Operation Deadstick
Encyclopedia
Operation Deadstick was the codename for an airborne forces
operation by the British Army
that took place on 6 June 1944 as part of the Normandy landings. The mission's objective was to capture intact two road bridges in Normandy across the River Orne and the Caen Canal providing the only exit eastwards for British forces from their landing on Sword Beach
. Intelligence reports said both bridges were heavily defended by the Germans and wired for demolition. Once captured, the bridges had to be held against any counter-attack until the assault force was relieved by commandos
and infantry advancing from the British landing zone.
The mission was vital to the success of the British airborne landings
. Failure to capture the bridges intact, or to allow their destruction by the Germans, would leave the 6th Airborne Division cut off from the rest of the Allied armies 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.
Responsibility for the operation fell to the men of 'D' Company, 2nd (Airborne) Battalion, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry
, part of the 6th Airborne Division. The assault group comprised a reinforced company of six infantry platoon
s and an attached platoon of Royal Engineers. They flew from the south of England to Normandy in six Airspeed Horsa
gliders. Through what was later described as the "most outstanding flying achievements of the war", the gliders delivered the company to their objective. After a brief fire fight, both bridges were captured within minutes of landing, then successfully defended against tank, gun boat and infantry counter-attacks until the company relief arrived.
decided that the only way to capture the bridges intact was by a glider coup de main
assault. He then asked Brigadier
Hugh Kindersley of the 6th Airlanding Brigade to nominate his best company for the operation.
'D' Company, 2nd (Airborne) Battalion, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry
, under the command of Major
John Howard and deputy
Captain
Brian Priday, was selected for the mission. The company had trained hard and became the fittest in the battalion, often utilizing bomb-damaged inner-city areas to practice street fighting with live ammunition. Howard expected the invasion to involve night-fighting and changed the daily routine to ensure that his men were up to the task. For weeks at a time, they rose at 20:00 and completed exercises
, drills and normal paperwork throughout the night before retiring at 13:00. General Gale tested the company through two exercises where the objective was to capture bridges when it became apparent that the company would not be able to carry out the mission on its own. Asked to select two more platoon
s from the battalion to join them, Howard chose two from 'B' Company commanded by Lieutenants Fox and Smith
. Any explosive charges found attached to the bridges were the responsibility of 30 Royal Engineers
from the 249th (Airborne) Field Company, commanded by Captain Jock Neilson. Changes were then made to the operational plan to accommodate six platoons. Three were assigned to attack each bridge simultaneously with infantry overcoming the troops on guard duty while the engineers located and dismantled any demolition charges. For six days and nights the company carried out exercises just outside Exeter
, in the south west of England, where two bridges similar to their objectives were found over the River Exe
.
Transport to Normandy was arranged in six Airspeed Horsa
gliders, piloted by 12 NCOs from 'C' Squadron, Glider Pilot Regiment
.All Glider Pilot Regiment pilots were at least of the rank of sergeant and trained soldiers. The Horsa had a wingspan of 88 feet (26.8 m) and a length of 67 feet (20.4 m), with a maximum load of 15750 pounds (7,144.1 kg) or space for two pilots, twenty-eight troops or a mixture of two jeeps
, artillery guns and trailers. Pilot mission training involved practice landings on a small strip of land, instrument flying using stopwatches for accurate course changes and fitting flight crew goggles with dark glass to get them used to night flying. By May 1944 they had carried out 54 training flights, flying in all weathers both day and night.
Howard was not told the exact details of the operation until 2 May, 1944. His orders were to seize the bridges over the River Orne and Caen Canal at Bénouville and Ranville intact and hold them until relieved. The relief force would initially be a company from the 7th Parachute Battalion under Howard's command. When the remainder of the parachute battalion arrived, he would hand over to their commander Lieutenant-Colonel Richard Pine-Coffin
. The 3rd Infantry Division and the commandos
of the 1st Commando Brigade were scheduled to land at Sword Beach
at 06:00 on the day then advance to the bridges where they were expected to arrive at 11:00.
At the end of May 1944, 'D' Company left the battalion camp at Bulford
in Wiltshire for RAF Tarrant Rushton
in Dorset. The base was then secured and Howard briefed everyone on the mission, distributing photographs of the bridges and unveiling a model of the area. Glider pilot commander Staff Sergeant
Jim Wallwork
told Howard that with a full load of men, ammunition, assault boats and engineers' stores his gliders would be dangerously overloaded. Howard decided to only take one assault boat per glider and leave behind two men from each platoon. At the last minute Doctor John Vaughan replaced an injured man in one of the platoons.
On 5 June 1944 the company made final preparations for the mission. Each man was issued their personal weapons and ammunition as well as up to nine hand grenades and four Bren gun magazines. Each platoon also had a 2-inch mortar and a radio. Just before the men boarded the gliders, codewords were issued. 'Ham' indicated the canal bridge was captured and 'Jam' the river bridge. Capture and destruction of the canal bridge would be signalled using the codeword 'Jack'; 'Lard' would be used if a similar fate befell the river bridge.
. The main road between the two communes
crosses the bridges and then continues east to the River Dives. At 190 feet (57.9 m) long and 12 feet (3.7 m) wide, the Caen Canal bridge opens to allow canal traffic to pass underneath. The controls were housed in a nearby cabin. The canal itself is 27 feet (8.2 m) deep by 150 feet (45.7 m) wide, with earth and stone banks 6 feet (1.8 m) high. Small tarmac
tracks run on both banks along the canal's entire length.
Between the two bridges there is a strip of mostly marshy ground some 550 yards (502.9 m) wide, broken up by ditches and small streams.
The Ranville bridge over the River Orne is 350 feet (106.7 m) long and 20 feet (6.1 m) wide and can be opened to allow river traffic to pass. The river is between 160 and 240 ft (48.8 and 73.2 ) wide and with an average depth of 9 feet (2.7 m). It has mud banks averaging about 3.6 feet (1.1 m) high and a tidal rise and fall of between 16 and 6.5 ft (4.9 and 2 ). A number of small houses lie to the west of the river interconnected by a track between 8 and 10 ft (2.4 and 3 ) wide runs along both banks.
. The unit was poorly equipped with a mixture of foreign weapons and manned by conscripts from Poland, Russia and France under a German officer and senior non-commissioned officer
s (NCOs). Schmidt's soldiers had orders to blow up the two bridges if they were in danger of capture.
A second division, the 21st Panzer, moved into the area in May 1944. One of its regiments, the 125th Panzergrenadier
, commanded by Colonel Hans von Luck
, was billeted at Vimont just east of Caen. There was also a battalion of the 192nd Panzergrenadier Regiment based at Cairon
to the west of the bridges. Colonel von Luck trained his regiment in anti-invasion operations. He also identified likely incursion points and marked out forward routes, rest and refuelling areas and anti-aircraft gun positions. The 21st Panzer Division was a new formation based on the former Afrika Korps
unit, which had been destroyed in North Africa. Although equipped with an assortment of older tanks and other armoured vehicles, the division's officers were veterans and 2,000 men from the old division filled its ranks. Further afield were the 12th SS Panzer Division at Lisieux
and the Panzer Lehr Division at Chartres
, both less than a day's march from the area.
