Northumbrian Gunner

Saturday, 4 April 2026

Red Bulls 2025/26 v Stade Rochelais

EPCR CHALLENGE CUP

Newcastle Red Bulls v Stade Rochelais

Red Bulls v Stade Rochelais IJ

Red Bulls v Stade Rochelais

Friday, 13 March 2026

Magpie Progress 26 - Omaha American Cemetery

The Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial is located at Colleville sur Mer at the top of the cliff overlooking Omaha Beach.

Normandy American Cemetery Omaha Beach

Omaha Beach below Normandy American Cemetery

Normandy American Cemetery IJ

It was on Omaha Beach where allied forces suffered their worst casualties during the D-Day landings, with 4,000 men killed, missing or wounded.

The cemetery is the resting place of 9,389 Americans who lost their lives in the D-Day landings and ensuing operations. .

Normandy American Cemetery

At the western end of the cemetery are two statues representing France and America. .

France and America Statues

In the centre of the cemetery is a small chapel. The ceiling mosaic represents America blessing her sons as they depart to war.

Normandy American Cemetery Chapel

Normandy American Cemetery Chapel Mosaic

Normandy American Cemetery Chapel

The Normandy American Memorial consists of a semicircular colonnade with a bronze statue in the centre representing “Spirit of American Youth Rising from the Waves.” .

Normandy American Memorial

Normandy American Memorial IJ

Normandy American Memorial
Spirit of American Youth Rising from the Waves

A covered exterior gallery contains large maps and narratives on the military operations of the Normandy Landings and subsequent operations..

Normandy Air Operations

6th June 1944 Amphibious Assault Landings

Normandy Beach Landings

Military Operations North West Europe

On the East side of the memorial is a semicircular memorial on which is inscribed 1,557 names of those with no known grave.

Normandy American Memorial
Walls of the Missing

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Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial

Thursday, 12 March 2026

Magpie Progress 26 - Pegasus Bridge

Operation Deadstick was the capture of two vital bridges ahead of the main Normandy landings to prevent German reinforcements reaching British troops landing on Sword Beach. The bridges would need to be captured intact in order to provide an exit route for the the British Sixth airborne Division to link up with the the British 3rd Division which landed on Sword Beach.

D-Day 6th June 1944 Plan

The Bénouville Bridge over the Caen canal and the Ranville Bridge over the nearby River Orne were to be captured in the early hours of the 6th June 1944.

Major John Howard leading 181 men of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry and a detachment of Royal Engineers landed in six Horsa gliders at 00:16. They completely surprised the German defenders and secured the bridges within ten minutes.

Horsa Gliders landing on Bénouville Bridge

Capture of Bénouville Bridge

The two bridges were held until 13:00 when the men of the Ox and Bucks were relieved by Lovats Scouts Commando unit advancing from Sword Beach led by Piper Billy Malin.

Lovats Scouts Piper Billy Malin relieve the Ox and Bucks

The Bénouville bridge was officially renamed Pegasus Bridge on June 26, 1944, by the French government to honour the British airborne forces. Pegasus being the winged horse of Greek mythology which was represented on the patch worn by the British parachute and glider-borne troops.

Pegasus Bridge 1944

In 1994 original 1944 bridge was moved become the centerpiece of the Pegasus Memorial Museum. A new bridge was built over the Caen Canal which and designed to look like the original though it was larger to to accommodate modern traffic.