On the 6th of June 1944, D-Day commenced. The largest amphibious operation in history
marked the start of the liberation of Europe from the Nazis. That day, over 130.000 Allied
soldiers stormed the beaches of Normandy to liberate Western Europe.
Now, the night before D-Day, another daring and dangerous mission took place. Six Halifax
bombers towed six Airspeed Horsa gliders from Dorset across the English channel. They were
to land 150 British paratroopers near 2 bridges in France that were of vital strategic importance
once D-Day would commence. These men were dropped behind enemy lines and would have
to not just capture the bridges, but prevent the Germans from blowing them up and hold
out until they would eventually be relieved by the troops storming the beaches of Normandy…
if these troops would even manage to break through the German defences.
The honour of this incredibly dangerous mission was given to the British D-company in what
has become known as “Operation Deadstick”, the first Allied action of D-Day.
-intro-
Background
The 6 Horsa gliders that were towed on the eve of D-Day were a small part of a massive
operation. Preceding the invasion of Normandy a giant airborne operation by the Allied Powers
commenced. The troops in the Horsas were there to protect the flanks of the allied troops
that mainly stormed Sword beach at Normandy and intercept German reinforcements that would
undoubtedly rush towards the landing areas for D-Day from inland Europe once it became
clear what was going on. Their main mission was to seize and prevent the Germans from
blowing up two bridges: the bridge over the Caen canal and one over the River Orne. These
bridges would allow the British troops to enter the French mainland after they had secured
the beaches of Normandy. A few months earlier, on May 2nd, Major John
Howard was tasked with the secret operation. He was told he had to secure those 2 bridges.
The rivers were located right next to Sword beach, where the British army would land.
The 150 men of D Company of the 2nd Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry regiment
were selected for the mission, with pilots from the Glider Pilot Regiment.
Now, Howard realized the danger of the mission. It was very well possible that over half of
the men would not even reach the bridges, let alone be able to take them. As such, he
arranged the six gliders that were used for the mission all had 1 platoon and 5 engineers
on board. Each platoon was supposed to be able to carry out the tasks of the other platoons
as well - in case an entire platoon wouldn’t make it.
The pilots that were to fly the gliders received training in order to become “Total Soldiers”,
as it was called. This more or less meant they would not only be able to fly D-company
into battle, but they would be able to join them in battle as well. The next month every
man underwent intense training. Failing the mission was not an option.
Howard briefed his men a week before the mission. They had to crash-land their gliders to the
bridges as close as possible. The gliders, as a matter of fact, were being upgraded,
given extra perspex panels, stronger parachutes and more accurate compasses. There was even
an assault boat, anti-tank rounds and ammo boxes loaded on board. Howard used aerial
reconnaissance from the RAF to map out the mission in-detail. The crew certainly was
well-prepared - now here was to hoping a sudden appearance of 6 gliders filled with paratroopers
would have a surprise effect on the Germans that were guarding the bridges from their
outposts and pillboxes. The bridges were protected by the German Grenadier
Regiment under the command of Major Hans Schmidt. Two pillboxes, barbed wire, and an anti-tank
gun were placed around the bridges, well prepared to welcome any potential invaders. Even a
large bunker stocked with dynamite was at the ready in case of an attack. And if it
seemed like they were going to lose the battle, the Germans would blow up both bridges. After
all, detonation materials and dynamite had been placed on them, or so the British thought...
Deadstick Commences
On the 5th of June, as the evening fell, at the RAF station Tarrant Rushton gliders stood
ready for the upcoming mission. There weren’t just gliders, but massive General Aircraft
Hamilcars containing large tanks as well. These Hamilcars were a hint at the sheer volume
and scale of D-Day, that would commence the next morning.
At 11:30 PM, shrouded in darkness, the Halifax bombers towing six Horsa gliders took off
towards the Orne Canal and river bridge. As they approached France, at the height of around
1800 metres the gliders were let loose. The Gliders’ pilots now had to navigate to their
assigned landing zones around the Orne Bridge and Caen canal bridges in the dark.
Fortunately, the moonlight illuminated the rivers which made them an easier aim for the
pilots. As they descended, the men in the cabins of the gliders linked arms and prepared
for the crash-landings that were about to go down. Surprisingly, no matter how close
the gliders came to the ground, there was no firing from the German side. It seemed
that the gliders had not been spotted. The gliders crash-landed on their respective
landing zones. And, gliders scraping over the ground create bursts of sparks and noise
that pollutes the quiet night as the bottom half of the gliders splintered upon impact.
Most of the gliders managed to land relatively close by their targets, however. Yet still,
there was no firing from the Germans… There was no collision upon the landing of
the gliders (though there were some close calls).... The first 2 gliders were intact.