Defences were in place at both bridges. On the west bank of the Caen Canal bridge there were three machine-gun emplacements and on the east bank a machine-gun and an anti-tank gun. To their North were another three machine-guns and a concrete pillbox
. An anti-aircraft tower equipped with machine-guns stood to the south. At the River Orne bridge, the eastern bank south of the bridge had a pillbox with anti-tank and anti-aircraft guns. To the north of the bridge were two machine-guns. Both bridges had sandbagged trench systems along the banks.
took off from RAF Tarrent Rushton. Horsa number one, the first of the three headed for the Caen Canal, carried Major Howard with Lieutenant
Brotheridge's
platoon, number two bore Lieutenant Wood's
platoon, and number three carried Lieutenant Smith's platoon. Captain Priday with Lieutenant Hooper's platoon made for the river bridge aboard number four. Horsa number five carrying Lieutenant Fox's platoon and was followed by number six bearing Lieutenant Sweeney's
platoon. Each glider also carried five men from the Royal Engineers platoon. Flying over the English Channel
at 7000 feet (2,133.6 m), the bombers crossed the Normandy coast at 00:07 on 6 June, 1944 and released their towed gliders. With Staff Sergeant Wallwork at the controls, the number one glider crashed into the barbed wire surrounding the canal bridge defences at 00:16. The other two gliders followed at one minute intervals. The number two glider broke in half and came to halt at the edge of a large pond. One of the men fell into the water and drowned, becoming the first casualty of the operation. Lieutenants Brotheridge and Smith's platoons headed for the bridge, while Lieutenant Wood's platoon moved towards the trenches on its north east side.
At 00:19 pathfinders from the 22nd Independent Parachute Company landed in the area between the River Orne and the River Dives. Brigadier Nigel Poett
commanding 5th Parachute Brigade and a small team accompanied them. Disoriented after landing, Poett heard Brotheridge's Sten gun and set off for the bridges with the only man he could locate . Only one of the Germans at the bridge, Unteroffizier
Weber escaped 'D' Company's attack, he reached Bénouville and reported the bridge had been captured.
Lieutenant Fox's glider number five was the first to land 330 yards (301.8 m) from the river bridge at 00:20 while glider number four was reported missing. When the Germans opened fire with an MG 34
, the platoon responded with a 2 inches (50.8 mm) mortar and destroyed the gun with a direct hit. They then crossed the bridge without further opposition. At 00:21 number six glider landed 770 yards (704.1 m) short of the bridge. Lieutenant Sweeney left one of his sections
on the west bank then moved the rest of the platoon across the bridge to take up defensive positions on the east bank.
From his newly established command post in the trenches on the eastern bank of the canal near the bridge, Major Howard learned that the river bridge had also been taken. Captain Neilson of the engineers reported that although the bridges had been prepared for demolition, the explosives had not been attached. Howard ordered his signalman to transmit the code words 'Ham' and 'Jam' then brought Fox's platoon across the canal bridge, positioning them at the Bénouville to Le port crossroads as the company's forward platoon.
s marked out by the pathfinders. Howard began blowing the morse code
letter 'V' on his whistle, to help guide the 7th Parachute Battalion to the bridges. The first paratroops to arrive at 00:52 were Brigadier Poett and the soldier he had picked up en-route. Briefed by Howard on the situation, they heard tanks and lorries moving around in Bénouville and Le Port. On the drop zone, only about 100 men of the 7th Parachute Battalion had made it the rallying point but all their signal equipment, machine guns and mortars were missing. Lieutenant-Colonel Pine-Coffin, aware that his battalion was the only unit allocated defensive positions west of the bridges, decided they could not wait any longer and at 01:10 left for the bridges.
At about the same time Major Schmidt, the German commander of the bridge guard force, decided he needed to see for himself what was happening. He headed for the bridge in his SdKfz 250
with a motorcycle escort. Travelling at high speed they unknowingly passed the forward line of 'D' Company's defence and drove onto the bridge whereupon the company opened fire. The soldier aboard the motorcycle was killed and the SdKfz 250 was forced off the road. Schmidt and his driver were taken prisoner
.
The commander of the 716th Infantry Division Generalleutnant Wilhelm Richter was informed at 01:20 of the parachute landings and that the bridges had been captured intact. One of his first actions was to contact Generalmajor Edgar Feuchtinger
of 21st Panzer Division. Richter ordered the division to attack the landing areas. While Feuchtinger's tanks were delegated to support the 716th, it was also part of the German armoured reserve, which could not move without orders from the German High Command. All German panzer formations could only be moved on the direct orders of Adolf Hitler
, who was sleeping at the time and his staff refused to wake him. When Colonel Von Luck of the 125th Panzergrenadier Regiment received the news of the airborne landings at 01:30 he ordered the regiment to their assembly areas north and east of Caen and waited for further orders.
The closest large German unit to the canal bridge were the 2nd Battalion, 192nd Panzergrenadier Regiment based at Cairon. General Feuchtinger ordered them to recapture the bridges and then attack the parachute landing zones further west. At 02:00 the 2nd Battalion headed for the bridges from the west, supported by the 1st Panzerjager
Company and part of the 989th Heavy Artillery Battalion coming from the north. As the first Panzer IV
s from the north reached the junction leading to the bridge, the leading vehicle was hit by a round from 'D' Company's only serviceable PIAT
anti-tank weapon. The vehicle exploded, setting off its stowed ammunition, and the other tanks withdrew.
The first company of the 7th Parachute Battalion, commanded by Major Nigel Taylor, arrived at the bridges. Howard directed them to defensive positions west of the canal in Bénouville and Le Port. When Lieutenant-Colonel Pine-Coffin arrived at the bridges, he was briefed by Howard, and crossed into Bénouville and set up his headquarters beside the church. Pine-Coffin had about 200 men in his three companies. He positioned 'A' and 'C' Companies in Bénouville facing south towards Caen and 'B' Company in Le Port facing Ouistreham
. 'D' Company was now pulled back into the area between the two bridges and held in reserve. A further check of the trenches and bunkers captured a number of Germans.
At 03:00 the 8th Heavy Company, 192nd Panzergrenadier Regiment with 75 mm SP guns
, 20 mm AA guns and mortars attacked 'A' and 'C' Companies, 7th Parachute Battalion, from the south. The paratroops were forced back and the Germans established their own positions in Bénouville, but were unable to break the British line. They dug in and waited for tank support before moving forward again. The Germans fired mortar rounds and machine guns at the paratroopers and attempted small assaults on their positions throughout the night.
Just before dawn Howard summoned his platoon commanders to a meeting. With their senior officers dead or wounded, numbers One, Two and Three Platoons were now commanded by corporal
s. Howard's second in command, Captain Priday and number Four Platoon were missing. Only Lieutenants Fox and Sweeneys in Five and Six Platoons had a full complement of officers and NCOs. The landings at Sword Beach began at 07:00, preceded by a heavy naval bombardment
. At the bridges, daylight allowed German snipers to identify targets and anyone moving in the open was in danger of being shot. The men of number One Platoon who had taken over the 75 mm anti-tank gun on the east bank of the canal used it to engage possible sniper positions in Bénouville, the Château de Bénouville
and the surrounding area. At 09:00, two German gunboats approached the canal bridge from Ouistreham. The lead boat fired its 20 mm gun and number Two Platoon returned fire with a PIAT, hitting the wheelhouse of the leading boat, which crashed into the canal bank. The second boat retreated to Ouistreham. A lone German aircraft bombed the canal bridge at 10:00, dropping one bomb. The bomb struck the bridge but failed to detonate.
, blocking the road. During the attack 13 of the 17 tanks trying to get through to the bridge were destroyed. The paratroopers were then reinforced by number One Platoon from 'D' Company. The platoon moved forward into Bénouville and cleared the Germans in house to house fighting. Numbers Five and Six Platoons also moved into positions opposite the Gondree Cafe on the west bank of the canal. By midday most of the missing men from the 7th Parachute Battalion had arrived at the bridges and the three platoons were moved back to their original positions.
