Sword Beach

British Army’s Battle for Sword Beach

The easternmost Allied landing beach of the Normandy invasion of June 6, 1944, was code-named Sword. It was the responsibility of British Maj. Read more

Sword Beach

The Story of Bill Millin, Lord Lovat’s Mad Piper of Sword Beach

It was the evening of Monday, June 5, 1944, and an armada of almost 5,000 ships stood off the southern coast of England, primed and ready for the greatest amphibious invasion in history. Read more

Sword Beach

Smashing Hitler’s Atlantic Wall

After overrunning France and other Western European countries in 1940, Adolf Hitler was certain that the Allies would one day attempt to invade the European continent and attack through the occupied countries to destroy his regime. Read more

Sword Beach

The D-Day Invasion Museum

There is such a treasure trove of fine military museums in Normandy—perhaps more than anywhere else in the world—that we could devote an entire issue to nothing but them. Read more

Sword Beach

Soldiers of Juno: The Canadian Invasion of Normandy

As John Wesley Pointon jumped into the cold English Channel water with the Royal Canadian 7th Brigade Signal Corps and struggled with a heavy radio strapped to his back toward the beach that was being torn apart by shot and shell, the farm boy from Saskatchewan tried to make his mind go blank. Read more

Sword Beach

Commandos Crack Hitler’s Atlantic Wall

After successfully fighting seasickness during the crossing of the English Channel, Lance-Corporal Ted Brooks of Number 48 (Royal Marine) Commando arrived on Nan Red Beach—which formed the left flank of Juno Beach—on the morning of June 6, 1944. Read more

Sword Beach

Airborne at La Fière: Slugfest in Normandy

The night of June 5, 1944, and the morning of June 6 were without a doubt some of the most pivotal hours in the history of the 20th century. Read more

Sword Beach

Piper Bill on the D-Day Beach

The image of the Scottish piper standing erect under fire was commemorated in the film The Longest Day nearly two decades after the D-Day landings of June 6, 1944. Read more

Sword Beach

D-Day Funnies: No Joke to the Nazis

German defenders hunkered in their concrete and steel bunkers along the Normandy coast were in for two major shocks on Tuesday, June 6, 1944. Read more

Sword Beach

Off to War in a Plywood Box: Glidermen of WWII

On June 22, 1940, the British prime minister, the formidable Winston Churchill, directed that an airborne force of at least 5,000 men was to be formed. Read more

Sword Beach

Sergeant Major Stan Hollis: The Victoria Cross on D-Day

A chill breeze cut through the early morning haze, and the storm-swollen sea was rough off the coast of northern France on Tuesday, June 6, 1944. Read more

Sword Beach

Pegasus Bridge: Operation Deadstick’s Glider Assault

On a darkened airfield at 2230 hours on June 5, 1944, a reinforced company of British gliderborne infantry, D Company of the Second Battalion, Oxford & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry (Ox & Bucks), boarded gliders, prepared to start the invasion of France. Read more

Sword Beach

Operation Deadstick: the Capture of ‘Pegasus Bridge’

This article was provided by Martin Cherrett, whose blog, World War II Today, provides a unique way military history enthusiasts can understand and experience the Second World War. Read more

Sword Beach

Field Marshals Erwin Rommel & Gerd von Rundstedt

The Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe was inevitable as the tide of World War II turned against Germany. Read more

Sword Beach

Attack on The Merville gun battery during D-Day

Just boys facing danger, please God make them men; If they live through the danger, make them boys once again.      —Sergeant Ginger Woodcock, June 5, 1944

On the morning of June 6, 1944, the greatest amphibious fleet in history bore in toward the coast of Normandy. Read more

Sword Beach

The Life of a Military Historian: Walking Through the D-Day Invasion

One of the great things about being a military historian is that you get to go places and meet people you might not ordinarily get to see and meet. Read more