Major John Howard of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry (the "Ox and Bucks") was given one of the most critical missions of D-Day: capture two bridges over the Caen Canal and the River Orne intact, before the Germans could demolish them. These bridges were the only eastern exit route for the forces landing on Sword Beach.

The Landing

At 12:16 AM on June 6, six Horsa gliders carrying 181 men released from their tug aircraft at 6,000 feet and descended in complete silence through the darkness. The pilots — Staff Sergeant Jim Wallwork flew the lead glider — had practiced the approach dozens of times using reconnaissance photographs and a scale model.

Wallwork put his glider down with extraordinary precision — within 47 yards of the canal bridge. The glider smashed through a barbed wire fence and came to rest with its nose actually crumpled against the bridge defenses. The second and third gliders landed within seconds, also startlingly close to the target.

Lieutenant Den Brotheridge led the first platoon out of the glider and charged across the bridge. He was shot and killed in the assault — likely the first Allied soldier killed by enemy action on D-Day. Within ten minutes, both bridges were secure.

Holding Through the Night

Howard's men then had to hold the bridges for hours against German counterattacks until they could be relieved. The first significant threat came from two German tanks. The lead tank was destroyed by a PIAT anti-tank weapon fired by Sergeant "Wagger" Thornton at close range, which caused the second tank to withdraw.

At 1:30 AM, the men heard the sound of approaching bagpipes — Lord Lovat's commandos, led by Piper Bill Millin, had fought their way from Sword Beach to relieve the bridge garrison. Lovat allegedly apologized for being two and a half minutes late.

The canal bridge was renamed "Pegasus Bridge" after the D-Day landings, in honor of the Pegasus shoulder insignia worn by British airborne forces. The original bridge was replaced in 1994 and now sits in a museum next to the new bridge. Café Gondrée, the first house to be liberated in France on D-Day, still stands beside it and serves visitors today.