Just after midday, the 21st Panzer Division received permission to attack the landings. Colonel Von Luck east of the River Orne moved the 125th Panzergrenadier Regiment towards the bridges. The column was quickly spotted and engaged for the next two hours by Allied artillery and aircraft causing heavy losses. The 1st Battalion, 192nd Panzergrenadier Regiment and the 100th Panzer Regiment, attacking from west of the canal, had more success reaching the beaches between the British Sword Beach
and the Canadian Juno Beach
.
At 13:30 the men at the bridges heard the sound of bagpipes
, played by Bill Millin
of the 1st Commando Brigade. As the commandos arrived they crossed the bridges and joined the rest of 6th Airborne Division defending the eastern side of the bridges. Some of the tanks accompanying the commandos moved into Bénouville to reinforce its defences while others crossed the bridges with the commandos. At 15:00 a boat loaded with German infantry approached from Caen. It was engaged with the anti-tank gun manned by number One Platoon. It was hit in the stern by the second round fired and retreated back toward Caen.
At 21:15 the 2nd Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment of the 185th Infantry Brigade
arrived from Sword Beach and began taking over the bridges' defences. At around midnight Howard handed over command of the bridges to the Warwickshire Regiment and his company left to join the rest of their battalion at Ranville. At 03:30 they finally located the battalion's positions. They found Captain Priday and number Four Platoon had already joined the battalion. The platoon had landed beside the River Dives at Varaville about 8 miles (12.9 km) away, and had spent the previous day fighting their way towards the bridges, trying to rejoin the company.
Of the 181 men (139 infantry, 30 engineers and 12 pilots) of 'D' Company involved in the capture of the bridges, two had been killed and fourteen wounded. On 9 June, the German Air Force
attacked the bridges with 13 aircraft. The British had positioned light and medium sized anti-aircraft guns around the bridges and in the face of intense anti-aircraft fire the attack failed, although they did claim one of the bridges was destroyed by a direct hit.
The 6th Airborne retained control of the area between the Rivers Orne and Dives until 14 June, when the 51st (Highland) Infantry Division took over the southern part of the Orne bridgehead. In the days that followed the division was reinforced by the Dutch Princess Irene Brigade and the 1st Belgian Infantry Brigade
. A period of static warfare ended on 22 August when the division crossed the River Dives. Within nine days it had advanced 45 miles (72.4 km) to the mouth of the River Seine. Between the 6 June and 26 August when they were pulled out of the front line the division's casualties were; 821 killed, 2,709 wounded, and 927 missing. After Operation Deadstick the engineers, glider pilots and 'B' Company men were returned to their parent formations. 'D' Company played their part in the division's defence of the Orne bridgehead and advance to the River Seine. On 5 September when the division was withdrawn to England, all that remained of the company were 40 men under the only remaining officer, Major John Howard, the other officers, sergeants and most of the junior NCOs having been among the casualties.
The glider pilots were the first group to leave 'D' Company, their expertise being required for other planned operations. In particular Operation Comet, which included another coup-de-main operation where eighteen gliders would be used to capture three bridges in the Netherlands. The mission would be carried out by the 1st Airborne Division with a brigade allocated to defend each bridge. Comet was scheduled for the 8 September 1944, but was delayed and then cancelled. The plans were adapted and became Operation Market Garden
, involving three airborne divisions, however the coup-de-main assault plans were not carried out.
Prior to being withdrawn on 16 July, Major Howard was awarded the Distinguished Service Order
, presented in the field by General Bernard Montgomery. Other awards were the Military Cross
to Lieutenant's Smith and Sweeney, the Military Medal
to Sergeant
Thornton and Lance-Corporal Stacey, Lieutenant Brotheridge was posthumously mentioned in dispatches. After the war Air Chief Marshal
Trafford Leigh-Mallory
of the Royal Air Force praised the pilots involved, saying the operation included the "most outstanding flying achievements of the war". The feat was recognised by the award of the Distinguished Flying Medal
to eight of the glider pilots involved.
The Caen Canal bridge was renamed Pegasus Bridge
after the emblem of the British airborne forces, while the River Orne bridge became Horsa Bridge
. The road across them is now the "Esplanade Major John Howard". Since the end of the war, Pegasus Bridge and the adjacent Café Gondree have become a place where British veterans of the conflict visiting Normandy congregate. In 1994 when Pegasus Bridge was replaced by a new structure, the original bridge was added to the display's at the Pegasus Museum in Benouville.
A number of books have been written about or have mentioned the assault. In 1962, Operation Deadstick featured in Darryl Zanuck's film The Longest Day
which was based on the book
of the same title by Cornelius Ryan
. Major John Howard was played by Richard Todd
who had been an officer in the 7th Parachute Battalion during the battle.
Airborne forces
Airborne forces are military units, usually light infantry, set up to be moved by aircraft and 'dropped' into battle. Thus they can be placed behind enemy lines, and have an ability to deploy almost anywhere with little warning...
operation by the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
that took place on 6 June 1944 as part of the Normandy landings. The mission's objective was to capture intact two road bridges in Normandy across the River Orne and the Caen Canal providing the only exit eastwards for British forces from their landing on Sword Beach
Sword Beach
Sword, commonly known as Sword Beach, was the code name given to one of the five main landing areas along the Normandy coast during the initial assault phase, Operation Neptune, of Operation Overlord; the Allied invasion of German-occupied France that commenced on 6 June 1944...
. Intelligence reports said both bridges were heavily defended by the Germans and wired for demolition. Once captured, the bridges had to be held against any counter-attack until the assault force was relieved by commandos
British Commandos
The British Commandos were formed during the Second World War in June 1940, following a request from the British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, for a force that could carry out raids against German-occupied Europe...
and infantry advancing from the British landing zone.
The mission was vital to the success of the British airborne landings
Operation Tonga
Operation Tonga was the codename given to the airborne operation undertaken by the British 6th Airborne Division between 5 June and 7 June 1944 as a part of Operation Overlord and the Normandy Landings during the Second World War....
. Failure to capture the bridges intact, or to allow their destruction by the Germans, would leave the 6th Airborne Division cut off from the rest of the Allied armies 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.
Responsibility for the operation fell to the men of 'D' Company, 2nd (Airborne) Battalion, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry
Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry
The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry was an infantry regiment of the British Army.The regiment was formed as a consequence of Childers reforms, a continuation of the Cardwell reforms, by the amalgamation of the 43rd Regiment of Foot and the 52nd Regiment of Foot , forming the 1st...
, part of the 6th Airborne Division. The assault group comprised a reinforced company of six infantry platoon
Platoon
A platoon is a military unit typically composed of two to four sections or squads and containing 16 to 50 soldiers. Platoons are organized into a company, which typically consists of three, four or five platoons. A platoon is typically the smallest military unit led by a commissioned officer—the...
s and an attached platoon of Royal Engineers. They flew from the south of England to Normandy in six Airspeed Horsa
Airspeed Horsa
The Airspeed AS.51 Horsa was a British World War II troop-carrying glider built by Airspeed Limited and subcontractors and used for air assault by British and Allied armed forces...
gliders. Through what was later described as the "most outstanding flying achievements of the war", the gliders delivered the company to their objective. After a brief fire fight, both bridges were captured within minutes of landing, then successfully defended against tank, gun boat and infantry counter-attacks until the company relief arrived.
