Pegasus Bridge

This was the first objective of Operation Overlord and was attacked at 15 minutes after midnight on 6 June 1944. The British 6th Airborne landed 3 gliders near the Pegasus Bridge. Commanded by Major Howard, his glider landed within 50 meters of the German held draw bridge and the other 2 were within 75 and 100 yards respectively. Once the British seized and held the bridge, the Germans would be unable to use it to cross the Orne river from Caen and thus, keep German armor off of Sword beach during the landings scheduled for the next morning. Seize and hold they did; this is a place of great pride for the British people. Look at the picture showing the location of Major Howard's glider. This is and example of extreme aviation precision and military execution. Simply amazing! Military intelligence was obtained by Georges and Thérèsa Gondrée. Due to the fact that the wife grew up in Alsace Loraine, she spoke fluent German. The family served homemade wine to the 50 Germans who guarded the bridge and the wife, would listen to them talk on the front patio. From these "lose lips" she was able to inform the allies of the garrison strength, the weapon types, and most importantly, the location of the detonation button which was connected to the destruction charges which were fastened on the bridge. Without this information, the attack would not have been possible.