In 2012, whilst travelling to Torigni the party visited the Pegasus Bridge memorial site. They heard how on June 5th 1944, the Allied Paratroops were dropped into the area to secure the important bridge over which the allied troops landing on D Day must pass in order to move forward and reinforce positions gained. It was the only bridge between Caen and Ouistreham. The operation included the use of gliders which were towed to the area and then released to land with their 28 troops onboard. The troops in the gliders were from the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Regiment. Bearing in mind the operation was carried out in darkness one glider landed within 60 metres of the bridge and the second, two minutes later, within 40 metres of the first giving a great element of surprise. The German sentry assumed that an aeroplane had crashed and did not raise the alarm.
The operation was a great success and allowed allied troops to move on into France having captured the beach head, heralding the end of the war.
The bridge was renamed ‘Pegasus Bridge’ because that was the emblem worn by the 6th Airborne division who parachuted into the area to take and disable key German targets.
Some images of the memorial site are below. Click image to start slideshow.