Pegasus Bridge

Good historical picture - impressive stuff!

wow only three gliders by the Bridge?

Great image

About 0016hrs on 6th June 1944, 3 gliders containing 'D' Co., 2nd Battalion Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, commanded by Major john Howard, landed at 1-minute intervals near the Benouville (now Pegasus) bridge. They were the spearhead of the Allied invasion and Howard's orders were:-
'To sieze intact the bridges over the River Orne and canal at Benouville(west) and Ranville(east) and to hold them until relief. The capture of the bridges was a coup de main operation depending largely on surprise, speed and dash for success.'
The pilot of No.1 glider was Staff Sergeant Jim Wallwork and his co-pilot was Staff Sergeant John Ainsworth. Between them, they succeeded in navigating their glider onto the target and Wallwork landed about 50 feet from the east end of the bridge, breaching the barbed wire defences with its nose, as he had been requested to do, to save having to use bangalores on it.
Jim Wallwork and John Ainsworth were actually the first Allied soldiers to land in France on D-Day, but they did so by being catapulted out of the nose of the glider which smashed on landing, still belted into their seats and unconscious from the impact!
Howard and his men were also unconscious from the impact, but quickly recovered. Their training kicked in and they went about their tasks, assisted by the remainder of the company in the other 2 gliders who also landed on target, overcoming the garrison at the bridges and holding them intact until relieved within the hour by other paras from 6th Airborne Division. Together they held the bridges against fierce German counter-attacks until seaborne forces including Lord Lovat's commandos reached them the next day.
D Co. had achieved complete surprise and Wallwork and Ainsworth had set their glider down where it was supposed to be. Their magnificent performance was praised by Air Vice Marshall Leigh-Mallory, O.C. Allied air forces on D-Day, as the greatest feat of flying of WWII.