Sord Beach

After the fall of France , British Prime Minister Winston Churchill promised to return to continental Europe to free the people under German occupation. The Western Allies agreed to open a second front in 1942 to help the Soviet Union, however, due to lack of resources, the invasion had to be postponed. Instead, a plan for Operation Sledjhammer was developed: in the event of a critical weakening of German troops or a possible fall of the Soviet Union, it was planned to conduct a limited landing of the Allied forces in France. At the same time, a plan was developed for a large-scale invasion of France in 1943 - Operation Roundup, but in 1943 the Allies had to abandon the landing due to several reasons: there was a serious shortage of landing ships and other means for landing, it was necessary to bring the battle to an end Atlantic and put additional pressure on the Axis countries by landing in Italy .

Now the landing in France was called “Operation Overlord” and was planned for June 5, 1944. The plan of operation included, among other things, the advance of the British 2nd Army on the section between the Orne and Port-en-Bessin River , the capture of the city of Caen , occupied by the Germans, and the formation front lines from the southeastern environs of Caen to Comon-l'Evante with the aim of capturing airfields and defending from the flank of the 1st US Army, the plans of which included the capture of Cherbourg . The capture of Caen and the surrounding area gave the 2nd Army a good initial position to advance south to capture the city of Falez - an important reference point for the advance on Paris.

The main objective of the first day of landing for the 3rd British Infantry Division was the Norman city of Caen. For the advance on Kahn, the division was strengthened by the 27th separate armored brigade, the 1st brigade of British commandos, which included the commandos of the "Fighting France", the 41st battalion of the royal naval commandos from the 4th brigade, as well as part of the British 79 Armored Division.

The 3rd Division was ordered to advance on Kahn, 12 km from Sord Beach, while the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division, on the British right, was to capture the Karpik airfield, 18 km from Juno Beach, "on the outskirts of the city. The British were also ordered to help the formations of the British 6th Airborne Division, which held the bridges over the Orn River and the Kansky Canal captured during Operation Tonga , as well as to capture the heights north of Kahn and “if possible, Kahn himself” . Immediately before the invasion, the commander of the 1st Corps, Lieutenant General John Crocker, instructing the soldiers of the division, said that by night the city should be either captured or “effectively blocked” by troops based north of the city and in Benuville .

Sord Beach stretched 8 km from Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer to the mouth of the Orne River. From west to east, the landing site was divided into four sectors: Obo, Peter, Queen, and Roger. Each sector was also divided into numerous zones. For the offensive, a 3 km wide section between the White and Red zones of the Queen sector was intended, since small reefs blocked access to other sectors. The lead of the attack was entrusted to two infantry battalions, with the support of tanks equipped with a Duplex Drive system. Following these formations, the commandos should have gone, followed by the remaining divisions of the division. The landing was scheduled for 07:25 in the morning.

The Fuhrer’s directive of March 23, 1942 called for the official creation of a series of defensive structures called the Atlantic Wall. Until the end of 1943, fortifications were built mainly in areas of large ports, after which they were extended to other areas. On the coast of Sord Beach, and behind it, 20 bunkers were built, including several artillery batteries. The coast of the beach was dotted with mines, anti-tank "hedgehogs" and hollows, behind which there were trenches, machine gun nests, mortars and guns. German positions were surrounded by barbed wire. The wire was also stretched along the beach.

To strengthen the fortifications, six bunkers were built on the coast, containing a total of at least eight 50 mm anti-tank guns , four 75 mm guns and one 88 mm caliber gun. One such bunker, called "Cod", was erected directly opposite the Quinn sector. Exits from the beaches were blocked by various barriers. Deeper, beyond the beaches, six artillery batteries were installed, three of which were installed in bunkers. Together, these three batteries had four 100-mm guns and up to seven 155-mm guns. Additionally, east of the Orn River, a Merville artillery battery was installed, armed with four Czechoslovak-made 100-mm howitzers, which could also open fire on Sord Beach and the arriving fleet. In total, there were 32 batteries between Cherbourg and the Seine River, which had the possibility of shelling the beaches on which the Allied forces landed. Half of these batteries were in reinforced concrete casemates with walls 1.8 m thick.

Starting in the spring of 1942, the 716th Infantry Division of Lieutenant General Wilhelm Richter was entrusted with the defense of a section of the Normandy coast belonging to the Calvados department. In March 1942, the 352nd Infantry Division took control of the west coast of Calvados, and only 13 km of coast remained in the Vediniya of the 716th Division, located north of Caen. The division consisted of four regular infantry battalions, two battalions from the " East Legions " and artillery formations. Four infantry companies were distributed along the Sord Beach, two of them along the Queen sector, another four companies were located in the interior of the territory, behind the beach. Further south, on the banks of the Orn River, around Caen, the 21st Panzer Division of Lieutenant General Edgar Feuchtinger was stationed, numbering 16,297 people. In the event of the landing of the allies of the division, an immediate counterattack was ordered.