The third glider stunted, however, and its pilots were thrown out into a pond. They managed
to survive without any broken limbs, a third man was thrown from the cabin, into the pond,
and knocked unconscious. He didn’t survive the landing and was the first casualty of
the operation. According to some sources, the Germans thought rubble from bomber planes
fell in the vicinity of their outpost, not thinking much of the noise they heard…
Now, for the British, there was no time to waste. All soldiers grouped up in their respective
teams, preparing to take the bridges.
The Bridges
As Major Howard and his men climbed out of their gliders, there was silence around them.
They prepared their grenades and rushed towards the German outposts and pillboxes that were
meant to defend the Caen bridge. Most Germans hadn’t even realized an assault was going
on - they weren’t aware of it until grenades were flung at their outposts.
Woken up from the grenade blasts, soldiers now rushed to their defensive positions, often
way too late and stopped by the machine-gun fire from the British paratroopers. Lieutenant
Den Brotheridge and his thirty men now rushed to the opposite bank of the river in order
to stop a German sentry that was about to shoot a warning flare into the sky. They cut
down the sentry with their machine-gun fire - but the flare was shot in the air regardless.
All Germans in the vicinity of the bridges now knew they were under attack. It was only
a matter of time until reinforcements arrived. Right after the sentry was cut down, Brotheridge
fell to the ground. In the distance, another German sentry had opened fire at the unit
and Brotheridge was hit in the back of the neck. He was mortally wounded and would not
survive the day - making him the first Allied soldier to have been killed by the Germans
on D-Day at the age of 28. As this was transpiring, the survivors of
the glider under Lieutenant Sandy Smith arrived. Smith had broken his arm but managed to cross
the far bank with his men regardless. German resistance slowly fizzled out and the British
now controlled both the pillboxes and trenches surrounding the bridges. They had not even
been on the ground for 15 minutes, but the bridge crossing the Caen Canal had already
been taken.
Over at the Orne bridge, Sergeant Roy Howard had managed to land his glider through a herd
of grazing cows without any noteworthy injuries. The only downside was that the other two gliders
that were with him… were nowhere to be seen. Of the three gliders, Howard had landed near
the bridge, the other glider landed several fields away and the third one landed 16 kilometres,
over a 2-hour trek, to the west at the wrong bridge… quite a different story from the
other relatively successful landing. Nevertheless, the bridge over the Orne was taken after one
mortar assault put an end to the already weak German resistance.
Now, as mentioned the aim of the mission was to prevent the Germans from blowing up these
2 vital bridges... Ironically, neither could have been blown up, even if the Germans had
known of the raid. Upon investigation, the engineers that were brought along to defuse
the explosives around the bridge realized that the Germans had prepared some demolition
work, but hadn’t actually planted any explosive charges. The mission so far was going way
better than expected.
Holding the bridges
Major Howard now had to hold the bridge with his unit until they were relieved. They manned
the pillbox they had managed to take from the Germans and the first success signal was
transmitted to Britain: “Ham and jam… ham and jam”. It is said, probably in a
romanticized account, that before the Germans launched their counter-attack some British
paratroopers knocked on the door of the Cafe Gondree nearby.
When the French owner, Georges Gondree, opened the door, he realized the noise and fighting
signalled the liberation of France by the British soldiers now standing in front of
him. He opened up bottles of champaign he had been saving for the liberation of France.
By now, dawn was approaching and the men waited for the inevitable German counter-attack.
They had to wait for the British troops at Normandy to break through the German defences
and relieve their positions. Throughout the next day, these German counter-attacks
were launched against the positions of the men. Tanks, infantrymen and even German patrol
boats made their way towards the bridges. Although one of the two PIAT anti-tank guns
was broken, using the other weapon the first German tank that came in range was hit and
destroyed. This resulted in an enormous fireball and a burning tank skeleton near the bridge.
Rather ironic, considering the British troops at Normandy and the paratroopers dropped behind
enemy lines could now use the fire and smoke as a guiding point.
By mid-day, repelling all of the German attacks, the British men heard an approaching bagpiper.
It was the signal that the relief force had managed to overtake Sword beach and was approaching
the soldiers holding the bridges. Under the command of Simon Fraser, Lord Lovat,
the relief force approached. They had managed to secure the route from Sword beach all the
way to the Orne bridge. The men that had taken the bridges finally saw friendly faces.
Within 48 hours of the start of the mission, they returned home. In total, they had lost
20 men, with some others seriously injured. The bridge over the Caen channel was renamed
Pegasus Bridge, after the emblem of the 6th British Airborne division. The other bridge
over the Orne, was renamed to Horsabridge. In an account from Staff Sergeant Boyle, he
noted that upon return to England a civilian asked him why he wasn’t fighting in France.
He could now truthfully answer “I’ve been, and come back”.
And that’s the remarkable story of a small, daring and very important mission the night
before D-Day commenced. Thank you for watching this video, there’s
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