British Forces
During the planning stage of the Normandy invasion, the decision was made to land the 6th Airborne Division on the left flank of the invasion beaches between the River Orne and the River Dives. Their primary objective was to capture the two road bridges over the River Orne and the Caen Canal and prevent a German flanking attack on the landing area. Failure to capture the bridges would leave the 6th Airborne Division cut off in enemy territory, so the 5th Parachute Brigade were earmarked to defend the bridges against counter-attacks. However, divisional commander Major-General GaleRichard Nelson Gale
General Sir Richard Nelson "Windy" Gale GCB, KBE, DSO, MC was a soldier in the British Army who served in both world wars. In World War I he was awarded the Military Cross in 1918 whilst serving as a junior officer in the Machine Gun Corps...
decided that the only way to capture the bridges intact was by a glider coup de main
Coup de main
A coup de main is a swift attack that relies on speed and surprise to accomplish its objectives in a single blow. The United States Department of Defense defines it as:The literal translation from French means a stroke or blow of the hand...
assault. He then asked Brigadier
Brigadier
Brigadier is a senior military rank, the meaning of which is somewhat different in different military services. The brigadier rank is generally superior to the rank of colonel, and subordinate to major general....
Hugh Kindersley of the 6th Airlanding Brigade to nominate his best company for the operation.
'D' Company, 2nd (Airborne) Battalion, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry
Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry
The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry was an infantry regiment of the British Army.The regiment was formed as a consequence of Childers reforms, a continuation of the Cardwell reforms, by the amalgamation of the 43rd Regiment of Foot and the 52nd Regiment of Foot , forming the 1st...
, under the command of Major
Major
Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
John Howard and deputy
Second in Command
Second in Command is a 2006 action film directed by Simon Fellows, starring Jean-Claude Van Damme. It was released direct-to-video in the United States, Belgium, and Germany on May 2, 2006. It has been rated R by the MPAA for violence and some language. The film was made in Bucharest, Romania.-Plot...
Captain
Captain (British Army and Royal Marines)
Captain is a junior officer rank of the British Army and Royal Marines. It ranks above Lieutenant and below Major and has a NATO ranking code of OF-2. The rank is equivalent to a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy and to a Flight Lieutenant in the Royal Air Force...
Brian Priday, was selected for the mission. The company had trained hard and became the fittest in the battalion, often utilizing bomb-damaged inner-city areas to practice street fighting with live ammunition. Howard expected the invasion to involve night-fighting and changed the daily routine to ensure that his men were up to the task. For weeks at a time, they rose at 20:00 and completed exercises
Military exercise
A military exercise is the employment of military resources in training for military operations, either exploring the effects of warfare or testing strategies without actual combat...
, drills and normal paperwork throughout the night before retiring at 13:00. General Gale tested the company through two exercises where the objective was to capture bridges when it became apparent that the company would not be able to carry out the mission on its own. Asked to select two more platoon
Platoon
A platoon is a military unit typically composed of two to four sections or squads and containing 16 to 50 soldiers. Platoons are organized into a company, which typically consists of three, four or five platoons. A platoon is typically the smallest military unit led by a commissioned officer—the...
s from the battalion to join them, Howard chose two from 'B' Company commanded by Lieutenants Fox and Smith
Sandy Smith (British Army officer)
Major Richard Arthur Amyas Smith MC was a British Army officer who was awarded a Military Cross for gallantry and leadership whilst serving as a platoon commander in the coup de main operation by British gliderborne troops tasked to capture Pegasus Bridge and Horsa Bridge during the opening...
. Any explosive charges found attached to the bridges were the responsibility of 30 Royal Engineers
Royal Engineers
The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually just called the Royal Engineers , and commonly known as the Sappers, is one of the corps of the British Army....
from the 249th (Airborne) Field Company, commanded by Captain Jock Neilson. Changes were then made to the operational plan to accommodate six platoons. Three were assigned to attack each bridge simultaneously with infantry overcoming the troops on guard duty while the engineers located and dismantled any demolition charges. For six days and nights the company carried out exercises just outside Exeter
Exeter
Exeter is a historic city in Devon, England. It lies within the ceremonial county of Devon, of which it is the county town as well as the home of Devon County Council. Currently the administrative area has the status of a non-metropolitan district, and is therefore under the administration of the...
, in the south west of England, where two bridges similar to their objectives were found over the River Exe
River Exe
The River Exe in England rises near the village of Simonsbath, on Exmoor in Somerset, near the Bristol Channel coast, but flows more or less directly due south, so that most of its length lies in Devon. It reaches the sea at a substantial ria, the Exe Estuary, on the south coast of Devon...
.
Transport to Normandy was arranged in six Airspeed Horsa
Airspeed Horsa
The Airspeed AS.51 Horsa was a British World War II troop-carrying glider built by Airspeed Limited and subcontractors and used for air assault by British and Allied armed forces...
gliders, piloted by 12 NCOs from 'C' Squadron, Glider Pilot Regiment
Glider Pilot Regiment
The Glider Pilot Regiment was a British airborne forces unit of the Second World War which was responsible for crewing the British Army's military gliders and saw action in the European Theatre of World War II in support of Allied airborne operations...
.All Glider Pilot Regiment pilots were at least of the rank of sergeant and trained soldiers. The Horsa had a wingspan of 88 feet (26.8 m) and a length of 67 feet (20.4 m), with a maximum load of 15750 pounds (7,144.1 kg) or space for two pilots, twenty-eight troops or a mixture of two jeeps
Willys MB
The Willys MB US Army Jeep and the Ford GPW, were manufactured from 1941 to 1945. These small four-wheel drive utility vehicles are considered the iconic World War II Jeep, and inspired many similar light utility vehicles. Over the years, the World War II Jeep later evolved into the "CJ" civilian...
, artillery guns and trailers. Pilot mission training involved practice landings on a small strip of land, instrument flying using stopwatches for accurate course changes and fitting flight crew goggles with dark glass to get them used to night flying. By May 1944 they had carried out 54 training flights, flying in all weathers both day and night.
Howard was not told the exact details of the operation until 2 May, 1944. His orders were to seize the bridges over the River Orne and Caen Canal at Bénouville and Ranville intact and hold them until relieved. The relief force would initially be a company from the 7th Parachute Battalion under Howard's command. When the remainder of the parachute battalion arrived, he would hand over to their commander Lieutenant-Colonel Richard Pine-Coffin
Richard Geoffrey Pine-Coffin
Colonel Richard Geoffrey Pine-Coffin DSO & Bar, MC was a parachute officer of the British Army during World War II. He commanded the 3rd Parachute Battalion in North Africa and the 7th Parachute Battalion in Normandy, Belgium, and Germany...
. The 3rd Infantry Division and the commandos
British Commandos
The British Commandos were formed during the Second World War in June 1940, following a request from the British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, for a force that could carry out raids against German-occupied Europe...
of the 1st Commando Brigade were scheduled to land at Sword Beach
Sword Beach
Sword, commonly known as Sword Beach, was the code name given to one of the five main landing areas along the Normandy coast during the initial assault phase, Operation Neptune, of Operation Overlord; the Allied invasion of German-occupied France that commenced on 6 June 1944...
at 06:00 on the day then advance to the bridges where they were expected to arrive at 11:00.
