06/06/2026
On D-Day, 6th June 1944, both regular battalions of The Royal Ulster Rifles landed in Normandy, one by air, one on the beaches. It was a unique distinction, as The Royal Ulster Rifles was the only British Army regiment to do so.
First in was the 2nd Battalion The Royal Ulster Rifles. It was the second time in France in 4 years, having being part of the Battle of Dunkirk in 1940. At 10am on D-Day the landing crafts containing the Battalion touched down on the Queen Red sector of Sword beach in Normandy at a spot slightly west of Ouistreham, a pleasant French summer resort with a wide sandy beach fringed with sand dunes. On 7th June, the Battalion was ordered to capture Cambes, a small village thickly wooded, approximately six miles inland from the coast.
The initial company level attack was repulsed with over 30 casualties. On 9th June the Battalion conducted a deliberate attack, capturing Cambes after ferocious fighting. At the end of the day, the Battalion had suffered nearly 200 casualties. Three Military Crosses, one Distinguished Conduct Medal and three Military Medals were awarded to Battalion personnel for actions during the battle on 9th June.
During the Second World War, the 1st Battalion The Royal Ulster Rifles was converted into a glider-borne unit. As part of the 6th Airlanding Brigade of 6th Airborne Division, the battalion was carried into battle in Horsa gliders. On the evening of 6th June, the 1st Battalion The Royal Ulster Rifles landed at LZ-N, near Ranville, north east of Caen and several miles from the coast. The Battalion was greeted by German mortaring and a degree of small-arms fire. These, however, did very little to hinder the forming up of the Battalion and only one casualty was sustained. Their task was to help enlarge the southern sector of the bridgehead by capturing the villages of Longueval and Sainte Honorine. The first of these was taken without incident on 6th June, however on 7th June the attempt to move on the second was dogged by communications difficulties and determined German resistance.
We will remember them