DAVID'S D-DAY TOUR ON TUESDAY (August 6, 2013)

I continued my second day of the D-Day Invasion tour by again following the  missions of paratrooper and glider infantry troops, however, this time it was from the perspective of British and Canadian forces.  

We headed for Benouvile and the Pegasus Bridge.  It was here that the 6th Paratrooper Regiment was to attack and hold the Pegasus Bridge.  In my opinion this was the most precise of the airborne attacks.  Three Horsa gliders each carrying 28 men landed 100 and some odd yards from the Pegasus Bridge.  What was amazing about this is they landed pretty much in parking lot fashion with little or no damage and ready to deploy.  They also came in undetected by the Germans on the bridge.  Within minutes they scurried across the bridge with the first man being shot in the throat and dying wthin a few minutes.  Only one other man was injured.  Like in the battle for La Fiere Bridge I told you about yesterday, the British also had to repel a counter-attack from German self-propelled guns.  In addition, the Germans fired an artillary piece from on top of a maternity ward run by nuns, toward the bridge now held by the British.  A few minutes later, the British watched a nun all dressed in white running down the side of the river about a quarter of a mile toward the British position amidst all the gunfire, flapping her arms wildly.  The British thought for sure she was going to be killed.  When she reached the British Commander, she said "you must stop firing because there are brand new mothers and babies in that building;" the British Commander had no choice but to stop firing.  One of the British glider infantry soldiers, manning a captured German gun in a gun pit at the foot of the bridge, took careful aim at the German gun on the maternity building.  With a precise shot he eliminated the German position.  Shortly after the British troops who had landed at Sword Beach arrived to support the airborne troops who had captured Pegasus Bridge.  With the typical dry British humor, he arriving Commander apologized to the glider infantry Commander for being 2 mintues and 30 seconds late.  For now the British had a tenuous hold on Pegasus Bridge.  

Present day the original Pegasus Bridge had to be removed because the canal was widened.  British citizens threw such a fit that the French government sold the bridge to the British for one franc.  The bridge now sits at the Pegasus Bridge Museum where you can climb all over it and see the machine gun bullet strikes.  

My day studying the airborne troops shows me that skill, timing, luck and above all bravery, is what kept the Germans from rolling reinforcements into the area and either stopping the invasion cold or at the very least, prolonging the war for much longer.

I could write many more stories about what Christophe showed me on Monday and Tuesday but I know not everyone shares my love of WWII history.  I'm just happy I had an opportunity to return to the area for more study of the history.