At the end of May 1944, 'D' Company left the battalion camp at Bulford
Bulford
Bulford is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, close to Salisbury Plain. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 4,698.The name is derived from the Old English bulut ieg ford meaning 'ragged robin island ford'....
in Wiltshire for RAF Tarrant Rushton
RAF Tarrant Rushton
RAF Tarrant Rushton was a Royal Air Force station near the village of Tarrant Rushton east of Blandford Forum in Dorset, England from 1943 to 1947.It was used for glider operations during World War II and later revived for civilian operations...
in Dorset. The base was then secured and Howard briefed everyone on the mission, distributing photographs of the bridges and unveiling a model of the area. Glider pilot commander Staff Sergeant
Staff Sergeant
Staff sergeant is a rank of non-commissioned officer used in several countries.The origin of the name is that they were part of the staff of a British army regiment and paid at that level rather than as a member of a battalion or company.-Australia:...
Jim Wallwork
Jim Wallwork
Staff Sergeant Jim Wallwork DFM was a member of the Glider Pilot Regiment who achieved fame as the pilot of the first Horsa glider to land at Pegasus Bridge in the early hours of 6 June 1944. This remarkable achievement was described as "the greatest feat of flying of the second world war" by Air...
told Howard that with a full load of men, ammunition, assault boats and engineers' stores his gliders would be dangerously overloaded. Howard decided to only take one assault boat per glider and leave behind two men from each platoon. At the last minute Doctor John Vaughan replaced an injured man in one of the platoons.
On 5 June 1944 the company made final preparations for the mission. Each man was issued their personal weapons and ammunition as well as up to nine hand grenades and four Bren gun magazines. Each platoon also had a 2-inch mortar and a radio. Just before the men boarded the gliders, codewords were issued. 'Ham' indicated the canal bridge was captured and 'Jam' the river bridge. Capture and destruction of the canal bridge would be signalled using the codeword 'Jack'; 'Lard' would be used if a similar fate befell the river bridge.
Bridges
The Ranville bridge spans the River Orne and the Bénouville bridge crosses the Caen Canal to the west. They are 5 miles (8 km) from the coast and provide the only access to the city of CaenCaen
Caen is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the Calvados department and the capital of the Basse-Normandie region. It is located inland from the English Channel....
. The main road between the two communes
Communes of France
The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to incorporated municipalities or villages in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany...
crosses the bridges and then continues east to the River Dives. At 190 feet (57.9 m) long and 12 feet (3.7 m) wide, the Caen Canal bridge opens to allow canal traffic to pass underneath. The controls were housed in a nearby cabin. The canal itself is 27 feet (8.2 m) deep by 150 feet (45.7 m) wide, with earth and stone banks 6 feet (1.8 m) high. Small tarmac
Tarmac
Tarmac is a type of road surface. Tarmac refers to a material patented by Edgar Purnell Hooley in 1901...
tracks run on both banks along the canal's entire length.
Between the two bridges there is a strip of mostly marshy ground some 550 yards (502.9 m) wide, broken up by ditches and small streams.
The Ranville bridge over the River Orne is 350 feet (106.7 m) long and 20 feet (6.1 m) wide and can be opened to allow river traffic to pass. The river is between 160 and 240 ft (48.8 and 73.2 ) wide and with an average depth of 9 feet (2.7 m). It has mud banks averaging about 3.6 feet (1.1 m) high and a tidal rise and fall of between 16 and 6.5 ft (4.9 and 2 ). A number of small houses lie to the west of the river interconnected by a track between 8 and 10 ft (2.4 and 3 ) wide runs along both banks.
German forces
The bridge was guarded by 50 men belonging to the German 736th Grenadier Regiment, 716th Infantry Division. The unit was commanded by Major Hans Schmidt and based at Ranville, 1.2 miles (1.9 km) east of the River Orne. The 716th was a static formation and had been assigned to Normandy since June 1942. The division's eight infantry battalions were deployed to defend 21 miles (33.8 km) of the Atlantic wallAtlantic Wall
The Atlantic Wall was an extensive system of coastal fortifications built by Nazi Germany between 1942 and 1944 along the western coast of Europe as a defense against an anticipated Allied invasion of the mainland continent from Great Britain.-History:On March 23, 1942 Führer Directive Number 40...
. The unit was poorly equipped with a mixture of foreign weapons and manned by conscripts from Poland, Russia and France under a German officer and senior non-commissioned officer
Non-commissioned officer
A non-commissioned officer , called a sub-officer in some countries, is a military officer who has not been given a commission...
s (NCOs). Schmidt's soldiers had orders to blow up the two bridges if they were in danger of capture.
Panzergrenadier
is a German term for motorised or mechanized infantry, as introduced during World War II. It is used in the armies of Austria, Chile, Germany and Switzerland.-Forerunners:...
, commanded by Colonel Hans von Luck
Hans von Luck
Hans-Ulrich von Luck und Witten , usually shortened to Hans von Luck, was a Colonel in the German Armored Forces during World War II. He served with the 7th Panzer Division and 21st Panzer Division, seeing action in Poland, France, North Africa, Italy and Russia...
, was billeted at Vimont just east of Caen. There was also a battalion of the 192nd Panzergrenadier Regiment based at Cairon
Cairon
Cairon is a commune in the Calvados department in the Basse-Normandie region in northwestern France.-Population:...
to the west of the bridges. Colonel von Luck trained his regiment in anti-invasion operations. He also identified likely incursion points and marked out forward routes, rest and refuelling areas and anti-aircraft gun positions. The 21st Panzer Division was a new formation based on the former Afrika Korps
Afrika Korps
The German Africa Corps , or the Afrika Korps as it was popularly called, was the German expeditionary force in Libya and Tunisia during the North African Campaign of World War II...
unit, which had been destroyed in North Africa. Although equipped with an assortment of older tanks and other armoured vehicles, the division's officers were veterans and 2,000 men from the old division filled its ranks. Further afield were the 12th SS Panzer Division at Lisieux
Lisieux
Lisieux is a commune in the Calvados department in the Basse-Normandie region in northwestern France.Lisieux is the capital of the Pays d'Auge area, which is characterised by valleys and hedged farmland...
and the Panzer Lehr Division at Chartres
Chartres
Chartres is a commune and capital of the Eure-et-Loir department in northern France. It is located southwest of Paris.-Geography:Chartres is built on the left bank of the Eure River, on a hill crowned by its famous cathedral, the spires of which are a landmark in the surrounding country...
, both less than a day's march from the area.
Defences were in place at both bridges. On the west bank of the Caen Canal bridge there were three machine-gun emplacements and on the east bank a machine-gun and an anti-tank gun. To their North were another three machine-guns and a concrete pillbox
Bunker
A military bunker is a hardened shelter, often buried partly or fully underground, designed to protect the inhabitants from falling bombs or other attacks...
. An anti-aircraft tower equipped with machine-guns stood to the south. At the River Orne bridge, the eastern bank south of the bridge had a pillbox with anti-tank and anti-aircraft guns. To the north of the bridge were two machine-guns. Both bridges had sandbagged trench systems along the banks.
