Scenarios
1944 Pegasus Bridge 1944-06-06 · Bénouville and Ranville, Normandy: Caen Canal and River Orne bridges · Small-unit actions
Terrain map Your role You command the glider six platoon of D Company, 2nd Battalion, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry. Your platoon lands from one Horsa glider beside the River Orne bridge to seize it by surprise, then on the company commander's orders holds the crossroads beyond the canal bridge and the bridges themselves. When the other platoon commanders fall, yours is one of the few platoons with its officer and NCOs intact.
Higher commander's intent Seize both bridges intact, keep open the link between the airborne division and the seaborne forces, and hold until relieved.
Situation Enemy: about 50 men of 736th Grenadier Regiment, 716th Infantry Division, guard both bridges, which are prepared for demolition. Before dawn the 192nd Panzergrenadier Regiment of 21st Panzer Division may counterattack. Friendly: 6th Airborne Division drops east of the Orne from 0050, and 5th Parachute Brigade comes to take over the bridge defence. Seaborne forces land on Sword Beach.
Mission The platoon lands west of the river bridge at 0020 on 6 June, seizes it intact and, on company orders, holds the bridge area to secure the link between the airborne and seaborne forces.
One-page print version
Sources Operation Deadstick (incl. glider timings, code words, defences, counterattacks) — Wikipedia (CC_BY_SA)Victory in the West, Vol. I: The Battle of Normandy (Ellis, 1962), ch. VIII: D-Day — Airborne Assault — HMSO (UK official history), HyperWar transcription (CROWN)Pegasus Bridge — Bénouville, D-Day 1944 (Fowler, Raid 16, 2010) — Osprey Publishing (COPYRIGHTED)Pegasus Bridge: June 6, 1944 (Ambrose, 1985) — Simon & Schuster (Open Library record) (COPYRIGHTED)Mémorial Pegasus (museum at the bridge site) — Mémorial Pegasus, Ranville (COPYRIGHTED)ParaData: archive of the Parachute Regiment and Airborne Forces — Airborne Assault Museum, Duxford (COPYRIGHTED)Oral history catalogue: sergeant, D Company 2nd Ox and Bucks, PIAT at Bénouville — Imperial War Museums (COPYRIGHTED)
