Lieutenants Bobby de la Tour, Don Wells, John Vischer, Bob Midwood, 22nd Independent Parachute Company, British 6th Airborne Division, synchronise their watches at about 11 pm on 5 June 1944, just prior to take off in twin engined Armstrong Whitworth Albermarle transports from RAF Harwell, Oxfordshire. This pathfinder unit parachuted into Normandy in advance of the rest of the division in order to mark out drop zones, making them among the first Allied troops to land in France on D-Day.
The paratroopers and glider-borne troops of the British 6th Airborne division who undertook Operation Tonga were tasked with a number of objectives vitally important to the protection of the eastern left flank of the Allied invasion force:
1). Operation Deadstick. Capture two strategically important bridges over the Caen Canal and Orne River at Bénouville and Ranville and defend them against counterattacks. Failure to capture these bridges intact, or to prevent their demolition would leave the British 6th Airborne Division cut off from the rest of the Allied army with their backs to the two waterways. If the Germans retained control over the bridges, they could be used by their armoured divisions to attack the landing beaches of Normandy.
2). Assault and destroy the heavily fortified Merville Coastal artillery battery at Franceville Plage to ensure that it could not shell the British forces landing on the beach codenamed Sword.
3). Destroy several bridges spanning the River Dives near the towns of Varaville, Robehomme, Bures and Troam to prevent enemy use.
4). Hold the territory and villages seized, securing a bridgehead, until relieved by advancing British ground forces from seaborne landings.
Just after midnight, 0016 hrs, on 6th June 1944, glider-borne troops of the 2nd Battalion Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, D company, led by Major John Howard, were the fist to land in France. Their mission was to seize ‘Pegasus’ and ‘Horsa’ Bridges over the Caen canal and Orne River and hold until relieved.
Released at 6,000 feet, six Horsa gliders, carrying a force of 180 heavily armed men, clipped the tops of trees and avoided dangerous water to bounce and halt just minutes apart and only a few yards from each other, in a narrow strip of land directly between their two objective bridges! Staff Sgt Jim Wallwork of Salford, pilot of the first glider to land, was thrown headfirst through the cockpit on impact with an embankment, later recounted the men had been singing to calm nerves but on approaching the French coast there was silence for the last few minutes “In full moon we could see every twig, every cow. The waterways were like streaks of silver”. Their intense training had paid off. This audacious action was later described by Air Chief Marshal Leigh-Mallory as one of the most outstanding flying achievements of the war.
The assault force poured out of the aircraft wreckage to immediately engage the enemy. The German defenders were taken completely by surprise and had no time to react, some were caught asleep in their gun pits. Both bridges were taken in 10 minutes with the loss of two men. Lance Corporal Fred Greenhalgh drowned when his No.3 glider crash landed in a pond trapping him. Lieutenant Dan Brotheridge, platoon commander in Glider no.1 was mortally wounded, shot in the neck, crossing the bridge in the first minutes of the assault and became the first member of the invading Allied armies to die as a result of enemy fire on D-Day.
With both bridges captured intact Howard ordered his Radio man Corporal Tappendan to send out the success signal “Hello Four Dog, Hello Four Dog, Ham and Jam, Ham and Jam!”
At 0300hrs on D-Day, the 7th Parachute Battalion parachuted in behind enemy lines to support the men of Ox & Bucks LI and together they repelled several fierce German counter-attacks from a Panzer Division and gunboat.
At around 1300 hrs they were bolstered by the arrival of 1st Special Service Brigade (later redesignated 1st Commando Brigade) led by Brigadier Lord Lovat, comprising Nos 3, 4, 6 (British Army) Commandos and 45 (Royal Marine) Commandos, who famously landed on the beach at Ouistreham to the sound of Bill Millin’s bagpipes, despite orders against it. Lord Lovat reputedly waded ashore wearing a white pullover under his battledress with “Lovat” inscribed on the collar and armed with an old Winchester rifle.
The commandos pressed on 6 km inland from ‘Sword’ to ‘Pegasus’ and arrived just two minutes late, for which Lord Lovat apologised! The commandos ran across the bridge and twelve were killed by sniper fire, mostly shot in the head as they wore berets not helmets.
Weather conditions and poor pilot navigation had caused many of the airborne troops to be dropped inaccurately, scattering them miles away from their intended DZ, causing casualties and disrupted operations for the depleted force. Only one pathfinder team was dropped correctly. Despite all the problems encountered however, the division heroically achieved all its objectives, severely limiting the ability of the German defenders to communicate and organise themselves, ensuring that the allied seaborne troops could not be attacked during the vital first few hours after landing when they were most vulnerable.
One of the members of the 7th Battalion reinforcements at Pegasus bridge was Captain Richard Todd, a young actor, who would, nearly two decades later, play Major John Howard, the man he fought beside, in the film The Longest Day.
The bridge was named Pegasus, after the mythical winged horse and insignia of British airborne forces.
