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On the 6 June 1944 the greatest seaborne invasion the world has ever
known took place on the Calvados Coast of Normandy, France. This
invasion was the beginning of the end of the Second World War and the 6
June 1944 will be forever known as D-Day. This article is an account of
the first action that took place on D-Day at the Caen Canal and River
Orne Bridges near Bénouville, France. It tells the true story of the
coup-de-main assault by British Gliderborne soldiers to capture these
two vital bridges.
Preceding the seaborne landings three Allied Airborne Divisions were
dropped to secure the flanks of the five-invasion beaches where the
Allied 21st Army Group was to come ashore. In the west two US Airborne
Divisions dropped onto the Cotentin peninsula behind UTAH beach and in
the east the British 6th Airborne Division (Br 6 AB Div) dropped into
the area between the River Orne and River Dives to the east of SWORD
beach.
One of the primary tasks of the Br 6 AB Div was to seize intact the two
bridges over the Caen Canal and River Orne near Bénouville and hold
them until relieved against any German counterattacks. This mission was
considered to be vital to the success of the invasion, as it would
allow the seaborne forces to reinforce the Br 6 AB Div’s area and
subsequently break out to the east. D Company the 2nd Oxfordshire and
Buckinghamshire Light Infantry (D Coy 2 OBLI) commanded by Major John
Howard was selected to carryout this mission and this is their story.
On the morning of 5 June 1944 the men of D Coy 2 OBLI started their
final preparations and at noon Maj Howard learned that the invasion was
on. He ordered the men to rest and when the evening meal was over they
boarded the trucks to go to their gliders. As they climbed into their
gliders he shook hands with the officers and called out words of
encouragement to the men. Finally he moved to his own glider, upon the
nose of which Pte Wally Parr had chalked ‘Lady Irene’ to name it after
his wife. When Maj Howard got in the glider, the door was closed and on
schedule they started to move down the runway. At 22.56 hrs ‘Lady
Irene’ was airborne and D Coy 2 OBLI was on their way into history.
The six Halifax bombers from 298 Squadron RAF took-off with the
accompanying Horsa gliders in tow and crossed the English Channel
flying at an altitude of 7,000 ft. All around them were Heavy Bombers
going to drop bombs on German positions in the invasion area, Caen or
other selected targets. With all of this air activity the German
anti-aircraft and searchlight crews failed to notice the gliders.
At the appointed time the Halifax bomber released the first glider to
begin its run into the target. In the glider S/Sgt Wallwork checked
their altitude and the compass, whilst S/Sgt John Ainsworth checked his
stopwatch. At the appointed mark they turned to starboard and halfway
down the crosswind leg of their approach S/Sgt Wallwork saw it, he
could make out the river, the canal and both bridges. With visibility
good and the target in sight he dropped the glider’s nose and made for
the LZ. With the ground rushing up at around 95mph he held the glider
on course; they hit the ground and caught the first of the wire
defences. Jim Wallwork shouted, “Stream” and John Ainsworth released
the arrester parachute; it lifted the tail, forced the nose into the
ground, tore off the wheels and bounced the glider back into the air.
The arrester parachute did its job and they hit the ground again; this
time on the skids. Jim Wallwork shouted, “Jettison” and John Ainsworth
pressed the button to release the parachute; now travelling at about
60mph the glider threw up hundreds of friction sparks from the skids as
they passed over rocks. Seeing these sparks through the open door Maj
Howard thought that they had been spotted and were being fired upon.
All of a sudden there was an almighty crash and the glider came to a
jarring halt; Jim Wallwork and John Ainsworth were hurled out through
the cockpit still strapped in their seats. It was 00.16 hrs early in
the morning of D-Day 6 June 1944 and the first Allied soldiers had
arrived on French soil.
The glider’s passengers were momentarily knocked unconscious, but Maj
Howard’s fanaticism for physical fitness paid off; they quickly
recovered and in a matter of seconds their training kicked in.
Automatically removing their harnesses, they exited the glider through
any hole they could make or find. On reaching the outside Maj Howard
realised that there was no shooting and they had landed without being
spotted. Looking around he thanked god for Jim Wallwork and John
Ainsworth; they had put the glider right into the corner of the field
where he wanted it.
