Pegasus Bridge
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Pegasus Bridge | |
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Caen Canal | |
Locale | Bénouville |
Characteristics | |
Design | Bascule bridge |
History | |
Opened | 1934 |
Location | |
Pegasus Bridge, originally called the Bénouville Bridge after the neighbouring village, is a road crossing over the Caen Canal, between Caen and Ouistreham in Normandy. The original bridge, built in 1934, is now a war memorial and is the centrepiece of the Memorial Pegasus museum at nearby Ranville. It was replaced in 1994 by a modern design which, like the old one, is a bascule bridge.
On 6 June 1944, during the
Later in 1944, the Bénouville Bridge was renamed Pegasus Bridge in honour of the operation. The name is derived from the shoulder emblem worn by British airborne forces of I Airborne Corps (United Kingdom), which depicts Bellerophon riding the flying horse Pegasus.
Design
Pegasus Bridge and the structure that replaced it in 1994 are examples of a distinct sub type of bascule bridge, the "Scherzer rolling lift bascule bridge" or "rolling bridge". Bridges of this type do not pivot about a hinge point, but roll back on curved tread plates attached to the girders of the main span. This design allows a greater clearance of the waterway for a given opening angle.[1]
Battle for the bridge
On the night of 5 June 1944, a force of 181 men, led by
Five of the Ox and Bucks's gliders landed as close as 47 yd (43 m) from their objectives 16 minutes past midnight. The attackers poured out of their battered gliders, completely surprising the German defenders, and took the bridges within 10 minutes. They lost two men in the process, Lieutenant Den Brotheridge and Lance corporal Fred Greenhalgh.
Greenhalgh drowned in a nearby pond when his glider landed. Lieutenant Brotheridge was mortally wounded crossing the bridge in the first minutes of the assault and became the first member of the invading Allied armies to die as a result of enemy fire on D-Day.
One glider, assigned to the capture of the Orne river bridge, landed at the bridge over the River Dives, some 7 mi (11 km) away. Most of the soldiers in this glider moved through German lines towards the village of Ranville where they eventually re-joined the British forces. The Ox and Bucks were reinforced at 03.00hrs by
Among the first of the 7th Battalion reinforcements was Lieutenant Richard Todd, a young actor, who, nearly two decades later, would play Major Howard in the film The Longest Day.[4]
Commemorations
In 1984, as part of the 40th anniversary commemorations, the Royal Yacht Britannia sailed past the bridge on route to Caen. The ship passed in the early hours, escorted by two tugs and HMS Torquay.[5]
Today
The original Pegasus Bridge now resides in the grounds of the
Many of the soldiers killed in the actions of June 1944 are buried in the war cemetery at
Pegasus Wood, in the grounds of
See also
- 92nd (Loyals) Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery
- David Wood (British Army officer)
- Horsa Bridge
References
- ISBN 978-0-471-41960-0. Retrieved 5 June 2009.
- ISBN 978-1844158829.
- ISBN 0-684-80137-X..
- ^ Smith, David (30 May 2004). "Film star recalls his own longest day". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 5 June 2009.
- ^ Hamilton, Alan; Horsnell, Michael (7 June 1984). "Remembering the day they freed the Conqueror's native land". The Times. No. 61851. p. 3.
- ^ "Pegasus Memorial Museum". Archived from the original on 20 April 2010. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
- ^ Pegasus Bridge on Structurae database
- ^ "The Pegasus Bridge". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 23 May 2009.
- ^ "Commonwealth War Graves Commission: Ranville War Cemetery". Retrieved 27 May 2009.
- ^ "Commonwealth War Graves Commission: Casualty Details". Retrieved 27 May 2009.
- ISBN 2-704-80429X.
- ^ "Temple Newsam parkrun: latest news". Parkrun Ltd. 25 February 2014. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
Further reading
- Ambrose, Stephen (1985) Pegasus Bridge 6 June 1944. Simon & Schuster ISBN 978-0671523749.
- Barber, Neil (2009). The Pegasus and Orne Bridges. Pen & Sword Books ISBN 978-1848840416.
- Beevor, Antony (2009). D-Day: The Battle for Normandy. Viking ISBN 978-0241968970.
- Howard, John; Bates, Penny (2006). The Private Papers of Major John Howard DSO. Pen and Sword Military ISBN 978-1844158829.
- Massy-Beresford, Michael (2007). Gliderborne: The story of the 2nd Battalion, The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry (The 52nd) in World War II.
- Shannon, Kevin; Wright, Stephen (2001). One Night in June. Wrens Park Publishers ISBN 978-0905778556.
- Shilleto, Carl (2010). Pegasus Bridge and Horsa Bridge. Pen & Sword Books Ltd ISBN 978-1848843097.
External links
- American D-Day : 6th Airborne Division – Order of battle
- Flight to Pegasus by Jim Wallwork
- Musée de Pegasus Bridge
- Pegasus bridge as model Archived 26 March 2018 at the Wayback Machine
- Pegasus Bridge at Structurae
- Royal Engineers Museum Archived 14 August 2009 at the Wayback Machine 6th Airborne Divisional Engineers – D Day 1944
- The 6th Airborne Division in Normandy
- The bridge in 1944
- A detailed description of the area and operation
- D-Day : Etat des Lieux : 6th Airborne Division in Normandy
- Pegasus Bridge Card Model
- A traveler's guide to remnants from world war II in Europe – Pegasus Bridge