The story
Dangerous gap in the frontline on D-Day. The Marines did not succeeded to capture this ground. An area of 6 kilometres between Juno and Sword (St.Aubin and Lion sur Mer) was still in German hands
The only real German counter-attack on 6 June took place at Sword Beach. British troops had not been able to link up with Canadian troops from Juno according to the plan, and they were attacked by men of the German 21st Panzer Division.
The 192nd Panzergrenadier Regiment reached Sword Beach by 20:00 but many vehicles were destroyed by British air attacks. The flak units attached to the 21st Panzer had been spread thin, and as a result many vehicles were destroyed.
Despite many reports that the units deployed by the 21st were obsolete (such as quote of 80 light Czech tanks) in actual fact the 21st Panzer held amongst their strength 112 Panzer IV (long barrel) and another 4 Panzer IV (short barrel)
There's more to discover
You have arrived at just one small part of Back to Normandy — a personal project dedicated to preserving stories, images, music and memories of the Second World War.
Every record is a doorway to a larger story. Explore Back to Normandy to discover more, or visit Fred Vogels' personal website to learn about the person and the projects behind it.