Lt Herbert Denham ‘Den’ Brotheridge and the men of 25 Platoon swiftly
exited the glider and quietly shook out into their assault formation.
Lt Brotheridge whispered into Cpl Jack Bailey’s ear and off he went
with his two men to deal with the pillbox where the firing mechanism to
blow the bridges was located. Gathering the remainder of his platoon he
gave a whispered, “Come on lads” and they made a dash for the bridge.
One minute had passed since the first glider had landed and S/Sgt
Oliver Bowland at the controls of glider 92 came down within 25 yards
of glider 91. Lt David Wood was thrown clear still clutching on to his
sten and canvas bucket of extra grenades; relieved to find himself in
one piece he pulled himself together, gathered his platoon and set off
for the wire perimeter where Maj Howard would be waiting.
Lt Brotheridge and 25 Platoon were moving on to the bridge at a steady
trot as two German sentries passed each other in the middle. The sentry
walking towards the eastern end of the bridge was suddenly confronted
by a pack of British airborne soldiers coming out of the night;
confronted by this hellish sight he turned tail and ran shouting
“paratroopers” as he went. The second sentry, a German NCO, turned to
see what was happening and on seeing the British paratroopers running
towards him pulled out the Verey pistol that he was carrying. Pte Billy
Gray sent a burst from his Bren towards him and Lt Den Brotheridge
fired off a full magazine from his sten. The German NCO was hit by a
storm of bullets, but as he fell dead to the ground the Verey pistol
went off and a flare shot up into the night.
As the flare went off Cpl Bailey and his two men arrived at the pillbox
and tossed their grenades in through the weapon slits; the grenades
were followed up with a burst of fire and they looked inside when the
dust settled to find no one left alive.
Pte Wally Parr was just running on to the bridge when the flare shot
skywards; he saw the door of a nearby dugout half open and abruptly
shut again. Pulling out a grenade he ran across the road and by the
time he got to the dugout the pin was out. Opening the door just enough
to throw it in, he tossed the grenade through the opening and quickly
shut the door. As the grenade exploded Pte Charlie Gardiner jumped into
the dugout, Wally Parr opened the door again, and Gardiner finished off
the Germans inside with a burst from his sten.
The shouts of “paratroopers” from the running sentry, the sound of Lt
Brotheridge’s sten, Pte Gray’s burst from his Bren, the crump of Cpl
Bailey’s grenades going off and the flare from the German NCOs Verey
pistol brought the other German defenders to life. Many of the private
soldiers were foreign conscripts and these quickly faded into the
night, but the NCOs all of whom were German sprang to their positions.
Back on LZ ‘X’ glider 93 came to a halt with a shuddering crash on the
edge of the pond between the two gliders already on the ground, as it
did so it swung ninety degrees breaking in half. Capt John Vaughan RAMC
was thrown clear and knocked completely unconscious. Lt Richard ‘Sandy’
Smith was also thrown clear to land face down in the mud; he had lost
his sten and momentarily did not know where he was or what he was
doing. Picking up the nearest sten Lt Smith gathered his platoon
together and made for Maj Howard’s position. One of the other members
of 14 Platoon however, was not so lucky; L/Cpl Fred Greenhalgh was
knocked unconscious on impact and thrown clear to land face down in the
pond where he drowned.
By now the sappers from glider 91 were under the bridge cutting wires
and looking for explosives as they went. Lt David Wood’s 24 Platoon
were just arriving at Maj Howard’s position and barely two minutes had
passed since the first glider had touched down.
The German sentry reached the far end of the bridge without being hit
and threw himself into a trench. The Germans in their trenches turned
their weapons to point at the running airborne soldiers. Lt Brotheridge
was almost across the bridge when he saw the first of the enemy
beginning to react and pulled a grenade from his pouch as he ran. Pte
Billy Gray fired his Bren from the hip towards the enemy, as did many
of the other charging men of 25 Platoon. Getting the pin out of his
grenade Lt Brotheridge threw it at one of the enemy occupied trenches.
As he did so a machine-gunner in another enemy trench off to his right
sent a burst in his direction. As his grenade exploded in the enemy
trench wiping out its occupants Lt Den Brotheridge was thrown back by
the force of the machine-gun’s bullets to land on his back in the
middle of the road. Other members of 25 Platoon began firing at the
Germans in their trenches; the combination of this fire and a burst
from Pte Gray’s Bren knocked out the machine-gun that had brought Lt
Brotheridge down.
