Sword Beach

En su sucesión de extensas playas tuvo lugar una batalla más decisiva de la historia.

El 6 de junio de 1944, la flota más grande jamás reunida desembarcó sobre cinco de ellas, bautizadas en clave como Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, Sword, a 156 000 soldados aliados.

El éxito del Día D requirió de un meticuloso estudio de las mareas.

Era precisa una bajamar al amanecer para dejar al descubierto las defensas que erizaban la arena y una vez destruidas, que la pleamar permitiera a las lanchas acercarse a la orilla.

They freeze.

Max Hastings, in a very interesting book about what happened on Sword Beach during the Normandy landings in the Second World War, When the troops went into the beach and many of them were being killed and there was terrible fire coming from the German troops.

He made this observation that inexperienced troops typically freeze under fire.

They go to ground and then they don't move.

You mentioned, uh, Juno Beach, you know, the Canadian beach.

There, there are famously French on D-Day as well, uh, the Kieffer Commandos who land on Sword Beach as alongside British commandos.

They're, they're a part of that landing force.

They have to fight for their memory as Free French Forces because they have always been associated with the British, not with the Free French Forces.

Defending the coast of Normandy from the outlet of the River Orne at Ouistreham west to Arnel was the 716th Infantry Division.

They would face the British and Canadian forces at Gold, Juno, and Sword Beaches on D-Day.

The division was mostly composed of both extremely young and over military age troops, foreign conscripts, along with former Soviet prisoners of war called Osttruppen, meaning eastern troops.

The unit was entirely static, meaning it lacked motor transportation capabilities and relied on bicycles and horses.

Sean Connery was also in The Longest Day.

He played a British soldier on, I th- believe Sword Beach or Gold Beach, one of those.

And, um-

With Norman Rossington, who was the manager of The Beatles in A Hard Day's Night.

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I'm John Batchelor, continuing with Sir Max Hastings, Sword Beach, D-Day Baptism by Fire.

The British Army is now on the beach.

The armor is on the beach.

So what the generals would have said, forget about the casualties, get on and do this, get on and do this.

But some of them were very slow.

And I came across one account by a German who was inside one of the strong points about two miles inland from Sword Beach.

And he described how the British battalion that was tasked to capture it, he said they moved very slowly, very cautiously.

And, like, it was a fair feat for the guys to glide in there on the gliders, land right beside it- Offload, like tw— I think there was only 12 or 13 in a crew of a glider.

Uh, made their way, take the bridge, and then hold it for them, I think it was 12 hours until they got relief from, uh, the guys coming in from Sword Beach.

Like, m- mental stuff, like.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

D-Day is June 6, 1944.

The objective is to put Allied troops, equipment, and supplies on sections of Normandy beaches, codenamed Utah, Omaha, Gull, Juneau, and Sword.

The landings begin at 6.30 a.m. Normandy time, H-hour.

BBC correspondent Colin Wills tells of landing with infantry troops.