British 6th Airbourne Div. synchronise their watches
Dummy US parachutist representing John Steel who was famously stuck there having landed on the roof
The owner of the café Georges Gondrée has a drink with Capt. David Wood and Major John Howard, who led the Pegasus Bridge attack....Similarly, American Airborne forces landed in the hinterland of Omaha & Utah beaches. The daring but ill-fated landing in the town square of Ste Mere Eglise was carried out by the US 82nd Airborne Division. By 04:30 on the morning of 6th June the Stars & Stripes flag was hung over the town of Sainte-Mère-Église which became the first town in France to be liberated. The church tower still features a dummy parachutist hanging from the tower as a representation of Paratrooper John Steel who was famously stuck there during the battle. Fighting continued around the town until 7th June when tanks & supporting troops from Utah Beach arrived to secure the area.
At 00:16 hrs on 6th June, the British 6th Airborne Division consisting of D Company of the Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry landed by parachutes and gliders East of the River Orne and the Caen Canal. The small force of 181 men was commanded by Major John Howard and joined with a detachment of Royal Engineers who landed at Ranville-Benouville in six 28-men Horsa gliders. Major Howard’s glider landed within a few feet of the canal bridge. The bridge was captured after a fierce ten minute fire fight.
In this first action of D-Day, the first house on French soil was liberated, belonging to the Gondrée family, and the first British soldier in Normandy was killed in action – Lieutenant Den Brotheridge.
It was No. 1 Platoon which knocked out a machine gun position firing from the bridge and rushed across to capture the far side, firing from the hip and lobbing grenades during the charge. Lt. Brotheridge was mortally wounded by gunfire as he made a grenade attack on a second machine gun position. The bridge had been prepared by the enemy for demolition although the Royal Engineers discovered charges had not been finally set.
Within half an hour of the bridge being taken, 6th Airborne parachutists landed to provide reinforcement. The Ox & Bucks were reinforced half-an-hour after the landings by 600 men of 7th Battalion, the Parachute Regiment who were the relieving force to bear the brunt
of German counter-attacks to the west of the Caen Canal throughout the 6th of June.
The Battalion distinguished itself in holding a wide bridgehead around ‘Pegasus Bridge’ against constant enemy attacks which were often armour supported.
