07.25 a.m. After heavy air and naval bombardment, The 3rd. British Division, 8th. Brigade Group, stormed Sword beach, the D-D tanks were launched successfully and 28 out of 40 landed on the beach to engage the enemy and help clear the beach defences.
French commandos also landed with the British, their brief was to capture the port of Ouistreham a small but important town which lay to the eastern end of Sword.
The infantry can be seen here on the beach, which was under a constant barrage of shelling, mortar and machine gun fire.

Also landing on Sword were the commandos of the 1st Special Service Brigade. Under the command of Brigadier Lord Lovat they were given the objective of linking up with the 6th. Airborne at Pegasus Bridge. Complete with Lord Lovat's personal piper Bill Millin they hit the beach at 08:40.
Piper Bill Millin could be seen and heard marching up and down Sword playing "Road to the Isles" It is hard to imagine, but these men were under heavy fire from German heavy artillery, machine guns, and mortars, the sheer bravery to stand up and play the bagpipes whilst all this was going on is just amazing!!

The picture above right, shows a piper disembarking from a landing craft at Sword, I don't  know whether this is Bill Millin, as one or two Scottish Regiments had pipers.
The piper portrayed with Lord Lovat in the film "The Longest Day" is actually Bill playing himself.

The fast rising tide  made the beach head very narrow and the British became a victim of there own success , due to the amount of equipment coming ashore there was not enough room, and the whole operation was becoming hampered with traffic jams along the small Normandy coast roads.
The German 716th. Static Division were not making it easy, they put up terrific resistance, slowing the advancement of the British towards there objective.