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Sword Beach: The Battle of Ouistreham

WW2TV

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Sword Beach: The Battle of Ouistreham
With Stephen Fisher
Part of our DDay and Battle of Normandy series
DDay and the Battle of Normandy
Also part of our British Army playlist
British Army in WWII
And our Commandos playlist
Commando Missions and Special Operations

Ouistreham is a port on the Orne canal and river, north of the city of Caen, and just east of the landing beach of Sword on June 6th 1944. In today's show we look at the town's capture by Infantry, Armoured and Commando units. Not forgetting the Navy and Air forces!

The footage shot by George Laws during the advance into Ouistreham can be viewed here: https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/it...

Stephen Fisher is an archaeologist and historian specialising in 20th century military conflict. One of his areas of interest is Operation Neptune and D-Day embarkation, and recently he was the heritage advisor during the restoration of LCT 7074, the last remaining Landing Craft Tank in the UK. He also specialises in Coastal Forces and maritime actions of both wars.

https://spitfiresofthesea.com/
Twitter: SeaSpitfires

Buy the book Sword Beach by Stephen Fisher:
USA https://goldsborobooks.com/products/s...
UK https://uk.bookshop.org/a/5843/978178...

Stephen's previous shows:
DDay 80 - 6 Commando’s advance on Pegasus Bridge (Sword Beach)
https://www.youtube.com/live/cDkQUYoP...
Juno Beach was originally called Jelly Beach - A WWII Myths show
https://youtube.com/live/Lm-FXIRLiqo
Obstacle Clearance on DDay
Obstacle Clearance on DDay

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20 Comments

@daveadams7818 1 month ago

There is some dragons teeth and a Trobruk pit on beach just as you leave the ferry terminal.

@maryholder3795 1 year ago

Knew about the D-Day, that the Free French commandos, led by Philippe Kieffer, landed on Sword Beach in Normandy to capture a German-held casino (Riva-Bella Casino) at Ouistreham. Mainly due to the film Longest Day.
But how on earth did historians miss the battle action of 4 Commando to neutralize German strongpoints and gun batteries in Ouistreham, and to reinforce the 6th Airborne Division at the Orne bridges. Never heard about this action so I'm fascinated by this video. Thank you.

@martinedwards3082 5 months ago (edited)

my grandad,cpl bill barnes,4 commando was there.he passed away when i was 14.i never got to speak to him as an adult,no doubt he wouldn't have told me anything about the horror he would have witnessed.i knew he was a commando,it didn't really register with me what a commando is.i simply thought,at the time,he was a soldier in the war as i grew older and read about 4 commando,i realised what commandos are.i am very proud of him.god bless him and all fighting men.

@pandemir 2 months ago

Archie MacNaughton was a cousin to my grandfather. These two boys grew up in Black River, NB, and enlisted on the same day at Sussex, NB in November 1915, 104th overseas Bn. There is a letter in the archives from Archie to family in Canada telling them he had heard from Ray (my grandfather), describing injuries Ray acquired at Paschendaele. Archie was known for his journal and letter writing and became a teacher after the war. He re-enlisted in 1939 and was the most senior Canadian officer killed June 6. The photo of the older Archie in the video has strong resemblance to my grandad Ray.

@cmdrcetusmv 2 months ago

Thanks for an excellent talk. I'm visiting ouistreham tomorrow and this provides an excellent primer.

@jabonorte 1 year ago

Stephen’s book clearly describes the damage done by mortars and 50mm/75mm guns to the landing craft, and the delays caused landing as a result. Those big guns would have been massively destructive if they had still been there and functioning

@therealuncleowen2588 1 year ago

Wonderful that Stephen was able to determine that 2nd East Yorks didn't knock out the MG nest because they arrived late and simply weren't there to do the job, which they surely would have had they arrived as scheduled. Thank you for this work!

@willierobertson862 1 year ago

Fantastic detective work by Stephen, analysing images, reports and diaries to piece together all this information to bring us the nearest we will get to being there. His book is a work of genius because of his methods. I could quite happily listen to him for hours.

Thank you for bringing him to the fore Woody.

@KevinJones-yh2jb 1 year ago (edited)

I found this fascinating, as my late father was involved in the 6th Airborne assault on the Merville Gun Battery, on D-Day, I never knew about 4 Commando assualt re Ouistreham gun batteries etc. Great to see that Stephen has brought this action to print, fantastic detective work. Great maps and photos. Many thanks Stephen and Woody another WW2TV brilliant presentation

@trevorpage6376 1 year ago

Complete admiration for Stephen and his research. Thank you Woody & Stephen!

@DavidHill-f4p 8 months ago

Watched twice .... Now ive got to buy another bloody book. What a fantastic presentation! Thank you chaps!

@K-Nyne 1 year ago

Stephen's previous presentation on this channel made me buy his Sword Beach book. Still one of the best of its kind, wish every D-Day beach had a book like this on it.

@davidlavigne207 1 year ago

What an incredible amount of collaborative research was done by Stephen Fisher! The use of IWM war diaries, personal accounts, period maps and modern day views is brilliant! I only hope my own literary work will be as half as well done. His work was very much like the detective work of a "Sherlock Holmes" in many ways using the various sources to come up with the perpetrators of a crime. If only the ancient Greek and Roman historians had done such work. Stephen should consider writing scripts for some Brit Box detective episodes. Loving WW2TV.

@scottgrimwood8868 1 year ago

Stephen is the master scholar of the Sword Beach landings!

@hastings6671 10 months ago

Visited Sword Beach and Pegasus Bridge last month. Makes one feel very proud to be there knowing what happened. This video is fantastic by the way! Keep up the good work ❤

@alanmoss-s6r 1 year ago

Sadly couldn't watch this excellent talk live, family matters, but have sat and enjoyed it immensely this morning. Congratulations Stephen, more please on any subject you chose to study.

@theoldfart6404 1 year ago

Very good research and detective work in piecing all the little bits together. Very much enjoyed Stephen's presentation.

@grahamhorne6956 1 year ago

I served in 3 Div HQ as a signaller in the 1970s.

Have always been interested in the division's history and this great work by SF has been a pleasure to view and read. Well done sir.

@OldWolflad 1 year ago

I always feel the British have undersold themselves regards Normandy, massively underestimating casualty rates on D-Day for example when the War Graves Commission 2024 study revealed that 2,100 British deaths occurred on D-Day at Sword and Gold, not far off the 2,500 suffered by the Americans at their two beaches. Its not a contest of course, but a lot of people wrongly feel that the British had a relatively easy ride.