Memorial Pegasus at Ranville in Lower Normandy is a museum and memorial to the 6th Airborne Division in the Normandy landings and particular the capture of the Caen canal and Orne river bridges. [1]
Memorial Pegasus at Ranville in Lower Normandy is a museum and memorial to the 6th Airborne Division in the Normandy landings and particular the capture of the Caen canal and Orne river bridges. [1]
In 1974 the Airborne Forces Museum was opened on the west bank of the Caen Canal at Bénouville by the D-Day Commemoration Committee. It was opposite the glider landing site and close to the Bénouville Bridge. The museum was opened by British General Sir Richard Gale who had been the divisional commander of the 6th Airborne during the Normandy Landings. Because of problems caused by the end of the lease the museum closed in 1997. [2]
The Bénouville Bridge had been renamed Pegasus Bridge on 26 June 1944 in honour of being the first objective taken by the airborne troops in the Normandy campaign. [1] In 1993 the Bridge over the Caen Canal was removed and replaced by a new structure. [1] The bridge was placed on waste ground close to its original position. [1]
With the closure of the first museum a campaign was started by Raymond Triboulet and the D-Day Commemoration Committee to raise funds and find a site for a new museum. [1] In 1999 the original Pegasus Bridge was bought by the Committee from the French authorities for one Franc to be a focal-point for the new museum. [1]
The new museum Memorial Pegasus was opened on 4 June 2000 by the Prince of Wales who was Colonel-in-Chief of the Parachute Regiment. [1]
On 5 June 2004 a replica of the first Airspeed Horsa glider to land close to the Bénouville Bridge was officially inaugurated. [1] At the inauguration, the Horsa glider was shown to the Prince of Wales by Jim Wallwork, the pilot of the first glider to land in June 1944. [3]
The museum building exhibits artifacts, exhibitions and personal objects related to the 6th Airborne Division. [1]
A three-acre park contains the Pegasus Bridge, the replica of the Horsa glider and memorials to the men who captured the Caen canal and Orne river bridges.
Operation Tonga was the codename given to the airborne operation undertaken by the British 6th Airborne Division between 5 June and 7 June 1944 as a part of Operation Overlord and the D-Day landings during World War II.
Pegasus Bridge, originally called the Bénouville Bridge after the neighbouring village, is a road crossing over the Caen Canal, between Caen and Ouistreham in Normandy. The original bridge, built in 1934, is now a war memorial and is the centrepiece of the Memorial Pegasus museum at nearby Ranville. It was replaced in 1994 by a modern design which, like the old one, is a bascule bridge.
Bénouville is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France.
The Airspeed AS.51 Horsa was a British troop-carrying glider used during the Second World War. It was developed and manufactured by Airspeed Limited, alongside various subcontractors; the type was named after Horsa, the legendary 5th-century conqueror of southern Britain.
Major Reginald John Howard DSO was a British Army officer who led a glider-borne assault that captured the Caen canal and Orne river bridges on 6 June 1944, as part of the D-Day landings during the Second World War. These bridges spanned the Caen Canal and the adjacent River Orne, and were vitally important to the success of the D-Day landings. Since the war the bridge over the canal has become known as "Pegasus Bridge", as a tribute to the men who captured it, while the bridge over the River Orne later became known as Horsa Bridge after the Horsa gliders that had carried the troops to the bridges.
Lieutenant Herbert Denham Brotheridge was a British Army officer who served with the 2nd Battalion, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry during the Second World War. He is often considered to be the first Allied soldier to be killed in action on D-Day, 6 June 1944. He was killed during Operation Tonga: the British airborne landings which secured the left flank of the invasion area before the main assault on the Normandy beaches began.
Staff Sergeant James Harley Wallwork DFM was a British soldier and a member of the Glider Pilot Regiment who achieved notability as the pilot of the first Horsa glider to land at Pegasus Bridge in the early hours of D-Day, 6 June 1944, during the Second World War. This achievement was described as "the greatest feat of flying of the second world war" by Air Chief Marshal Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory. Although most noted for his part in the Battle of Normandy, Wallwork flew gliders in every major British airborne operation of the Second World War. These also included the Sicily landings, Arnhem and the Rhine Crossings. In later life he lived in Vancouver.
Airlanding is a designation formerly held by glider-borne infantry units of the British Army. Airlanding units included infantry battalions and light armoured regiments together with combat support and combat service support units and sub-units. The Glider Pilot Regiment provided the aircrew to fly the gliders into battle. Although combat support and combat service support units had the term airlanding as part of their unit title, for example 1st Airlanding Light Regiment Royal Artillery, infantry battalions' names remained unchanged. All units wore the maroon beret of airborne forces with their own regimental capbadge.