Deadstick
At 22:56 on 5 June, 1944, the six gliders towed by Halifax bombersHandley Page Halifax
The Handley Page Halifax was one of the British front-line, four-engined heavy bombers of the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. A contemporary of the famous Avro Lancaster, the Halifax remained in service until the end of the war, performing a variety of duties in addition to bombing...
took off from RAF Tarrent Rushton. Horsa number one, the first of the three headed for the Caen Canal, carried Major Howard with Lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
Brotheridge's
Den Brotheridge
Lieutenant Herbert Denham Brotheridge was a British Army officer, and is often considered to be the first Allied soldier to be killed in action on D-Day, 6 June 1944, during Operation Tonga...
platoon, number two bore Lieutenant Wood's
David Wood (British Army officer)
Colonel David Wood MBE was the last surviving officer of the coup de main operation by gliderborne troops on D Day, 6 June 1944, which was tasked with capturing two vital bridges before the main assault on the Normandy beaches.Early lifeDavid James Wood was born in Corsham, Wiltshire and educated...
platoon, and number three carried Lieutenant Smith's platoon. Captain Priday with Lieutenant Hooper's platoon made for the river bridge aboard number four. Horsa number five carrying Lieutenant Fox's platoon and was followed by number six bearing Lieutenant Sweeney's
Tod Sweeney
Colonel Henry John Sweeney MC , known as Tod Sweeney, was a platoon commander in the coup de main operation by gliderborne troops on D Day, 6 June 1944, tasked to seize two vital bridges before the main assault on the Normandy beaches...
platoon. Each glider also carried five men from the Royal Engineers platoon. Flying over the English Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
at 7000 feet (2,133.6 m), the bombers crossed the Normandy coast at 00:07 on 6 June, 1944 and released their towed gliders. With Staff Sergeant Wallwork at the controls, the number one glider crashed into the barbed wire surrounding the canal bridge defences at 00:16. The other two gliders followed at one minute intervals. The number two glider broke in half and came to halt at the edge of a large pond. One of the men fell into the water and drowned, becoming the first casualty of the operation. Lieutenants Brotheridge and Smith's platoons headed for the bridge, while Lieutenant Wood's platoon moved towards the trenches on its north east side.
Bridges captured
The Germans knew the invasion was imminent if not the exact location; Major Schmidt, in command of the bridges, had been told that they were one of the most critical points in Normandy. The defenders however were not on full alert and only two sentries were on duty when the gliders landed. The sound of a gunshot alerted the two sentries on the bridge. As Brotheridge's platoon attacked, one ran off shouting "paratroops" while the second fired a flare gun to alert nearby defenders. Brotheridge shot him while other members of his platoon cleared the trenches and pillbox with grenades. Alerted by the flare, the German machine gunners opened fire at the men on the bridge, wounding Brotheridge as he threw a grenade. The grenade silenced one of the machine gun positions and another was taken out by Bren gun fire. Number One Platoon crossed the bridge to take up a defensive position on the west bank. The Royal Engineers from number one glider searched for explosive charges and cut the fuse wires when they found any. Lieutenant Smith's platoon crossed the bridge next, exchanging fire with the German defenders, whereupon Smith was wounded by a grenade. Using grenades and sub-machine gun fire, the platoons cleared the trenches and bunkers. By 00:21 German resistance on the west bank of the canal bridge was over. Checking the area, the men of Brotheridge's platoon now realised that their leader was wounded. He failed to recover and soon died of his wounds, becoming the first Allied soldier killed by enemy action during the invasion. On the east bank Lieutenant Wood's platoon cleared the trenches and bunkers with little opposition. Woods was hit in the leg by machine-gun fire as he ordered the platoon to storm the German defences. All three platoon commanders at the canal bridge were now either dead or wounded.At 00:19 pathfinders from the 22nd Independent Parachute Company landed in the area between the River Orne and the River Dives. Brigadier Nigel Poett
Nigel Poett
General Sir Joseph Howard Nigel Poett KCB, DSO was a British Army officer who commanded the 5th Parachute Brigade, 6th Airborne Division, during the Second World War.-Early life:...
commanding 5th Parachute Brigade and a small team accompanied them. Disoriented after landing, Poett heard Brotheridge's Sten gun and set off for the bridges with the only man he could locate . Only one of the Germans at the bridge, Unteroffizier
Unteroffizier
Unteroffizier is both a specific military rank as well as a collective term for non-commissioned officers of the German military that has existed since the 19th century. The rank existed as a title as early as the 17th century with the first widespread usage occurring in the Bavarian Army of the...
Weber escaped 'D' Company's attack, he reached Bénouville and reported the bridge had been captured.
Lieutenant Fox's glider number five was the first to land 330 yards (301.8 m) from the river bridge at 00:20 while glider number four was reported missing. When the Germans opened fire with an MG 34
MG 34
The Maschinengewehr 34, or MG 34, is a German air-cooled machine gun that was first produced and accepted into service in 1934, and first issued to units in 1935. It accepts the 8x57mm IS cartridge....
, the platoon responded with a 2 inches (50.8 mm) mortar and destroyed the gun with a direct hit. They then crossed the bridge without further opposition. At 00:21 number six glider landed 770 yards (704.1 m) short of the bridge. Lieutenant Sweeney left one of his sections
Section (military unit)
A section is a small military unit in some armies. In many armies, it is a squad of seven to twelve soldiers. However in France and armies based on the French model, it is the sub-division of a company .-Australian Army:...
on the west bank then moved the rest of the platoon across the bridge to take up defensive positions on the east bank.
From his newly established command post in the trenches on the eastern bank of the canal near the bridge, Major Howard learned that the river bridge had also been taken. Captain Neilson of the engineers reported that although the bridges had been prepared for demolition, the explosives had not been attached. Howard ordered his signalman to transmit the code words 'Ham' and 'Jam' then brought Fox's platoon across the canal bridge, positioning them at the Bénouville to Le port crossroads as the company's forward platoon.
7th Parachute Battalion
At 00:50 aircraft carrying the rest of the 6th Airborne Division appeared overhead and the paratroopers descended into drop zoneDrop zone
A drop zone is a place where parachutists or parachuted supplies land. It can be an area targeted for landing by paratroopers, or a base from which recreational parachutists and skydivers take off in aircraft and land under parachutes...
s marked out by the pathfinders. Howard began blowing the morse code
Morse code
Morse code is a method of transmitting textual information as a series of on-off tones, lights, or clicks that can be directly understood by a skilled listener or observer without special equipment...
letter 'V' on his whistle, to help guide the 7th Parachute Battalion to the bridges. The first paratroops to arrive at 00:52 were Brigadier Poett and the soldier he had picked up en-route. Briefed by Howard on the situation, they heard tanks and lorries moving around in Bénouville and Le Port. On the drop zone, only about 100 men of the 7th Parachute Battalion had made it the rallying point but all their signal equipment, machine guns and mortars were missing. Lieutenant-Colonel Pine-Coffin, aware that his battalion was the only unit allocated defensive positions west of the bridges, decided they could not wait any longer and at 01:10 left for the bridges.
At about the same time Major Schmidt, the German commander of the bridge guard force, decided he needed to see for himself what was happening. He headed for the bridge in his SdKfz 250
SdKfz 250
The Sd.Kfz. 250 was a light armoured halftrack, very similar in appearance to the larger Hanomag-designed Sd.Kfz. 251, and built by the DEMAG firm, for use by Nazi Germany in World War II....
with a motorcycle escort. Travelling at high speed they unknowingly passed the forward line of 'D' Company's defence and drove onto the bridge whereupon the company opened fire. The soldier aboard the motorcycle was killed and the SdKfz 250 was forced off the road. Schmidt and his driver were taken prisoner
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
.
