Sword Beach

So a little background on the beach names. Prior to the invasion, the British & Canadian beaches were named after fish; Goldfish, Jellyfish and Swordfish. All were shortened to Gold, Jelly and Sword. Sir Winston Churchill thought it disrespectful of the risks and sacrifices troops would be making on that fateful day, so he demanded that “Jelly” be changed to a more honorable name, like “Juno”. Thought you might want to know.

Before we came to France, we bought an audio package that narrates as you pass through the beaches and memorials of D-Day. This audio set is very informative and quite interesting to listen to before heading out and again once you’re at a site. It was however made by a British company and meaning no disrespect, all who participated in D-Day were certainly heroes, nothing less, but there is a bit of a slant to the D-Day story when it comes to Sword Beach and the British invasion (not the one that happened in 1964).

According to the audio producers, Sword Beach had the heaviest concentration of troops and fortifications. Well maybe, the data I have read is a bit inconclusive so I’m going with the audio stats.

Now, same story as other beach invasions during D-Day, rough seas, difficulty getting tanks and artillery ashore, air bombardment early in the morning, naval bombardment prior to the landing. And with the same results, limited. This 5-mile stretch of beach was however within striking distance by several artillery batteries, machine gun and mortar bunkers and guarded by ~1,000 men with another ~1,000 close to rear. Merville Battery is coming up next!

But what really set this site apart from the rest, was the reserve unit in Caen. The 21st Panzer Division with 127 MK IV Panzer medium tanks (80mm thick steel and 75mm gun, 10mph top speed), and oh yeah, ~16,000 troops! Now that’s a party!

Good thing for the Allies that Rommel was home with his honey (it was her birthday) and the other generals were off playing, of all things, war games so no one was home when D-Day came knocking. Some time late in the day 6 June, the 21st finally got orders and made a push to counter the assault but after being targeted very successfully by aircraft and naval guns, that came to an abrupt end.

The beach is just like the other beaches, now a tourist hot spot for sand and surf with expensive homes along the coast. Opps, forgot to mention that the British sacrifices made that day on Sword Beach, like the others, were for our freedom and made by real no-kidding heroes. ~690 of Britain’s finest gave their lives on the beach that day. Thank you.

Sword Beach South

Sword Beach North

British Centaur with spotter markings

And here was a neat house we passed on the way to Merville Battery. No idea what the words mean but a really cool looking house.