Sword Beach

Discussion in 'NW Europe' started by sapper, Feb 14, 2011.

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  1. sapper

    sapper WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    It nearly brings me to tears. Who for heavens sake picked out that place to land? Who is responsible for this dreadful loss of our allies? Fire of that concentration makes a shambles of any landing... Oddly enough in some ways it echoes the British landings. Let me quote Stan Howe who was a sailor involved in the landings.

    Lay this idea to rest!
    For many years it was claimed that we had it easy on Sword Beach, not true, the following from one of the assault ships log, lays this misinformation to rest, what follows later, is Stan Hough’s record taken from the log of one of the ships that carried the Assault craft.
    Princess Astrid. Bless her! She hit a mine in the channel after the war and sunk!
    The Princess lost 4 out of her 8 Assault landing craft.
    Princess Charlotte lost 7 out of 8.
    MV Victoria lost 5 out of 6.
    Prince Henry lost 5 out of 8.
    Finally Prince David lost all 8.
    On reflection, the loss of 29 Assault craft out of a total of 38 with only 9 saved, hardly bears out the idea of an "Easy landing" But, such is the power of films that these myths are assumed to be true and become fixed as part of the Legend of D Day.

    The Company landed on "Sword" queen red and queen white sectors, as part of leading Eighth Brigade, with the three Assault teams armed with Beehives 36lb explosive charges, designed to blow up concrete Enemy strong points and with flame throwers to burn those out we could not blow up.

    For these three highly trained teams, their role was crucial in opening up the beach exits, (due to the wind and rising tide the beach area was shrinking all the while). Nothing, was to be allowed to stand in the way, nor did they, all the tasks were completed successfully.
     
  2. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    Who has said Sword Beach was easy?

    The casualty figures speak for themselves-I don't even have an interest in D-Day but I know that Sword suffered the second highest amount of fatalities next to Omaha who suffered the most.
     
    Gerard likes this.
  3. dbf

    dbf Moderatrix MOD

    Posts moved from here
     
  4. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

  5. Thunder_from_Heaven

    Thunder_from_Heaven Junior Member

    One day when I asked my Grandfather what it was like going ashore on Sword Beach he didn't say a lot other than it was terrible.
     
  6. sapper

    sapper WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    Hi Drew IT was the Americans that said "You had it easy on Sword"
     
  7. General Ignorance

    General Ignorance Junior Member

    For the right or the wrong of it, Hollywood & the 1000's of TV documentaries focusing on the casualties on Omaha beach have inevitably meant that any casualties & military setbacks encountered on other beaches during D Day will inevitably be underplayed.

    It's never in a story tellers interest to point out that equally horrifying incidents were happening on other beaches, or to a great extent that the armed forces of countries other than The US were actually involved.

    Watching most documentaries & films made over the last 10 years you could be lead to believe that the only troops that took part in D Day were those of the USA.
     
  8. sapper

    sapper WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    I have a friend that came over to see me from the USA. He told me that many Americans were quite convinced that they fought, and won the war on their own. He has had arguments with his brother over this view.
    Sapper
     
  9. Gerard

    Gerard Seelow/Prora

    And I have many American friends who quite happily concede that they were part of an alliance and that their British Brethren also made a substantial contributions as did Poles, Dutch, Norwegian, Soviet, French etc.

    So we have now discovered that the United States have people who not only believe that they won the war, there are people who believe that it was an Allied effort also.

    Not every American believes that they won the war on their own. Not every American is convinced that they had no help. And not every American believes that the British "Had it easy on Sword".

    Of course Sword was terrible, as was Gold and Juno. And Utah also. This thread started out as a discussion of Sword beach and now we are into a quite ridiculous Anti-American rant. Completely off-topic.
     
  10. martin14

    martin14 Senior Member

    For the right or the wrong of it, Hollywood & the 1000's of TV documentaries focusing on the casualties on Omaha beach have inevitably meant that any casualties & military setbacks encountered on other beaches during D Day will inevitably be underplayed.

    It's never in a story tellers interest to point out that equally horrifying incidents were happening on other beaches, or to a great extent that the armed forces of countries other than The US were actually involved.

    Watching most documentaries & films made over the last 10 years you could be lead to believe that the only troops that took part in D Day were those of the USA.



    It would be nice if those misperceptions were corrected.

    I have stood in the sand at Juno, and Omaha.. nothing looks "easy"
     
  11. sapper

    sapper WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    There is no anti American for me. None at all. But it is true about the Hollywood influence, and it would be churlish to refute it.
    Sapper
     
  12. Gerard

    Gerard Seelow/Prora

    There is no anti American for me. None at all. But it is true about the Hollywood influence, and it would be churlish to refute it.
    Sapper
    you have started a thread about Sword Beach and thats fine. But is has developed into an Anti-American Rant. You have posted the following statements:

    "Hi Drew, it was the Americans that said You had it easy on Sword"

    "I have a friend that came over to see me from the USA. He told me that many Americans were quite convinced that they fought, and won the war on their own"

    Explain to me how the above relates to Hollywood when the two statements refer to Americans and not Hollywood. I dont know what you are trying to convey but it does come across as if you have an axe to grind with Americans.
     
  13. sapper

    sapper WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    Oh Mate. I tell it like it is.. Not some bloody waffle. What I posted is smack on.

    That does not mean that I am anti American far from it. I fought alongside them near Vire, and they treated us like Lords.... Wonderful Lads,.

    Come to that, My mate Spud and myself, captured an American that served in the German Army ...At the back of the Falaise pocket. sat down had a cigarette and yarn. I wonder what happened to him?
    Sapper
     

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