D-Day 1944 (3)

"At 1600 hrs on June 6, 1944, a Horsa glider ground to a halt a mere 60 yards from the Orne Canal bridge at Benouville in Normandy. A small group of British paratroopers burst from it and stormed the bridge within minutes. The Allied liberation of Nazi-occupied Europe had begun. Within a few hours, landing craft would swarm towards Ouistreham as British 3rd Division stormed ashore at Sword Beach. The battle would then begin to break through to relieve the paratroopers. Ken Ford details the assault by British 6th Airborne Division and the British landings on Sword Beach that secured the vital left flank of the invasion. On the eastern most flank of the Allied landings in Normandy was Sword Beach, the responsibility of British 3rd Division. Their objectives for D-Day were to seize Ouistreham and Lion-sur-Mer, and to drive inland taking Hermanville, Perriers Ridge, and in co-operation with the Canadians landing on Juno, capture their ultimate goal: the town of Caen. In addition, they were to link up with the British Airborne forces who were to secure the eastern flank of the beachhead. The leading waves landed at 7: 30 a.m. and managed to get off the beach without heavy German resista