The beach of Hermanville, part of the area codenamed
Sword, was one of the targets of
Operation Overlord on 6 June 1944. The
Cod German stronghold was located on the coast. A
Norwegian destroyer, the
HNoMS Svenner, sank in front of Hermanville. The sector at Hermanville was known as Queen Beach where elements of the British
3rd Division landed. The
South Lancashire Regiment landed on Queen White and
East Yorkshire Regiment on Queen Red; by 10:00 the village had been cleared. Offshore from Hermanville a
Gooseberry was established, this consisted of a breakwater formed with ships sunk into position, including the
French battleship Courbet. ==Twin towns==