Wally Parr was trying to shout “Able, Able, Able” as he ran on to the
bridge, but the words would just not come out. Freeing his tongue from
the roof of his dried out mouth he finally let out a yell of “Come out
and fight you square-headed bastards” in his broad Cockney accent. Lt
David Wood’s men were now starting to get to grips with the Germans on
the home bank.
Running straight past Maj Howard, 14 Platoon raced on to the bridge; Lt
Sandy Smith had wrenched his knee and more hobbled than ran. As he
crossed the bridge he saw Lt Brotheridge’s Platoon firing their weapons
and throwing grenades at the German defenders. As he reached the far
end he saw a German soldier near the low wall in front of the Café
Gondrée about to throw a stick grenade; with a burst from his sten he
sent the German sprawling across the wall dead, but the grenade landed
close to Lt Smith and went off. He did not feel a thing and it was only
when one of his corporals who was nearby asked if he was all right that
Lt Sandy Smith noticed the holes in his Denison smock and trousers; he
had been hit by the grenade’s fragments and the wrist of his trigger
hand had lost all of its flesh, but he could still use his trigger
finger.
Inside the Café Gondrée the owner, Georges Gondrée, had been awakened
by all the noise. Crawling to one of the upper floor windows he peeped
over the sill to see what was going on; as he did so Lt Smith saw the
movement and thinking that it was a German soldier let off a burst from
his sten in the direction of the Café. Fortunately for Georges Gondrée
the burst went high shattering the window and hitting the wooden beams.
He beat a hasty retreat, gathered his family together, and then took
them downstairs to the comparative safety of the cellar. Lt Smith
continued with the task in hand and led his platoon in the clearing of
the remaining trenches on the western bank of the Canal.
At 00.21 hrs, the fighting at the Caen Canal Bridge started to die down
and Pte Parr made his way to the Café that was the rallying point for
25 Platoon. As he ran past the end of the bridge he saw one of his
comrades lying on the ground in the middle of the road. Knowing that he
had to report to Lt Brotheridge he continued on for a few more paces
before he pulled up short. Turning around he realised that the soldier
on the ground was Lt Brotheridge. He went back and knelt down beside
his Platoon Commander; Lt Brotheridge had been shot in the neck, his
eyes were open and his lips were moving, but not a sound came out; as
Wally Parr put his hand under Lt Brotheridge’s head to lift it up his
eyes just rolled back.
24 Platoon had finished clearing the trenches on the home bank of the
canal and Lt Wood decided to report to Maj Howard that his task was
complete. With Sgt Leather and a runner he was moving back towards Maj
Howard’s position when a burst from a German schmeisser rang out. Three
bullets caught Lt David Wood in the leg and he fell to the ground.
Bleeding profusely, frightened and shaken up he tried to stand but
found he was unable to so. Both Sgt Leather and the runner had also
been hit and lay on the ground nearby. Cpl Godbold one of his section
commanders took over command of the platoon.
It was about this time that a shaken, but none too seriously injured
S/Sgt Jim Wallwork started to regain consciousness; he was lying on his
stomach with his seat on top of him. He could hear John Ainsworth
calling out his name and asking if he was all right. Looking around he
saw S/Sgt Ainsworth pinned under the wreckage of the glider’s nose and
when he asked him if he could crawl out he replied, “No.” He asked if
he lifted the nose of the glider could he crawl out, to which he
received the reply, “I’ll try” and as he lifted the wreckage John
Ainsworth crawled out. After getting a medic to see to John Ainsworth’s
injuries, Jim Wallwork began his secondary task of unloading ammunition
and carrying it forward to the men on the bridge.
It was now 00.22 hrs, six minutes after the first glider had landed,
and reports of what was happening started to reach Maj Howard. The
first information to come in was about Den Brotheridge; this was
devastating news, as they were the best of friends. The next piece of
news he received was that Lt David Wood and his Platoon Sergeant had
also been hit; two of his three platoons at the bridge were now without
their Platoon Commander. This was followed up with a report from 14
Platoon that informed him of Lt Smith’s injuries. Whilst Sandy Smith
was still on his feet Maj Howard could not help thinking that he had
effectively lost all three of his Platoon Commanders at the canal
bridge; added to this he did not know what was happening at the Orne
River Bridge.
