The British Airborne was given the task of securing the bridges over the River Orne at Benouville on the eastern border of Sword Beach.
In what was a spectacularly successful operation Major John Howard led his D Company of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghampshire Airborne in their Horsa gliders, towed by C47 Dakotas, into battle
The glider pilots flew their craft with precision and Major Howard’s Horsa landed 45 meters away from his targeted bridge, no easy task as it was shortly after midnight on the 6th June.
Below is a bust of Major Howard
The Germans were taken by complete surprise and within an hour the bridges were secured
The first building taken was a restaurant owned by the Gondre family – Mr Gondre encouraged the British soldiers and dug out from his garden bottles of champagne which he had hidden from the Germans. His restaurant was turned into the first aid station and the injured troops were attended to in the kitchen
The Gondre’s still own the restaurant and it has become a must for all visitors to Pegasus Bridge.
There is an excellent airborne museum with a full sized replica of a Horsa and the original bridge is alongside it, having been replaced by a larger one recently.
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