In May 1944, two panzergrenadier battalions and an anti-tank battalion from the 21st Panzer Division were also transferred under the command of Richter. These permutations led to the fact that the 21st division was left in the mobile reserve. One of the transferred battalions, along with anti-tank guns and several mobile 155-mm guns, was deployed on the Perrier ridge, located at an altitude of 50 m above sea level 4.8 km south of Sord Beach.

Overcoming Coastal Fortifications

The landing was carried out by units of the 2nd British Army, led by Lieutenant General Miles Dempsey. The troops of the 1st Corps of General Crocker were supposed to storm the coast. The bulk of the troops landed in the Quinn zone, on the coast of Ermannville-sur-Mer . The main task of the troops was to capture the city of Caen and the airfield in the city of Karpik, located nearby, in the west. The landing began, as planned, at 07:25 in the morning: the 3rd division landed in the zones "Peter" and "Queen". The 1st and part of the 4th commando brigade, which took part in the landing, was entrusted with the task of monitoring the bridges across the Orn River and the Canal Canal. The commandos were supposed to connect with the paratroopers from the 6th airborne division, which by that time had already held bridges and managed to destroy the batteries in Merville.

The landing resistance was weak. At 8:00 a.m., 45 minutes after the start, the battle was already moved deep into the enemy’s territory, and by the afternoon the commandos reached the Orn River on the eastern flank, connecting with the British paratroopers who had landed earlier. The troops were able to connect with the Canadians who landed westward much later. The only serious German counterattack on the day of landing occurred on the beach at 16:00: during two attacks, the 21st Panzer Division went all the way from Caen to the coast between the cities of Lyon-sur-Mer and Luc-sur-Mer . The British managed to completely neutralize the enemy only late in the evening. 54 of 98 German tanks were destroyed or disabled.

21st Panzer Division counterattack

The British troops could not connect with the Canadians who had landed, according to the plan, on June Beach. At this time, the 21st German Panzer Division dealt a blow to the British. The 192nd motorized infantry regiment from the division reached the beach by 8 p.m., although much of its equipment was destroyed by the Royal Air Force. The losses in technology turned out to be large due to the fact that anti-aircraft artillery guns attached to the division were sprayed between all the various formations, which led to the inability to give a serious rebuff to aviation. ^[2]

The 22nd motorized infantry regiment, along with 50 tanks, also attacked troops fortified on the coast. The British organized a successful defense, and the counterattack was repulsed. Despite this, one German company managed to get through the gaps in the English defense to the coast near Lyon-sur-Mer. The Germans found the defensive fortifications there intact and decided to further strengthen them in order to prevent the landing of the arriving troops. Coincidentally, 250 gliders flew over this area of ​​the coast with soldiers from the 6th Airborne Division on board — the soldiers were supposed to strengthen the force on the banks of the Orn River. The Germans were afraid of the possible environment and left the coastal fortifications. By the end of the day on June 6, the 21st Division lost 50 tanks from the fire of British anti-tank guns. ^[3]

Consequences

At the end of the landing day, Sord Beach landed 28,845 British soldiers, 630 people were lost. Meanwhile, the troops did not reach the city of Kahn, therefore, in order to avoid fierce resistance (reinforcements could arrive in the city during the time since the start of the landing), the advancing troops stopped 6 km from the city. British formations remained not far from the coast, where more and more new troops, equipment and equipment arrived.

After the 21st German Panzer Division retreated, the next morning, British forces allied with the Canadians who landed on the right flank. ^{[4] The} 21st Division didn’t immediately recover from the losses suffered on June 6th, therefore no further attacks were made that day. However, on the next day, June 7th, precisely on the same site, the 12th SS division launched an attack. The offensive was unsuccessful - the division lost 31 tanks and did not advance forward. ^[five]

• Gold Beach
• June Beach
• Omaha Beach
• Utah beach

• D'Este, Carlo. Decision in Normandy: The Real Story of Montgomery and the Allied Campaign . Pengiun Books. 1994.
• Fortin, Ludovic (2004). British Tanks In Normandy. Histoire & Collections.
• Reynolds, Michael. Eagles and Bulldogs in Normandy 1944 . Havertown, PA, USA.