The Norman city of Caen was a D-Day objective for the British 3rd Infantry Division that landed on Sword Beach on 6 June 1944. The capture of Caen, while "ambitious", was described by the official historian, L. F. Ellis, as the most important D-Day objective assigned to Lieutenant-General John Crocker and I Corps. Operation Overlord called for the British Second Army (Lieutenant-General Miles Dempsey), to secure the city and then form a front line from Caumont-l'Éventé to the south-east of Caen. The intention was to acquire space for airfields and to protect the left flank of the US First Army (Lieutenant General Omar N. Bradley), while it fought the Battle of Cherbourg.