Sword, commonly known as Sword Beach, was the code name given to one of the five main landing areas along the Normandy coast during the initial assault phase, Operation Neptune, of Operation Overlord. The Allied invasion of German-occupied France commenced on 6 June 1944. Stretching 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) from Ouistreham to Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer, the beach proved to be the easternmost landing site of the invasion after the abortion of an attack on a sixth beach, code-named Band. Taking Sword was to be the responsibility of the British Army with sea transport, mine sweeping and a naval bombardment force provided by the British Royal Navy as well as elements from the Polish, Norwegian and other Allied navies.
Gold, commonly known as Gold Beach, was the code name for one of the five areas of the Allied invasion of German-occupied France in the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944, during the Second World War. Gold, the central of the five areas, was located between Port-en-Bessin on the west and the Lieu-dit La Rivière in Ver-sur-Mer on the east. High cliffs at the western end of the zone meant that the landings took place on the flat section between Le Hamel and La Rivière, in the sectors code-named Jig and King. Taking Gold was to be the responsibility of the British Army, with sea transport, mine sweeping, and a naval bombardment force provided by the Royal Navy as well as elements from the Dutch, Polish and other Allied navies.
The 3rd Canadian Division is a formation of the Canadian Army responsible for the command and mobilization of all army units in the provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia, as well as all units extending westwards from the city of Thunder Bay.
An Army Group Royal Artillery (AGRA) was a British Commonwealth military formation during the Second World War and shortly thereafter. Generally assigned to Army corps, an AGRA provided the medium and heavy artillery to higher formations within the British Army.
The 59th (Staffordshire) Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army that was formed during the Second World War and fought in the Battle of Normandy. In March 1939, after Germany re-emerged as a significant military power and invaded Czechoslovakia, the British Army increased the number of divisions in the Territorial Army (TA) by duplicating existing units. The 59th (Staffordshire) Motor Division was formed in September 1939, as a second-line duplicate of the 55th Motor Division. The division's battalions were all, initially, raised in Staffordshire.
XII Corps was an army corps of the British Army that fought in the First and Second World Wars. In the First World War, it formed part of the British Salonika Force on the Macedonian front. In the Second World War, it formed part of the British Second Army during Operation Overlord and the subsequent North-West Europe Campaign of 1944-46.
The North Shore Regiment is a Primary Reserve infantry regiment of the Canadian Army, and is part of the 5th Canadian Division's 37 Canadian Brigade Group. The regiment is headquartered in Bathurst, New Brunswick, with sub-units located in Newcastle, Campbellton and Moncton.
The 77th Medium Regiment, was a Royal Artillery unit of Britain's part-time Territorial Army (TA) formed after the outbreak of World War II from a Yeomanry Cavalry regiment recruited in Lancashire. It landed in Normandy shortly after D Day and served through many of the largest battles of the campaign in North West Europe until VE Day.
The North Midland (Staffordshire) Heavy Battery was a Territorial Force (TF) unit of the Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA) formed in Staffordshire in 1908. It fought on the Western Front during World War I. Converted to medium artillery in the 1920s, the unit took part in the Battle of France and Dunkirk Evacuation in the early part of World War II, before returning to action in North Africa and Italy, and finally in North West Europe.
The London Heavy Brigade, Royal Garrison Artillery was a unit of the British Territorial Force formed in 1908. It fought on the Western Front during World War I, and its successors served in the Mediterranean and North-West Europe theatres during World War II.
The 1st Staffordshire Artillery Volunteers, later 2nd North Midland Brigade, was a Volunteer unit of the Royal Artillery of the British Army recruiting primarily from Staffordshire. It fought on the Western Front during World War I and in the Normandy Campaign and Belgium, Holland, and Germany during World War II. Postwar, it was reformed as a specialist locating unit.
59th Army Group Royal Artillery was an artillery formation of the British Army in World War II. Having operated in the North West Europe theatre in late 1944, it was switched to India to command artillery units preparing for the liberation of South-East Asia.
474th Searchlight Battery, Royal Artillery was a unit of the British Army during World War II. Originally raised as an anti-aircraft (AA) battery, in which role it served during the Battle of Britain and Blitz, it also provided artificial illumination, or 'Monty's Moonlight', for night operations by 21st Army Group during the campaign in North West Europe in 1944–45.
When the Second World War broke-out, the Dominion of Newfoundland was a Dominion governed directly from the United Kingdom via the Commission of Government. As Newfoundland was being administered by the Commission of Government, and had no functioning parliament, the British declaration of war on Germany automatically brought Newfoundland into a state of war with Germany on 3 September 1939.
The 4th Lancashire Artillery Volunteers, later renamed to the 4th West Lancashire Brigade, known as 'The Old 4th', was a part-time unit of the British Army's Royal Artillery founded in Liverpool in 1859. It served on the Western Front during World War I, one of its members winning the Victoria Cross at Cambrai. Between the world wars the unit pioneered mechanical traction methods. During World War II it formed three regiments that saw action at Dunkirk, in East Africa, on Crete, at Tobruk, in Burma, and in the final campaigns in Italy and North West Europe. It continued in the post-war Territorial Army until 1973.
The 1st Forfarshire Artillery Volunteers was a part-time unit of the British Army's Royal Artillery founded in Forfarshire in Scotland in 1859. It served with 51st (Highland) Division through many of the major battles on the Western Front during the First World War. In the Second World War, its regiments saw action in the Battle of France, in the campaigns in North Africa and Sicily, and in North West Europe from D-Day to VE Day. It continued in the postwar Territorial Army until 1975.
The 90th Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery was an air defence regiment of Britain's Territorial Army (TA) formed in the London suburbs of Middlesex during the period of international tension leading up to the outbreak of World War II. It defended London during the Battle of Britain and the Blitz of 1940–41 and later served in the campaign in North West Europe. The unit continued in the postwar Territorial Army until it was disbanded in 1955.
The 116th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment was a Welsh mobile air defence unit of the British Army's Royal Artillery (RA) during World War II. It served with the 53rd (Welsh) Infantry Division in the campaign in North West Europe.
The 102nd Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery, was an air defence unit of the British Army during World War II. Initially raised as an infantry battalion of the Lincolnshire Regiment in 1940, it transferred to the Royal Artillery in 1941. It served with I Corps in the campaign in North West Europe, at times acting as infantry or administrative troops when the threat of air attack had diminished. It was disbanded after the war.
The Manchester Artillery is a Volunteer unit of the British Army first raised in the City of Manchester in 1860, whose successors continue to serve in the Army Reserve today. It became a brigade of the Royal Field Artillery in the Territorial Force in 1908, and in World War I it served in Egypt in 1915–17 before being broken up. Its second line unit went to the Western Front in 1917, seeing action at Ypres, against the German Spring Offensive, and leading the pursuit in the Allies' victorious Hundred Days Offensive. Just before World War II the Manchester Artillery again formed a duplicate. While the parent regiment served in the Battle of France including the Dunkirk evacuation, and later in the Middle East and the Italian campaign, its duplicate fought in Normandy and North West Europe. Both regiments were reformed postwar, but after a number of amalgamations they and several other Manchester-based units were reduced into 209 Battery in the present-day Army Reserve.
Dominion of Newfoundland