At the Orne River Bridge the action was nowhere near as dramatic,
glider 94 had missed the target area altogether landing some eight
miles away near one of the bridges over the River Dives by Varaville;
the Halifax crew had released the glider in the wrong place due to a
navigational error.
Glider 96, piloted by S/Sgt Roy Howard and S/Sgt Fred Baacke, was the
only one of the three gliders to come to rest on LZ ‘Y’. At 00.20 hrs
they made an easy landing coming to a halt some three hundred yards
from the bridge; in this glider were Lt Dennis Fox and 17 Platoon. On
landing Sgt Thornton reminded Lt Fox that he had forgotten to open the
door, but when Dennis Fox tried to open it the door would not budge so
Sgt Thornton had to show him how it was done.
A minute later glider 95, piloted by S/Sgt Stan Pearson and S/Sgt Len
Guthrie, touched down and came to a halt short of LZ ‘Y’, some 700
yards away from the bridge. This glider carried Lt H J ‘Todd’ Sweeney
and 23 Platoon.
Dismounting from their glider 17 Platoon shook out into their approach
formation; one section to the front followed by Lt Dennis Fox, the
remaining two sections and Sgt Thornton with the remainder of platoon
headquarters at the rear. When the lead section did not move off,
Dennis Fox went forward to find out why. The section commander pointed
out a German manning a machine-gun at the bridge. Lt Fox told him to
get moving, but he still hesitated; so taking the bull by the horns Lt
Dennis Fox led 17 Platoon off to start their approach. They had just
got moving when the German at the bridge saw them and opened up with
his MG 34; the men of 17 Platoon dived for cover. Sgt Thornton at the
back grabbed hold of the platoon’s 2-inch mortar and immediately
returned fire, putting a mortar round right on top of the
machine-gunner. Seeing this land, Lt Fox and his platoon got up and
charged to the bridge shouting “Fox, Fox, Fox” as they went. Reaching
the bridge they were just in time to see the last of the Germans
running away. One of the NCOs from the 17 Platoon’s lead section jumped
into the empty machine-gun pit, grabbed hold of their discarded MG 34
and sent a long burst of fire after them. These were the only shots
fired in the capture of the bridge over the River Orne.
Lt Todd Sweeney and 23 Platoon dismounted from glider 95 to hear the
machine-gun open up at the bridge. They quickly shook out and headed
off for the bridge at the double with Lt Sweeney leading the way. The
only casualties they suffered were those that failed to see the
drainage ditches that crossed their approach. Soaked to the skin and
covered in mud, Lt Sweeney led his men up to the bridge. Unnerved by
the seemingly calm situation and the lack of any opposition on the
bridge, he made the final approach with caution. Leaving one section to
secure the home bank, Lt Sweeney led the remainder across at the run.
As they reached the far end Lt Todd Sweeney saw Lt Dennis Fox. Lt
Sweeney raced up to him, “Dennis, how are you, is everything all
right?” to which he received the reply, “Yes I think so, but I can’t
find the bloody umpires!”
Leaving Lt Fox to organise the immediate defence of the River Bridge Lt
Sweeney made his way to the Canal Bridge to report to Maj Howard. At
00.26 hrs, ten minutes after glider 91 had landed, John Howard had the
news he had been waiting for; D Coy 2 OBLI had seized both bridges
intact. Exuberant Maj Howard turned to his radio operator Cpl Tappenden
and told him to send the message that the bridges had been captured.
“HAM and JAM, HAM and JAM, HAM and JAM” out over the radio the
codewords went; “HAM and JAM, HAM and JAM, HAM and JAM” Cpl Tappenden
continued to send. What Maj Howard and Cpl Tappenden did not know was
that Brig Poett was unable to receive the message.
The Caen Canal Bridge was named “Pegasus Bridge” after the Pegasus
emblem worn by the British 6th Airborne Division in memory of this
action. The River Orne Bridge was renamed “Horsa Bridge” after the
gliders that carried the men who landed here.
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