Pegasus Bridge-Benouville D-Day 1944

Osprey Raid #11

by Will Fowler

The night before D-Day, men of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, accompanied by a detachment of Royal Engineers, landed in gliders at Bénouville in Normandy. Their mission was to capture and hold the bridges spanning the River Orne and the Caen Canal, securing the Allies’ flank, and disrupting the Germans’ ability to send reinforcements to the landing beaches. Quickly overwhelming the guards, they managed to capture and hold their objectives, despite determined German counterattacks. Incorporating details of the training and preparations, as well as the operation itself, including many accounts from veterans of the mission, this in-depth and detailed study brings to life one of the most daring and vital actions of D-Day.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, World War II, Military History

64 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Will Fowler is Professor of Spanish at the University of St Andrews, where he has taught since 1995. He earned his PhD at the University of Bristol and worked as a lecturer in Spanish at Leicester Polytechnic (subsequently renamed De Montfort University) for four years before joining the University of St Andrews.

Reviews

[P D SPENCER · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good quick and detailed account of the surprised attack on the bridges . First bullets fired on d day

[Randall Cook · Rating 5 out of 5]

An in depth study of a crucial Normandy battle in 1944.

[Steven Peterson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty nice examination of a side battle on D-Day--the fight for Pegasus Bridge. Did any reader watch the movie "The Longest Day"? Remember when Lord Lovat's troops (Lovat played by Peter Lawford) with bagpipes playing reinforced the plucky platoons who had used gliders to take two key bridges?

Well, that is the episode covered in this Osprey volume. The tale is told in a slim volume (64 pages). The story begins with the concept of such raids to support the attacks on the beaches. This particular raid would secure key bridges. One key to success was the extreme preparation, carried out under Major John Howard.

Thew book tells of the planning, the preparation, and the execution of the plan. There were glitches in the glider landing, but things went pretty well. The Germans tried to suppress the raid, but--with Lovat appearing--the risky effort turned out to have worked pretty well.

A nice, brief explication of this small but important aspect of D-Day.