counter-attack of the day, mounted by the 21st Panzer Division.

^ Ellis, p. 223
^ Fortin, p. 58
^ Buckley (2006), p. 53
^ Ford, pp. 24–25
^ ^a ^b D'Este, p. 124
^ ^a ^b Ellis, p. 204
^ D'Este, pp. 136, 139
^ Ford, pp. 71–72
^ Zetterling, 21st Panzer Division
^ Ford, p. 86
^ Ford, p. 112
^ Ford, p. 80
^ Buckley (2006), p. 137

Cite error: There are <ref group=nb> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=nb}} template (see the help page).

[Ellis223-1] Ellis, p. 223

[2] Fortin, p. 58

[3] Buckley (2006), p. 53

[ford2425-4] Ford, pp. 24–25

[Deste124-6] D'Este, p. 124

[Ellis204-7] Ellis, p. 204

[8] D'Este, pp. 136, 139

[9] Ford, pp. 71–72

[10] Zetterling, 21st Panzer Division

[12] Ford, p. 86

[13] Ford, p. 112

[15] Ford, p. 80

[17] Buckley (2006), p. 137

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