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.
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| 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.
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| Horsa Gliders landing on Bénouville Bridge |
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| 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.
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Lovats Scouts Piper Billy Malin relieve the Ox and Bucks
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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.
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| 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.
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| Pegasus Bridge - Modern Bridge |
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| Pegasus Bridge 2026 |
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| Original Pegasus Bridge |
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| Horsa Glider |
A set of marker stones mark the position of each of the three gliders that landed near Pegasus Bridge on the morning of 6th June 1944.  |
| Pegasus Bridge Glider Marker Stones |
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| Major John Frost Memorial |
The Café Gondrée located next to the bridge was the very first house in mainland France to be liberated on D-Day.
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| Pegasus Bridge Café Gondrée |
