PEGASUS BRIDGE

The 'Pegasus Bridge' is a bascule bridge over the Caen Canal, near Ouistreham, France. The bridge, also known as the Bénouville Bridge after the neighbouring village, was a major objective of Operation Tonga, which was landed units by glider near it during the Normandy Invasion on the 5th/6 June 1944. It was given the permanent name of 'Pegasus Bridge' in honour of the operation. This name derives from the shoulder emblem worn by the attacking British, which is the flying horse Pegasus.
This particular bridge is an example of a distict subtype of bascule bridge (a "'rolling bascule bridge'" or "rolling bridge") in that it does not pivot about a hinge point, instead utilising a rack and pinion mecanism to maintain support and alignment.

Contents

The battle for the bridge

Location now

In popular culture

Sources

See also

External links

The battle for the bridge

On the night of 5/6 June 1944, D Company, the Second Battalion, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry (2nd Ox & Bucks), together with a Platoon of B Company, Royal Engineers and men of the Glider Pilot Regiment (totalling 181 men), were carried in 6 Horsa gliders to capture the vital bridge. This action was intended to secure the eastern flank to prevent German armour from reaching the area behind Sword Beach and interfering with the beach landings there.
Five of the Ox and Bucks's gliders landed 40 yards from their objectives at 16 minutes past midnight and poured out of their battered gliders, completely surprising the German defenders, and taking the bridges within 10 minutes. They lost two men, Lieutenant Den Brotheridge and Lance-Corporal Greenhalgh, in the process. One Glider, assigned to the capture of Horsa Bridge, was landed at the bridge over the Rives Dives, some 7 miles from where they were meant to land. Most of the soldiers in this glider and moved through German lines towards the village of Ranville where they eventually rejoined the British forces. The Ox & Bucks were reinforced half-an-hour after the landings by 7th Battalion, The Parachute Regiment and linked up with the beach landing forces with the arrival of the Commandos under the command of Lord Lovat.

Location now

The soldiers killed in these actions are mostly buried in the cemetery at nearby Ranville. Lt. Brotheridge's grave, which is located in the churchyard next to the cemetery, has a commemorative plaque that was installed by the family Gondrée, whose house near Pegasus Bridge was the first to be liberated during D-Day. It still exists and nowadays contains a café and a small museum shop that sells Pegasus Bridge related material. The lady who runs this café was a small child living in the home when it was liberated.

In popular culture

The events around Pegasus Bridge are depicted in the movie ''The Longest Day''. The role of Major Howard was played by Richard Todd, who actually participated in the real Allied defence of Pegasus Bridge, having been the 7th Parachute Battalion's Intelligence Officer on D-Day.
The World War II-based first-person shooter game ''Call of Duty'' also features a level about the capture and defense of the Pegasus Bridge, however it is not historically accurate.
The board wargame ''Advanced Squad Leader'' has a historical module dedicated to the events of 6 June starting with the initial glider landings and ending with the arrival of The Royal Warwickshires.

Sources

★ Ambrose, Stephen E. (1985). ''Pegasus Bridge''. New York: Simon and Schuster. ISBN 9780671523749

See also

★ Loyal Regiment (North Lancashire)

External links

★ Flight to Pegasus by Jim Wallwork DFM

★ A Time to be Born, A Time to Live and a Time to Die.
by
Denis Edwards.

★ An Account of the Action at Pegasus Bridge
by
Harry 'Nobby' Clark

★ Musée de Pegasus Bridge

★

★ Royal Engineers Museum 6th Airborne Divisional Engineers - D Day 1944

★ The 6th Airborne Division in Normandy

★ BBC 'The People's War'

★ The bridge in 1944

★ A detailed description of the area and operation

★ D-Day : Etat des Lieux : 6th Airborne Division in Normandy

★ True Loyals: A History of 7th Battalion, the Loyal Regiment (North Lancashire) / 92nd (Loyals) Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery 1940-1946