The commander of the 716th Infantry Division Generalleutnant Wilhelm Richter was informed at 01:20 of the parachute landings and that the bridges had been captured intact. One of his first actions was to contact Generalmajor Edgar Feuchtinger
Edgar Feuchtinger
Edgar Feuchtinger was a German General during the Second World War.-Biography:Born in Metz , Feuchtinger joined a cadet school in Karlsruhe in 1907. During the First World War, he fought as lieutenant in Russia and France...
of 21st Panzer Division. Richter ordered the division to attack the landing areas. While Feuchtinger's tanks were delegated to support the 716th, it was also part of the German armoured reserve, which could not move without orders from the German High Command. All German panzer formations could only be moved on the direct orders of Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
, who was sleeping at the time and his staff refused to wake him. When Colonel Von Luck of the 125th Panzergrenadier Regiment received the news of the airborne landings at 01:30 he ordered the regiment to their assembly areas north and east of Caen and waited for further orders.
The closest large German unit to the canal bridge were the 2nd Battalion, 192nd Panzergrenadier Regiment based at Cairon. General Feuchtinger ordered them to recapture the bridges and then attack the parachute landing zones further west. At 02:00 the 2nd Battalion headed for the bridges from the west, supported by the 1st Panzerjager
Panzerjäger
Panzerjäger was a branch of service of the Wehrmacht during the Second World War which were the anti-tank arm-of-service who operated anti-tank artillery, and made exclusive use of the tank destroyers which were also named Panzerjäger...
Company and part of the 989th Heavy Artillery Battalion coming from the north. As the first Panzer IV
Panzer IV
The Panzerkampfwagen IV , commonly known as the Panzer IV, was a medium tank developed in Nazi Germany in the late 1930s and used extensively during the Second World War. Its ordnance inventory designation was Sd.Kfz...
s from the north reached the junction leading to the bridge, the leading vehicle was hit by a round from 'D' Company's only serviceable PIAT
PIAT
The Projector, Infantry, Anti Tank was a British hand-held anti-tank weapon developed during the Second World War. The PIAT was designed in 1942 in response to the British Army's need for a more effective infantry anti-tank weapon, and entered service in 1943.The PIAT was based on the spigot...
anti-tank weapon. The vehicle exploded, setting off its stowed ammunition, and the other tanks withdrew.
The first company of the 7th Parachute Battalion, commanded by Major Nigel Taylor, arrived at the bridges. Howard directed them to defensive positions west of the canal in Bénouville and Le Port. When Lieutenant-Colonel Pine-Coffin arrived at the bridges, he was briefed by Howard, and crossed into Bénouville and set up his headquarters beside the church. Pine-Coffin had about 200 men in his three companies. He positioned 'A' and 'C' Companies in Bénouville facing south towards Caen and 'B' Company in Le Port facing Ouistreham
Ouistreham
Ouistreham is a commune in the Calvados department' in the Basse-Normandie region in northwestern France.Ouistreham is a small port with fishing boats, leisure craft and a ferry-harbour. It serves as the port of the city of Caen. The town is about the mouth of the Canal de Caen à la...
. 'D' Company was now pulled back into the area between the two bridges and held in reserve. A further check of the trenches and bunkers captured a number of Germans.
At 03:00 the 8th Heavy Company, 192nd Panzergrenadier Regiment with 75 mm SP guns
Marder III
The Marder III is the name for a series of World War II German tank destroyers built on the chassis of the Panzer 38. The German word Marder means "marten" in English...
, 20 mm AA guns and mortars attacked 'A' and 'C' Companies, 7th Parachute Battalion, from the south. The paratroops were forced back and the Germans established their own positions in Bénouville, but were unable to break the British line. They dug in and waited for tank support before moving forward again. The Germans fired mortar rounds and machine guns at the paratroopers and attempted small assaults on their positions throughout the night.
Just before dawn Howard summoned his platoon commanders to a meeting. With their senior officers dead or wounded, numbers One, Two and Three Platoons were now commanded by corporal
Corporal
Corporal is a rank in use in some form by most militaries and by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. It is usually equivalent to NATO Rank Code OR-4....
s. Howard's second in command, Captain Priday and number Four Platoon were missing. Only Lieutenants Fox and Sweeneys in Five and Six Platoons had a full complement of officers and NCOs. The landings at Sword Beach began at 07:00, preceded by a heavy naval bombardment
Naval gunfire support
Naval gunfire support is the use of naval artillery to provide fire support for amphibious assault and other troops operating within their range. NGFS is one of a number of disciplines encompassed by the term Naval Fires...
. At the bridges, daylight allowed German snipers to identify targets and anyone moving in the open was in danger of being shot. The men of number One Platoon who had taken over the 75 mm anti-tank gun on the east bank of the canal used it to engage possible sniper positions in Bénouville, the Château de Bénouville
Château de Bénouville
The Château de Bénouville is a building in Bénouville, Normandy, near Caen The Château de Bénouville is a building in Bénouville, Normandy, near Caen The Château de Bénouville is a building in Bénouville, Normandy, near Caen (northern France. It was designed in 1769 by architect Claude Nicolas...
and the surrounding area. At 09:00, two German gunboats approached the canal bridge from Ouistreham. The lead boat fired its 20 mm gun and number Two Platoon returned fire with a PIAT, hitting the wheelhouse of the leading boat, which crashed into the canal bank. The second boat retreated to Ouistreham. A lone German aircraft bombed the canal bridge at 10:00, dropping one bomb. The bomb struck the bridge but failed to detonate.
1st Commando Brigade
The German 2nd Battalion, 192nd Panzergrenadier Regiment continued to attack Bénouville and Le Port, assisted by their tanks, mortars and infantry. The attack caused serious problems for the understrength 7th Parachute Battalion until the leading tank was blown up with a Gammon bombGammon bomb
The Gammon bomb, officially known as the No. 82 grenade was a British hand grenade used during World War II.-Overview:Designed by Capt. R.S. Gammon MC of the 1st Parachute Regiment, the Gammon bomb was developed as a replacement for the temperamental and highly dangerous "sticky bomb" grenade...
, blocking the road. During the attack 13 of the 17 tanks trying to get through to the bridge were destroyed. The paratroopers were then reinforced by number One Platoon from 'D' Company. The platoon moved forward into Bénouville and cleared the Germans in house to house fighting. Numbers Five and Six Platoons also moved into positions opposite the Gondree Cafe on the west bank of the canal. By midday most of the missing men from the 7th Parachute Battalion had arrived at the bridges and the three platoons were moved back to their original positions.
Just after midday, the 21st Panzer Division received permission to attack the landings. Colonel Von Luck east of the River Orne moved the 125th Panzergrenadier Regiment towards the bridges. The column was quickly spotted and engaged for the next two hours by Allied artillery and aircraft causing heavy losses. The 1st Battalion, 192nd Panzergrenadier Regiment and the 100th Panzer Regiment, attacking from west of the canal, had more success reaching the beaches between the British Sword Beach
Sword Beach
Sword, commonly known as Sword Beach, was the code name given to one of the five main landing areas along the Normandy coast during the initial assault phase, Operation Neptune, of Operation Overlord; the Allied invasion of German-occupied France that commenced on 6 June 1944...
and the Canadian Juno Beach
Juno Beach
Juno or Juno Beach was one of five sectors of the Allied invasion of German-occupied France in the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944, during the Second World War. The sector spanned from Saint-Aubin, a village just east of the British Gold sector, to Courseulles, just west of the British Sword sector...
.
At 13:30 the men at the bridges heard the sound of bagpipes
Bagpipes
Bagpipes are a class of musical instrument, aerophones, using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. Though the Scottish Great Highland Bagpipe and Irish uilleann pipes have the greatest international visibility, bagpipes of many different types come from...