Colonel Henry John Sweeney MC, known as Tod Sweeney, was an officer of the British Army. During the Second World War he was a platoon commander in the coup de main operation, by gliderborne troops of the 2nd Battalion, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, on D-Day, 6 June 1944, tasked to seize Horsa Bridge and Pegasus Bridge before the main assault on the Normandy beaches began. The following day he was awarded the Military Cross for rescuing a wounded member of his platoon while under heavy fire near Escoville. Sweeney commanded the 1st Green Jackets at Penang from April 1962 to January 1964; during the Brunei Revolt and Indonesia-Malaysia confrontation.
Colonel David James Wood MBE was the last surviving officer of the coup de main operation carried out by glider borne troops of the 2nd Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, on D Day, 6 June 1944, tasked with capturing Pegasus Bridge and Horsa Bridge before the main assault on the Normandy beaches began.
Operation Mallard was the codename for an airborne forces operation, which was conducted by the British Army on 6 June 1944, as part of the Normandy landings during the Second World War.
Horsa Bridge, also known as Ranville Bridge, over the Orne river, was, along with Pegasus Bridge, captured during Operation Tonga by gliderborne troops of the 2nd Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry in a coup de main operation in the opening minutes of D-Day, 6 June 1944. The seizing of both bridges was considered to be critical to securing the eastern flank of the Normandy landings area, preventing German armour from reaching the British 3rd Infantry Division which was due to start landing on Sword at 07.25hrs. Horsa Bridge, a road bridge, was over 400 yards east of Pegasus Bridge towards the village of Ranville.
The capture of the Caen canal and Orne river bridges was an operation by airborne forces of the British Army that took place in the early hours of 6 June 1944 as part of the Normandy landings of the Second World War. The objective was to capture intact two road bridges in Normandy across the River Orne and the Caen canal, providing the only exit eastwards for British forces from their landing on Sword Beach. Intelligence reports said both bridges were heavily defended by the Germans and wired for demolition. Once captured, the bridges had to be held against any counter-attack, until the assault force was relieved by commandos and other infantry advancing from the landing beach.
Major Richard Arthur Amyas Smith was a British Army officer who served during the Second World War. He was awarded a Military Cross for gallantry and leadership whilst serving as a platoon commander in the gliderborne 2nd Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry coup de main operation; tasked to capture Pegasus Bridge and Horsa Bridge during the opening minutes of D-Day, 6 June 1944. The capture of both bridges was considered to be critical to securing the left flank of the Normandy landings area.
Major Dennis Fox MBE (1920-1993) was an officer of the British Army. During the Second World War he led the first platoon to land at Horsa Bridge in the gliderborne 2nd Battalion, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry coup de main operation, during the opening minutes of D-Day, 6 June 1944, which captured the Caen canal and Orne river bridges. These bridges were considered to be critical to securing the eastern flank of the Normandy landings area.
Ranville War Cemetery is a Second World War cemetery of Commonwealth soldiers in France, located in Ranville, 10 km (6.2 mi) north east of Caen, Normandy. The cemetery contains predominantly British soldiers killed during the early stages of the Battle of Normandy. A large proportion of those interred were members of the British 6th Airborne Division. The cemetery is maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
Colonel John Maurice Arthur Tillett was a British Army officer who had a critical role in the planning of the capture of the Caen canal and Orne river bridges on D-Day, 6 June 1944, during the Second World War. He was one of the last surviving British Army officers to have served with the 6th Airborne Division in Operation Mallard, on 6 June 1944, and in Operation Varsity, on 24 March 1945. He later commanded the Ugandan Army.
Pegasus Bridge is an upcoming British war film based on the capture of the Caen canal and Orne river bridges, on 6 June 1944 as part of the Normandy landings of the Second World War. Directed by Lance Nielsen, filming was due to be completed by the end of 2017. However, due to Brexit, filming was delayed as the backers pulled out. Alternative funding is currently being sought.
Helmuth Pohle was a German aviator during World War II. In October 1939 he led the first German aerial attack on the United Kingdom, during which he was shot down and captured. He was the first German prisoner of war in World War II.
The Café Gondrée is a small coffeehouse in the French community of Bénouville. The cafe is located on the west bank of the Caen Canal, at the northwest end of the Bénouville Bridge, now commonly referred to as the Pegasus Bridge. The building was the site of first combat during the D-Day invasion, and is best known for its role commemorating those events.
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