Gold, Juno, and Sword Beaches (#274)
Today’s post covers another aspect of the D-Day invasion -- the plan and the execution of the British and Canadian landings on Gold, Juno, and Sword Beaches.
This year, I am doing a series on leaders and leadership in the European Theater of Operations (ETO) in World War II. This is 20th in the series. Check out the blog to see them all or go to the links at the bottom of this article to see the most recent ones.
Gold, Juno, and Sword Beaches
Before the troops boarded the landing craft, Allied bombers hit targets throughout Normandy beginning at midnight. The British 6th Airborne Division landed almost simultaneously with the bombings, east of the Orne River. At approximately 5:30 AM the pre-invasion bombardment by the navy commenced. Differences in the tide between the beaches required the landings at Gold, Juno, and Sword to start about 50 minutes later than the American landings at Utah and Omaha.
The British 50th Division began the landings on Gold Beach 7:25 AM. The beach was 7 miles wide and subdivided into the How, Item, Jig, and King sectors from west to east. Parts of the German 716th and 352nd Divisions opposed the landings. By the end of the day, the 25,000 troops of the Northumbrian Division had established a beachhead 6 miles inland at a cost of 400 casualties (killed and wounded).
The Canadian 3rd Infantry Division began the landings on Juno Beach at 7:55 AM. The beach was 4 miles wide and subdivided into the Love, Mike, and Nan sectors from west to east. Parts of the German 716th Division defended the beach. By the end of the day, the 21,400 troopers of the “Water Rats” had fought 6 miles inland and linked up with the 50th (British) Division to the west. The Canadians took heavy casualties compared to the 50th and 3rd British Divisions — 1,200 casualties (killed and wounded).
The British 3rd Division began the landings at Sword Beach at 7:25 AM. The beach was 5 miles wide and subdivided into the Oboe, Peter, Queen, and Roger sectors from west to east. Parts of the German 716th and 21st Panzer Division defended the beach. By the end of the day, the 29,000 troops of the “Iron Division” had fought 5 miles inland, linked up with the British 6th Airborne Division (See the Pegasus Bridge post for more on the Airborne) and suffered 630 casualties (killed and wounded). The 3rd Division was unable to link up with the Canadian 3rd Division to their west until June 7th, however.
Lord Lovat
Lord Lovat, also known as Simon Fraser, was a British military commander who played a significant role during the D-Day landings in Normandy. Simon Fraser, the 15th Lord Lovat, was the chief of Clan Fraser of Lovat. Before D-Day, Lovat led commando raids on the island of Hardelot where he received the Military Cross for his heroism. His leadership during the Dieppe raid was one of the few highlights — his commandos destroyed six 150mm howitzers. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for his heroism during the raid.
On D-Day, June 6, 1944, Lord Lovat was a brigadier and commanded the 1st Special Service Brigade, which was part of the 6th Airborne Division. His brigade was tasked with landing on Sword Beach (the eastern most beach), fighting their way inland and helping the 6th Airborne Division, who had arrived by parachute and glider, defend their objectives.
Accompanied by his personal bagpiper, Bill Millin, Lord Lovat and his commandos waded ashore from landing craft. As they moved forward, Lord Lovat and Piper Bill Millin walked side by side, with Millin playing bagpipes under heavy fire. There was an order prohibiting these types of actions — however, Lord Lovat and Bill Millin rationalized it by concluding it was a British order and didn’t apply to them because they were Scottish. This act of bravery and morale-boosting became an iconic image of the D-Day landings. Peter Lawford played Lord Lovat in the movie The Longest Day.
Lord Lovat's commandos arrived at a little past 1:00 PM at Pegasus Bridge.. Upon reaching the link-up point an hour late, Lord Lovat apologised to Lieutenant-Colonel Geoffrey Pine-Coffin, of 7th Parachute Battalion. Lovat and his commandos established defensive positions around Ranville, east of the River Orne. The bridges were relieved later in the day by elements of the British 3rd Infantry Division, who also landed on Sword Beach.
The French government awarded Lord Lovat the Croix du Guerre and the legion of Honor for his leadership and courage during D-Day. On June 12th Lord Lovat was seriously wounded by artillery. He eventually made a full recovery, but never served in combat again. He serve as a member of the House of Lords for many years and the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs for several months. He died in 1995.
Conclusion
The last five blog posts on leaders and leadership from the World War II European Theater of Operations are:
Interested in bringing your team to Leadership Experience that uses historic case studies, like Lord Lovat Boys during D-Day to enhance your team’s leadership today? TFCG offers the D-Day, Market-Garden, and Battle of the Bulge Leadership Experiences in Europe. TFCG also offers the Eisenhower, Currahee!, the War in the Pacific Museum, and Pearl Harbor Leadership Experiences in the United States. Send me an email and we can start the discussion today about building better leaders in your organization using a historic Leadership Experience. Or click on one of the pictures to learn more about that specific program.
In the meantime, go on the offensive and use the story of the heroic actions of Lord Lovat on D-Day to inspire you this week.