, played by Bill Millin
Bill Millin
William "Bill" Millin , commonly known as Piper Bill, was personal piper to Simon Fraser, 15th Lord Lovat, commander of 1 Special Service Brigade at D-Day.- Early life :...
of the 1st Commando Brigade. As the commandos arrived they crossed the bridges and joined the rest of 6th Airborne Division defending the eastern side of the bridges. Some of the tanks accompanying the commandos moved into Bénouville to reinforce its defences while others crossed the bridges with the commandos. At 15:00 a boat loaded with German infantry approached from Caen. It was engaged with the anti-tank gun manned by number One Platoon. It was hit in the stern by the second round fired and retreated back toward Caen.
At 21:15 the 2nd Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment of the 185th Infantry Brigade
185th Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom)
-History:The Brigade together with 8th Infantry Brigade and 9th Infantry Brigade formed the 3rd Infantry Division and participated in the ill-fated British Expeditionary Force, which evacuated from Dunkirk early in World War II....
arrived from Sword Beach and began taking over the bridges' defences. At around midnight Howard handed over command of the bridges to the Warwickshire Regiment and his company left to join the rest of their battalion at Ranville. At 03:30 they finally located the battalion's positions. They found Captain Priday and number Four Platoon had already joined the battalion. The platoon had landed beside the River Dives at Varaville about 8 miles (12.9 km) away, and had spent the previous day fighting their way towards the bridges, trying to rejoin the company.
Aftermath
Bénouville was the farthest forward point of the British advance on 6 June 1944.Of the 181 men (139 infantry, 30 engineers and 12 pilots) of 'D' Company involved in the capture of the bridges, two had been killed and fourteen wounded. On 9 June, the German Air Force
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
attacked the bridges with 13 aircraft. The British had positioned light and medium sized anti-aircraft guns around the bridges and in the face of intense anti-aircraft fire the attack failed, although they did claim one of the bridges was destroyed by a direct hit.
The 6th Airborne retained control of the area between the Rivers Orne and Dives until 14 June, when the 51st (Highland) Infantry Division took over the southern part of the Orne bridgehead. In the days that followed the division was reinforced by the Dutch Princess Irene Brigade and the 1st Belgian Infantry Brigade
1st Belgian Infantry Brigade
The Belgian 1st Infantry Brigade, also known as the "Brigade Piron", after its commander, Jean-Baptiste Piron, was a Belgian and Luxembourger army unit which fought in World War II...
. A period of static warfare ended on 22 August when the division crossed the River Dives. Within nine days it had advanced 45 miles (72.4 km) to the mouth of the River Seine. Between the 6 June and 26 August when they were pulled out of the front line the division's casualties were; 821 killed, 2,709 wounded, and 927 missing. After Operation Deadstick the engineers, glider pilots and 'B' Company men were returned to their parent formations. 'D' Company played their part in the division's defence of the Orne bridgehead and advance to the River Seine. On 5 September when the division was withdrawn to England, all that remained of the company were 40 men under the only remaining officer, Major John Howard, the other officers, sergeants and most of the junior NCOs having been among the casualties.
The glider pilots were the first group to leave 'D' Company, their expertise being required for other planned operations. In particular Operation Comet, which included another coup-de-main operation where eighteen gliders would be used to capture three bridges in the Netherlands. The mission would be carried out by the 1st Airborne Division with a brigade allocated to defend each bridge. Comet was scheduled for the 8 September 1944, but was delayed and then cancelled. The plans were adapted and became Operation Market Garden
Operation Market Garden
Operation Market Garden was an unsuccessful Allied military operation, fought in the Netherlands and Germany in the Second World War. It was the largest airborne operation up to that time....
, involving three airborne divisions, however the coup-de-main assault plans were not carried out.
Prior to being withdrawn on 16 July, Major Howard was awarded the Distinguished Service Order
Distinguished Service Order
The Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.Instituted on 6 September...
, presented in the field by General Bernard Montgomery. Other awards were the Military Cross
Military Cross
The Military Cross is the third-level military decoration awarded to officers and other ranks of the British Armed Forces; and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries....
to Lieutenant's Smith and Sweeney, the Military Medal
Military Medal
The Military Medal was a military decoration awarded to personnel of the British Army and other services, and formerly also to personnel of other Commonwealth countries, below commissioned rank, for bravery in battle on land....
to Sergeant
Sergeant
Sergeant is a rank used in some form by most militaries, police forces, and other uniformed organizations around the world. Its origins are the Latin serviens, "one who serves", through the French term Sergent....
Thornton and Lance-Corporal Stacey, Lieutenant Brotheridge was posthumously mentioned in dispatches. After the war Air Chief Marshal
Air Chief Marshal
Air chief marshal is a senior 4-star air-officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force...
Trafford Leigh-Mallory
Trafford Leigh-Mallory
Air Chief Marshal Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory KCB, DSO & Bar was a senior commander in the Royal Air Force. Leigh-Mallory served as a Royal Flying Corps pilot and squadron commander during World War I...
of the Royal Air Force praised the pilots involved, saying the operation included the "most outstanding flying achievements of the war". The feat was recognised by the award of the Distinguished Flying Medal
Distinguished Flying Medal
The Distinguished Flying Medal was a military decoration awarded to personnel of the Royal Air Force and the other services, and formerly also to personnel of other Commonwealth countries, below commissioned rank, for "an act or acts of valour, courage or devotion to duty whilst flying in active...
to eight of the glider pilots involved.
Legacy
Pegasus Bridge
Pegasus Bridge is a bascule bridge , built in 1934, that crossed the Caen Canal, between Caen and Ouistreham, in Normandy, France....
after the emblem of the British airborne forces, while the River Orne bridge became Horsa Bridge
Horsa Bridge
Horsa Bridge, also known as Ranville bridge, over the Orne River, was, with Pegasus Bridge, captured during Operation Deadstick by gliderborne troops of the 2nd Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry in a coup de main operation in the opening minutes of D Day, 6 June 1944, before the main...
. The road across them is now the "Esplanade Major John Howard". Since the end of the war, Pegasus Bridge and the adjacent Café Gondree have become a place where British veterans of the conflict visiting Normandy congregate. In 1994 when Pegasus Bridge was replaced by a new structure, the original bridge was added to the display's at the Pegasus Museum in Benouville.
A number of books have been written about or have mentioned the assault. In 1962, Operation Deadstick featured in Darryl Zanuck's film The Longest Day
The Longest Day (film)
The Longest Day is a 1962 war film based on the 1959 history book The Longest Day by Cornelius Ryan, about "D-Day", the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944, during World War II....
which was based on the book
The Longest Day (book)
The Longest Day is a book by Cornelius Ryan published in 1959, telling the story of D-Day, the first day of the World War II invasion of Normandy. It includes details of Operation Deadstick, the coup de main operation by gliderborne troops to capture both Pegasus Bridge and Horsa Bridge before the...
of the same title by Cornelius Ryan
Cornelius Ryan
Cornelius Ryan, was an Irish journalist and author mainly known for his writings on popular military history, especially his World War II books: The Longest Day: June 6, 1944 D-Day , The Last Battle , and A Bridge Too Far .-Early life:Ryan was born in Dublin and educated at Synge Street CBS,...
. Major John Howard was played by Richard Todd
Richard Todd
Richard Todd OBE was an Irish-born British stage and film actor and soldier.-Early life:Richard Todd was born as Richard Andrew Palethorpe-Todd in Dublin, Ireland. His father, Andrew William Palethorpe Todd, was an Irish physician and an international Irish rugby player who gained three caps for...
who had been an officer in the 7th Parachute Battalion during the battle.