Allied The coastline of Normandy was divided into seventeen sectors, with codenames using a
spelling alphabet—from Able, west of
Omaha, to Roger on the east flank of Sword. Eight further sectors were added when the invasion was extended to include
Utah on the Cotentin Peninsula. Sectors were further subdivided into beaches identified by the colours Green, Red, and White. The Anglo-Canadian assault landings on D-Day were to be carried out by the
British Second Army, under Lieutenant General
Miles Dempsey. The Second Army's
I Corps, commanded by Lieutenant General
John Crocker, was assigned to take Sword. To Major General Tom Rennie's
3rd Infantry Division fell the task of assaulting the beaches and seizing the main British objective on D-Day, the historic Norman city of
Caen. Attached to the 3rd Infantry Division for the assault were the
27th Independent Armoured Brigade, the
1st Special Service Brigade (which also contained
Free French Commandos),
No. 41 (Royal Marine) Commando of the
4th Special Service Brigade, Royal Marine armoured support, additional artillery and engineers, and elements of the
79th Armoured Division.
6th Beach Group was deployed to assist the troops and landing craft landing on Sword and to develop the beach maintenance area. The 3rd Infantry Division was ordered to advance on Caen, from Sword, with the
3rd Canadian Infantry Division advancing on its western flank to secure
Carpiquet airfield, from Juno Beach, on the outskirts of the city. The last point was further reinforced when I Corps' commander, General Crocker, instructed the division, prior to the invasion, that by nightfall the city must be either captured or "effectively masked" with troops based north-west of the city and
Bénouville. Sword stretched about from
Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer in the west to the mouth of the River Orne in the east. It was further sub-divided into four landing sectors; from west to east these sectors were 'Oboe' (from Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer to
Luc-sur-Mer), 'Peter' (from Luc-sur-Mer to
Lion-sur-Mer), 'Queen' (from Lion-sur-Mer to La Brèche d'Hermanville), and finally 'Roger' (from La Brèche d'Hermanville to
Ouistreham). Each sector was also divided into multiple beaches. The sector chosen for the assault was the wide 'White' and 'Red' beaches of 'Queen' sector, as shallow reefs blocked access to the other sectors. Two infantry battalions supported by
DD tanks would lead the assault followed up by the commandos and the rest of the division; the landing was due to start at 07:25 hours.
German On 23 March 1942, Führer Directive Number 40 called for the official creation of the
Atlantic Wall—a line of concrete gun emplacements, machine-gun nests, minefields and beach obstacles stretching along the French coast. Fortifications were initially concentrated around ports, but were extended into other areas beginning in late 1943. While the
German Army had seen its strength and morale heavily depleted by campaigns in the Soviet Union, North Africa and Italy, it remained a powerful fighting force. Most of the German divisions along the French coast in late 1943, however, were either formations of new recruits or battered veteran units still resting and rebuilding after service on the Eastern Front; altogether some 856,000 soldiers were stationed in France, predominantly along the Channel coast. Under the command of
Field Marshals Erwin Rommel and
Gerd von Rundstedt, the defences of the
Atlantic Wall were heavily upgraded; in the first six months of 1944, 1.2 million tons of steel and 17.3 million cubic yards of concrete were laid. The coast of northern France was also studded with four million antitank and anti-personnel mines, and 500,000 beach obstacles. The beachfront itself, being generally flat and exposed, was guarded by a few scattered bunkers, with machine gun and sniper posts in some of the holiday homes and tourist facilities lining the shore. To reinforce the defences, six strongpoints had been constructed, each with at least eight
5 cm Pak 38 50 mm anti-tank guns, four 75 mm guns, and one 88 mm gun. One of the strongpoints (codenamed
Cod by the British), faced directly on to Queen sector. Exits from the beaches had been blocked with various obstacles, Between Cherbourg and the
River Seine there were a total of 32 batteries capable of firing on to the five invasion beaches; half of them were positioned in casemates of reinforced concrete. In March 1942, the
352nd Infantry Division assumed control of the western Calvados coast, leaving the 716th in position north of Caen covering an 8-mile (13 km) stretch of coastline. The division comprised four regular infantry battalions, two
Ost battalions, and artillery units. Four infantry companies were spread along Sword, with two positioned facing Queen sector—another four were positioned inland behind the beach. In May 1944, two
Panzergrenadier battalions and an antitank battalion from the 21st Panzer Division were placed under Richter's command; this deployment eliminated 21st Panzer as a mobile reserve. ==Order of battle==